Chocolate Apple Muffins were inspired by Autumn’s orchard apple slices, dipped in melted chocolate, a favorite treat at any age.
Welcome To Muffin Madness
In my family, I have always been known as the muffin queen, simply because over the years I have created so many different muffin recipes, and still creating!
As a single mom of 4, during those insanely disjointed, hectic years of age 6 to 16, with school, hobbies, work and hormones, I needed a friend!
Muffins became my antidote to madness. My friend. How? I needed a quick, healthy and affordable breakfast, a to-go snack and I needed the kids to be able to help make them.
Now, many years later, I’ve created My Muffin Madness cookbook so that my kids and their kids and you can have a ‘friend’ in your kitchen too!
Autumn Apples
While we import apples from ‘whereever’ year round, growing up in Maryland, we know apple orchards are ripe for picking only in the autumn.
The two varieties of apples I love most, not sold the remainder of the year, pop up at farmer’s markets and a few grocery stores September through November:
- Winesap apples, dating back to American colonial times, crisp, tart and while the skin is not pretty, the fruit is spectacular.
- Stayman apples, distinctively sweet-tart flavor with a hard-bite, crisp texture.
These apples are, in my opinion, superior to all other apples and unfortunately are only to be found the three months of autumn.
So Let’s Talk Apples and I will tell you more about apples and lots of recipes to enjoy them with, not just the ‘ole apple pie’!
Chocolate and Fruit
We all know what a decadent dichotomy it is to dip our healthy snack, ie apples strawberries and other fruit, into chocolate! But dang is it delicious! After all, dark chocolate is good for us, right?
Well, when my kids were growing up, I certainly thought a plate of freshly chopped apples with a little cup of melted chocolate (for dipping), sometimes peanut butter, was a fabulous treat for the kids.
I also discover a fabulous substitute for chocolate, using carob powder, just as I would cacao powder, only without the caffeine.
I created this quick bread, for either loaf or muffin, for relaxed ‘at home’ enjoyment or on the go convenience.
Why Muffins?
A quick bread is a batter mixed with baking powder and/or baking soda to act as the rising agent. This type of batter can be mixed and baked quickly. Muffins are quick bread!
Yeast breads require rising time, usually an hour or more, before they can be baked. Not quick but also scrumptious.
I make quick breads weekly because I am able to bake a gazillion ingredients into a hand held, healthy and satisfying bite of deliciousness.
My Favorite Muffin Appliance – Food Processor
Making batches of muffins or quick bread loaves can be done in minutes with a food processor.
If I could choose only one modern piece of equipment in my kitchen it would definitely be the food processor.
I grind grain into flour, nuts into flour, chop dates into sugar, fruits and veggies into quick dishes. How about that hummus, baba ghanoush and other fabulous pestos and sauces.
My Muffin Madness is a quick and healthy cookbook to showcase at least 52 different muffins, one each week, and I couldn’t do it without my food processor.
How To Make Apple Chocolate Muffins
Peel and rough chop a few apples, toss them in the food processor with the wet ingredients. Toss in the dry ingredients, puree and you’ve got a delicious batter ready to be baked in under 10-minutes.
I like to add a little oat flour to my muffin batter because it gives a rustic texture, instead of a cake texture, and it imparts a healthy wholesomeness to it.
Oat flour, you ask? All I do is put a bag of quick cooking oats into the food processor and in under one minute I am able to grind a container of oat flakes into a powdery light oat flour.
Chocolate
Obviously, while I do drizzle a little melted chocolate across the tops of my apple chocolate muffins or bread after they are baked; I only use raw cacao powder in the recipe to make the bread.
Raw cacao is pure chocolate produced from unroasted cocoa beans. Nothing has been added to it so it is up to you to adjust the sweetness when cooking with cacao.
The health benefits are numerous in raw cacao, and I like knowing that I can make my own variation of something chocolate with sweetness I can feel good about.
Evidently, I prefer healthy sweet treats. So, one of my favorite sweet treats, you will find in my fridge is Date Treats. A pureed paste of raw cacao, dates and nuts, rolled into a log and sliced into bite size treats. Healthy!
Ingredients Needed
- Apples
- Sugar
- Cacao
- Sunflower oil
- Apple cider
- Eggs
- Flour
- Oat Flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Semi-sweet chocolate
Equipment Needed
- Food processor
- Vegetable peeler
- Cutting board
- Chopping knife
- Mini-Loaf pans or muffin tins
- Measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Fork
- Melting pot – for chocolate
- Whisk
- Spoon
- Oven
Chocolate Apple Muffins
Ingredients
- Apples – 2 cups, chopped (about 3 small apples)
- Sugar – 1/2 cup
- Cacao – 1/4 cup
- Sunflower oil – 1/3 cup
- Apple cider – 1/4 cup, apple juice or water can be substituted
- Eggs – 3
- Flour – 2 cups
- Oat flour – 1/2 cup
- Baking powder – 2 teaspoons
- Baking soda – 1/2 teaspoon
- Salt – 1/2 teaspoon
- Semi-sweet chocolate – 1 oz (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350
- In a food processor, place the rough chopped apples, sugar, cacao, oil, apple juice (or water) and eggs. Pulse until smooth.
- Add the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt and pulse to mix.
- In a baking paper lined (cupcake papers), muffin tin, or an oiled loaf pan, divide the batter, filling 3/4 the way up.
- Bake for about 25 minutes or until the top infirm to the touch.
- If using a drizzle, melt the chocolate and with a fork, dipped into the melted chocolate, quickly drizzle a little melted chocolate across the top.
Nutrition
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.
