I know I’m going to sound like a real basic girl…but I LOVE fall. I love the cozy vibes it brings, with the crisp air and the leaves changing. I love how the whole season is one big pre-game for Christmas, which is my favorite holiday. And the FOOD. Braised meaty stews that are hearty and thick. My rich and spicy beer chili that I make every year on Halloween. Hot spiced apple cider around a backyard bonfire. Nightly mugs of hot chocolate for dessert. Cozy food is one of my favorite food groups, and I look forward to it every year.
One of my favorite fall activities is to go apple picking. If you live near an apple orchard, I highly recommend it, it’s a great activity for families. One of my favorite things about apple orchards is the apple cider and apple cider doughnuts they sell. There’s something otherworldly about biting into a cinnamon sugar-coated cider doughnut and washing it down with cold apple cider. I wanted a way to recreate that experience while keeping it easy and avoiding any deep frying.
To give these muffins a doughnut vibe, I top them with turbinado sugar before baking to give them a nice crunch. I picked this tip up from Smitten Kitchen, who sprinkles a lot of her baked goods with turbinado sugar. It improves nearly every sweet bread or muffin. I also wanted to boost the apple cider flavor, so I brush the tops with reduced apple cider. Reducing it concentrates the flavor so when you take the bite it’s like walking into an apple orchard.
When I developed this recipe, I found I liked them better when I double-filled the tin and made 10 jumbo-sized muffins. It’s totally a personal preference. This recipe can also make a dozen regular-sized muffins and they cook at the same rate.
What makes this recipe enchanting:
It's an easy baking project that's great for beginners!
Simple tricks like sprinkling the tops with turbinado sugar and brushing the tops with reduced apple cider take these from good to INCREDIBLE.
Your house will smell better than any Bath & Body Works candle money can buy.
More cozy fall recipes:
Video with step-by-step instructions:
Jumbo Apple Cider Donut Muffins with pecans:
Makes 10 large-sized muffins or 12 regular-sized muffins
Ingredients:
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup of vegetable oil
2 oranges’ zest
1 cup apple cider
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¾ cup pecans, chopped
Turbinado sugar or raw sugar, for topping
Apple cider soak:
½ cup apple cider
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Melt your butter and allow it to cool.
In a large bowl, use an electric hand mixer or a whisk to combine the eggs, sugars, maple syrup, butter, vegetable oil, orange zest, and apple cider. Set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and pecans.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix until just combined.
Spray 10 cups of a nonstick muffin tin with baking spray. Fill the batter in the muffin tin about ¾ of the way full (I use a large cookie scoop and do 2 scoops into each muffin cup). Sprinkle each cup of batter with about 1 teaspoon of turbinado sugar. Bake for 18-22 minutes.
For the apple cider soak, heat the apple cider in a saucepan to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until cider is reduced by half, 8–10 minutes. I usually cook it until it’s barely covering the bottom of the pan. It won’t look like a lot, but it will be more than enough.
When the muffins are done baking, while they are still warm, use a chopstick or toothpick to poke holes all over the tops of the muffins. Brush or spoon the apple cider soak over the muffins. Be generous with it, don’t be shy. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before eating.
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