I haven’t gotten to do a whole lot of baking lately. There’s been so much to do at work and so many trips to the hospital that I was starting to fear that I was losing my baking mojo.
That would have been a terrible thing. Because baking just makes sense. It makes my world make sense.
When life goes sideways, baking keeps the world in order. Combining flours and sugars with butter and eggs will almost always fix a bad day. They react in predictable, knowable ways. Whisking the liquids before adding them to the dry ingredients will turn out a tender muffin.
And muffins are an excuse for a sweet treat at breakfast. Add in chai spices and a streusel topping and you have a winning breakfast.
You don’t need to bring out the mixer. Just a few bowls and 15 minutes. These are great warm and fresh from the oven, but if you can resist and save a few, they last for a couple days in a sealed container at room temperature.
- Streusel Topping
- 70 grams (1/2 cup) gluten-free all purpose flour
- 105 grams (1/2 cup lightly packed) brown sugar
- 70 grams (5 tablespoons) cold butter
- 50 grams (1/4 cup) sliced almonds (optional)
- Muffins
- 1 medium apple, peeled and diced into 1/4 inch dice
- 280 + 10 grams (2 cups + 1 tablespoon) gluten-free all purpose flour*, divided
- 70 grams (1/3 cup) sugar
- 70 grams (1/3 cup lightly packed) brown sugar
- 10 grams (1 tablespoon) baking powder
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 212 grams (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup strong chai tea, cooled**
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a standard muffin tin with papers or grease and flour the wells.
- In a medium bowl, toss the diced apple with the tablespoon (10 grams) of gluten-free flour. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and brown sugar. Cut in the cold butter using a pastry blender (or pulse all the ingredients in a food processor). It will look like slightly clumpy sand. Mix in the almonds if using and then place in the fridge.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, spices and salt, making sure to remove lumps from the brown sugar.
- In a second bowl, whisk together the egg, butter, chai and vanilla. Stir the liquids into the flour mixture until well combined. Stir in the apple pieces.
- Divide the batter between the wells. Remove the streusel from the fridge and top each muffin.
- Place the muffins in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until cooked through.