Apple Brown Sugar Muffins #MuffinMonday

These apple brown sugar muffins are tender and fluffy on the inside. The warm cinnamon elevates these beauties to pure comfort food. Brew up a pot of tea and bake up a batch.

Our kitchen is in a bit of a shambles as we rip out the old narrow cupboards and add new more spacious ones but we feel very strongly that anyone who owns a home built one hundred years ago has a responsibility to keep the original feel and as many of the vintage elements as one can. I know my readers in the UK will laugh at a 100-year-old home being considered old but, hey, the US is still a new republic, history-wise. And goodness knows we have a lot to learn.

The William Wilson Realty Company created our neighborhood in Houston, the Woodland Heights, back in 1907 but we believe our house dates from the early 1920s. The word wasn’t used back then but we would have been in the suburbs! Now with the spread of Houston to actual suburbs, we are considered almost downtown. Isn’t it funny how times change? The original houses sold for about $4,000, which I am guessing was a lot of money in those days.

One thing a person can still bake in a distraught kitchen is muffins. Two bowls: Wet ingredients. Dry ingredients. Mix them together and bake, even if you don’t have a countertop. That arrives on Thursday. One day we will have a more functional kitchen and I have to tell you, I’m still going to bake muffins. And use the Instant Pot. It’s been a godsend.

Apple Brown Sugar Muffins

If there is any combination that smells as delightful as it bakes as apples, brown sugar and cinnamon, I don’t know what it is. While these were in the oven, my house smelled absolutely fabulous. Plus the muffins are delicious. Bake them. You won’t regret it.

Ingredients
1 large apple (about 9 oz or 254g whole)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 cups or 250g all purpose flour
3/4 cup, tightly packed, or 150g dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 240ml milk
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil, plus a little extra for the pan
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C. Prepare your muffin pan by brushing it with oil or line it with paper muffin liners.

Peel, core and chop the apple into small pieces and toss them immediately with the lemon juice to stop them from discoloring.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, egg and vanilla.

Add the apple pieces into the dry ingredient bowl and stir to coat.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and fold until they are just combined. Do not over mix.

 Divide your batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups.

Bake 20-25 minutes in the preheated oven or until muffins are golden. Remove them from oven and let them cool for a few minutes before removing the muffins from the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

It's the last Monday of the month and that means it's Muffin Monday! Check out all the wonderful muffins my friends are sharing:

• Apple Brown Sugar Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Blueberry Kumquat Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Cheesy Corn and Bacon Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Curried Chicken Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Maple Cinnamon Nut Butter Muffins from Making Miracles
• Mini Nutella Swirled Muffins from Passion Kneaded

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Apple Brown Sugar Muffins! 

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffin Bundt #BundtBakers

It looks like cake and tastes like cake but this is actually a big peanut butter chocolate chip muffin baked in a Bundt pan! Made with the muffin method of mixing wet and dry ingredients in one bowl, it’s fast, easy and delicious.

Happy National Muffin Day! As head cheerleader for Muffin Monday, I might normally have celebrated such an auspicious holiday by baking muffins but this year National Muffin Day happens to coincide with Bundt Baker Thursday, which falls on the third Thursday of every month. For a fun twist, our host Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm proposed that we take our favorite muffin recipe and turn it into a Bundt cake.

Best of all, since this is really one big muffin, you can enjoy a slice for breakfast. Don’t mind if I do! Make sure you scroll down past my recipe to see what other great muffin recipe Bundts my fellow Bundt Bakers are sharing.

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Muffin Bundt

Because this is a celebratory muffin Bundt, I topped it with some melted crunchy peanut butter (and butter) and a generous sprinkling of semi-sweet chocolate chips. You can leave those off but I think you’ll be sorry you did!

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g all-purpose flour
1 cup, packed, or 200g dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup or 165g crunchy peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup or 61g Greek-style yogurt
2/3 cup or 156ml milk
2 large eggs, at room temperature
6oz or 170g semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus extra for decoration, if desired

For the peanut butter glaze:
1/3 cup or 83g crunchy peanut butter
1 teaspoon butter

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Prepare your large Bundt pan by buttering it generously then dusting the butter with flour.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another mixing bowl, whisk the butter, peanut butter, milk, yogurt and eggs.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold until almost completely combined. You should still see dry flour. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Spoon the thick batter into your prepared Bundt pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean.

Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about five minutes then transfer the Bundt to the wire rack to cool completely before moving it to a serving plate.

To make the peanut butter glaze, melt the peanut butter and butter together in the microwave 10 seconds at a time, stirring well in between, or over a low heat in a small pot, similarly stirring often if not continuously, until the peanut butter is of pouring consistency. Spoon it over the cooled muffin Bundt and sprinkle with extra chocolate chips, if desired.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to our Bundt Baker host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm for this fun theme and all of her behind-the-scenes work. Check out all the lovely muffin recipe Bundts:

• Berry Lemon Bundt from Sweet Sensations
• Blueberry Muffin Supreme from Patyco Candybar
• Cinnamon Roll Bundt Cake from Cookaholic Wife
• Jambul/Java Plums Giant Bundt Muffins from Sneha's Recipe
• Morning Glory Muffin Bundt from Passion Kneaded
• Orange Poppyseed Mini Muffin Bundts from A Day in the Life on the Farm 
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffin Bundt from Food Lust People Love
• Pecan Sticky Bundtlette Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Sour Cream Coffee Cake Muffin Bundt Cake from Making Miracles

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our ;Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.

