Apples Season / La Saison des Pommes

You know autumn is right around the corner when apples start flooding markets and roadsides. While apples aren’t my all time favorite fruit, in part because I’ve always associated them with strict diet and hungry nights, I love using them in baking and salads.
Apples are not only a good source of vitamin C and antioxidants, they are also a very versatile fruit that can be transformed into jams, curds, sauces, preserves, chutneys, apple butter and more depending on your creativity and the varieties.
As I enjoy snacking with a Gala apples or a Golden Delicious, my favorite varieties of apples to bake with are Rome Beauty, Pink Lady and Granny Smith.
For this season of apples I started with apples and rosemary muffins for Sunday breakfast. Adding rosemary to the recipe was my personnal touch to a simple apples and nuts muffins. The combination of apples and rosemary might seem odd at first, but you will discover that the rosemary being slightly bitter and fragrant actually gives a nice smokiness and warmth to those moist muffins, different from the usual bland fruity muffin.
I used Golden Delicious for this recipe but you can use any kind of apples appropriate for baking, making you kitchen smells like an orchard, smells like autumn, smells like home sweet home.

Apples and Rosemary Muffins

Recipe: adapted from here
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ¼ cup oat bran or wheat bran
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups plain yogurt or buttermilk
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 ¼ cups grated, peeled and grated apple (about 1 large)
- 1 tsp rosemary leaves, chopped
- ½ cup golden raisins
- 1 small apple, silvered
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar mixed with 1 tsp ground cinnamon

In a large bowl, stir together the flours, bran, baking powder, baking soda, slat, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Set aside.
Beat the eggs on low speed until blended, and then beat in the yogurt and butter. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until half moistened. Add the apple, raisins, and rosemary and stir just until evenly distributed. Do not over mix.
Spoon the batter into buttered muffins cups. Put a thin slice of apple on each muffin and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the top. Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 15-18 minutes.
Let the muffins cool in the pan on a wire rack for 2 minutes, and then turn out onto the rack. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or freeze for up to a month.

Muffins aux Pommes et Romarin

In francais please: adaptée d’ici
- 155g de farine
- 155g de farine complete
- 20g de flocons d’avoine
- 2 c.c de levure chimique
- ½ c.c de bicarbonate de soude
- ¼ c.c de sel
- 1 c.c cannelle
- 155g de sucre brun
- 2 gros oeufs
- 375g de yaourt nature
- 115g de pommes, épluchées et râpées
- 1 c.c de romarins, finement haché
- 60g de raisins secs
- 2 c.s de cucre mélange avec une c.c de cannelle
- 1 petite pomme, coupée en fines tranches

Dans une grande jatte, mettre la farine, avoines, levure, bicarbonate, sel, cannelle et sucre brun. Mettre de coté.
Battre les oeufs legerement, puis ajouter le yaourt et le beurre et battre. Ajouter ensuite les ingredients secs et mélanger juste pour que tout soit bien incorporé. Ajouter les pommes, les raisins et le romarin et mélanger. Ne pas trop mélanger.
Verser la pate a muffins dans un moule a muffins beurré. Mettre une fine tranche de la pomme sur chaque muffin et saupoudrer de sucre/cannelle le dessus de chaque muffin. Faites cuire dans un four préchauffé a 200C pendant 15-18 minutes. Laisser refroidir 2 min dans le moule puis demouler les muffins sur une grille de patisserie.
Ces muffins se gardent dans une boite hermétique a temperature ambiante pendant 2 jours ou peut se congeler jusqu’a 1 mois.