Cinnamon Sugar Apple Muffins

As much as I love to be able to sit down and enjoy a bowl of cereal for breakfast -- some mornings I know that just not going to happen. Muffins are a great portable alternative and when they're homemade, I know exactly what went into making them. I usually make a dozen or more muffins and then freeze most of them to enjoy later, so that whenever we're low on cereal or have a busy week, the muffins can be thawed and enjoyed for breakfast.

Recipe slightly adapted from Pinch of Yum.

Ingredients:
For the apple muffins:
-1½ cups finely chopped apples
-⅓ cup olive oil
-1 cup milk
-2 teaspoons white vinegar
-⅓ cup brown sugar
-1 large egg
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-2½ cups all purpose flour
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 teaspoon baking powder
-½ teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon allspice

For the crunchy topping:
-2 tablespoons butter
-3 tablespoons white sugar
-½ teaspoon cinnamon

Add the vinegar to the milk and let it sit for a few minutes to turn into "buttermilk."

In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, "buttermilk", brown sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Add the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and allspice. Stir until just combined. Fold in the apples.

Scoop the mixture into a greased muffin tin -- I used a regular sized muffin tin to make a dozen muffins.Once the muffin batter is in the muffin tin, create the topping -- melt the butter, add the sugar and cinnamon; spoon over the tops of the muffins.

Bake the muffins for 15 minutes at 350 degrees or until the tops spring back when pressed.  

I really liked this muffins. The cinnamon flavor is light, not over powering. The crunchy mixture on top was proportionally correct -- it didn't overwhelm the muffin, it just provided a little crunch to muffins. These were full of apple pieces and a nice light way to start the day.