Pin this Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffin Bundt!

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Sous Vide Chicken Crown Roast

A bone-in chicken crown roasts to perfection after a sous vide of one hour and 45 minutes. Succulent and tender, it carves wonderfully into delectable slices. Serve with onions, carrots and/or parsnips for a complete meal.

I know that science is still trying to nail down whether meat cooked on the bone is tastier, but as for me, I am a believer. I have been known to butterfly and marinate legs of lamb to put them on a charcoal grill but that’s about the only time I willingly take a bone out before cooking.

If you’ve never searched, you might not be aware that sous vide recipes for poultry with bones still in are few and far between. Frankly, I couldn’t find one for a whole bird. Most poultry roast recipes call for removing the bones or at the very least butterflying the bird. I’m sure the reason is that it’s hard to keep a whole bird submerged, because of the air inside.

I solved that problem a couple of years ago when I wanted to roast two guinea fowl for Christmas. I stuffed them! It was a risky experiment that could have meant a terrible Christmas dinner but they turned out beautifully! I was so impressed that I’ve even used sous vide to cook a whole stuffed turkey. I cannot tell you how moist and tender the meat was, even the breast.

That’s why I was so excited when I found a chicken crown roast to further experiment on. It’s not a very common cut for chicken although many shops do sell turkey crowns around the holidays. Basically the crown is the whole breast, both sides, with the bones that support it underneath, sometimes with the ribs as well, sometimes without. It's a good place to start if you are scared of sous vide-ing a whole bird.

Sous Vide Bone-in Chicken Crown

Partially cooking the crown roast first by sous vide before roasting ensures that the meat is tender and juicy, yet covered by golden brown skin that people will fight over. To make a full meal of this beauty, you can add onions, carrots, parsnips and/or potatoes to the roasting pan. Or roast it alone if you have other side dishes in mind. It's one of our favorite family meals.

Ingredients
For sous vide:
1 chicken crown, bone in, skin on (about 1 1/2 lbs or 700g)
1 small lemon, sliced in thin wedges
Flakey sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Leaves from 1 large sprig rosemary
2-3 tablespoons butter

Optional for roasting:
2 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 small onions, peeled and quartered
1.1 lbs or 500g Chantenay carrots, topped, tailed and scrubbed clean
2-3 parsnips, peeled and cut into sticks
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method 
Set up your sous vide machine to 145ºF / 62.8ºC in a large vessel filled with water up to the MAX line. Set the time for 1 hour and 45 minutes. (I use this Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker. <Amazon affiliate link)

Liberally salt and pepper the chicken crown. Okay, this guy hasn't been salted and peppered yet but I wanted to show you what he looks like out of the bag.

Put it in a large sealable bag with the lemon wedges, rosemary and butter. Carefully submerge the bag in the heating water until all of the air inside has been pressed out to create a vacuum. Seal the bag.

Sous vide at 145°F/62.8ºC for 1 hour 45 minutes.

Remove the whole bag from the sous vide vessel and leave to cool still in the bag.

If you aren't roasting until later, refrigerate and increase the roasting time to compensate. You will be looking for an internal temperature of about 165°F or 75°C.

To finish, roast on 375°F or 190°C, fan assist, for about 40-45 minutes, accompanied by onions, carrots and/or parsnips drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, if desired. Turn pan occasionally so the chicken crown browns evenly.

Cover with foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Carve to serve with pan juices.

Enjoy!

It’s Multicooker Monday again, that monthly post when we attempt to make more use of our slow cookers, Instant Pots, sous vide machines and air fryers and hopefully inspire you to use yours as well. Many thanks to our group founder and host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. Check out the other recipes we are sharing:

• Breakfast for Dinner Hash Brown & Sausage Soup from Faith, Hope, Luck & Love Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Instant Pot Beef Short Ribs from Palatable Pastime
• Instant Pot Chili from Making Miracles
• Instant Pot Turkey Meatloaf with Potato Wedges from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs in the Instant Pot from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Perfectly Baked Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes from Sneha's Recipe
• Sous Vide Chicken Crown Roast from Food Lust People Love



Multicooker Monday is a blogger group created by Sue of Palatable Pastime for all of us who need encouragement to make better use of our small appliances like slow cookers, Instant Pots, Air Fryers, rice cookers and sous vide machines. We get together every third Monday of the month to share our recipes. If you are a food blogger who would like to post with us, please request to join our Facebook group. 



Pin this Sous Vide Chicken Crown Roast!


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