Apple Pie Muffin and Pan Cake アップルパイ マフィン

As part of the season, we received some fresh fruit which included of several Granny Smith Apples. In general, these apples are not good eating apples and are typically used in baked goods such as cake. My wife remembered that she had saved a recipe she found on the internet about apple muffins that taste just like apple pie and thought this would be a perfect use of the Granny Smith Apples.

The original recipe came from “Serious Eats”. This is a somewhat complicated muffin to make. It comes in 3 parts. First is making the apples by coating them with spices and then cooking them in melted butter until they start getting soft. Second is a layer of crumbs to put between two layers of dough. Third is the muffin dough itself.

My wife made muffins (pictures #1 and #2) and baked in a baking dish as a flat cake (picture #3).

The problem was that these three different parts were not specified in the original recipe but instead all clumped together with phrases like, “2 1/4 cups AP flour divided” and it wasn’t until you were knee deep in the directions that you discovered 1/2 cup of the flour was supposed to be used to make crumbs and the other 1 3/4 cups was used for the actual muffin batter. As a matter of fact the recipe did not even specify there was a layer of crumbs and it took my wife some time to figure out the recipe consisted of 3 parts at which point the recipe started to make sense. Added to all that we wanted to use up all the Granny Smith apples but once we cooked them all we realized we had too many for just one batch of a dozen muffins. So we decided to double the recipe and make 1/2 as muffins and 1/2 as a pan cake (i.e. a flat cake baked in a baking pan). Hopefully we have sorted out the three components of the recipe below so they are clearer than the original and by showing the recipe as X1 for just muffins and X2 for muffins and pan cake. Good Luck.

Ingredients (X 1)

For the Spiced Apples:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 small tart apple such as Granny Smith cut into 1/4 inch pieces (1 cup chopped)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt; for table salt use half as much by volume
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

For the crumbs:
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 tbs butter

For the muffins: 
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour,
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon,
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened,
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; for table salt use half as much by volume
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1/3 cup apple cider, at room temperature (We didn’t have any cider so we juiced another apple)

Ingredients (X2) We wanted to use up the Granny Smith Apples but we ended up with too many apples so we chose to double the recipe and make 1/2 as muffins and 1/2 as pan cake

For the Spiced Apples:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tart apples such as Granny Smith, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; for table salt use half as much by volume
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

For the crumbs:
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup flour
3 tsp cinnamon
8 tbs butter

For the muffins:
1 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened,
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt; for table salt use half as much by volume
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2/3 cup apple cider, at room temperature (We didn’t have any cider so we juiced another apple)

Directions: whether making 1X or 2X of the recipe just use the quantity of ingredients specified for that amount.

For the Spiced Apples:  In a 10-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, add apple pieces, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and pie spice and cook, stirring frequently, until apples are tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer apple mixture to a fine mesh strainer set over a medium bowl. Thoroughly strain, gently stirring to remove as much excess moisture from apples as possible; set aside to let apples strain until they reach room temperature, about 15 minutes. Spread strained apples in an even layer on a large plate and refrigerate uncovered until cooled, 15 to 20 minutes. Reserve strained sauce for use as a glaze. 

Prepare oven and cooking utensils: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. If making pan cake grease the medium sized pyrex cooking pan then line with greased parchment paper.

Make the crumbs for the Muffins: Stir together brown sugar, pie spice,1/2 cup of the flour, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon in a medium bowl until well combined. Work in 4 tablespoons of the butter using fingertips until mixture is well combined and resembles wet sand. Set aside.

Make the batter for the muffin: In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat granulated sugar and remaining 2/3 cup butter on medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape down sides as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each addition, about 30
seconds.

In a medium bowl, whisk together salt, baking powder, baking soda, remaining 1 3/4
cups flour, and remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

In a small measuring cup whisk together sour cream and cider (apple juice) until well combined.

Stir flour mixture into butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream mixture, until flour mixture is moistened but large flour streaks remain. Fold cooled apples into batter until evenly dispersed and batter is just combined. (Do not over-mix.)

Assembly: Spoon 2 tablespoons batter into bottom of each paper liner. Sprinkle 1 packed teaspoon brown sugar mixture evenly over batter in each muffin liner; top with remaining batter (about 3 tablespoons per well) spreading into an even layer. (Liners will be very full.) (1 and 2 in the composite)

Bake for 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F and continue baking until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 12 to 18 minutes, rotating pan halfway. Let cool in pan 10 minutes.

If making pan cake, spoon 1/2 the batter into the baking dish, cover with crumbs, and cover crumbs with remaining batter. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes reduce temperature to 375 and bake for 30 minutes and start testing for doneness by seeing if wooden pick comes out clean (3 and 4 in the composite).

Carefully remove from pan and serve warm or at room temperature, drizzling with reserved strained apple juices from step 2 just before serving.

Although this is a fairly convoluted recipe for apple based muffins it is probably worth it because the end result is very good. They do taste distinctly of apple pie. The texture is very light, soft and tender. The cooked apples introduce a burst of cinnamon flavored moistness that is very pleasant. The crumbs kind of melted into the texture making an internal layer of buttery cinnamon flavored dough. The pan cake had all the similar characteristics but was simpler to make. These muffins are a bit unique in the combination of flavors and textures they deliver. Despite the initial difficulties now that we have the recipe sorted out we will be making them again.