Cinnamon and apple are basically the Cagney and Lacey of muffins

I love cinnamon in baked goods, and apple and cinnamon are a match made in baking heaven.  With that in mind I whipped up a batch of apple and cinnamon muffins.  Here’s what you need to know to make about 12 of your own.

Now I should say, I have made these many times and despite being no expert recipe tester, the one I have below is what I follow and to date they have been a success, or at least all eaten. I’ve even included step by step pictures to keep you on the right track.

Ingredients:

• 75ml of olive oil
• 200ml of buttermilk
• The zest of 1 lemon
• 3 medium or 2 large sized eggs
• 150g of castor sugar
• 250g of self raising flour
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1 large cooking apple – diced into small pieces

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 190˚C/375°F/Gas Mark 5.

2. In a bowl/jug mix the buttermilk, olive oil and lemon zest.

3. Beat the eggs and castor sugar until they are light and fluffy.

4. Add in the olive oil, buttermilk and lemon zest and mix together.

5. Next fold in the flour, diced apple and cinnamon

6. Grease a muffin tin with butter or alternatively use large muffin cases.

7. Spoon the mixture into the tin, filling each to just below the rim. You can top with a few pieces of diced apple if you wish. Cook on the middle shelf of your oven for about 20 minutes.

8. When baked, they should be golden brown on top and you can check their cooked by pressing a toothpick or skewer into them.  It should come out clean if they are cooked.  If not give them a few more minutes.

Final step is to Eat them.  They are delicious while still warm and give a beautiful cinnamon smell. Perfect for a cold winters morning with a cup of tea, and dare I say, we are not that far off Christmas and cinnamon is all sorts of Christmassy !