Apple Strudel Muffins

from Susan Bucklew

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 tsp ‘pumpkin pie’ spice 1/2 cup butter 1 cup white sugar 1 to 2 tbs molasses – taste ¼ to ½ c buttermilk 1 egg

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla 1 1/2 cups chopped apples – 2 apples, peeled and coarsely chopped and soak ed in lemon juice water 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon or your favorite ‘pumpkin pie’ spice 1 tablespoon butter

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan.
2.	In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3.	In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Stir in apples, and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.
4.	In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.
5.	Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.

Pumpkin pie spice is a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom for my taste.

No buttermilk? Use regular milk with a splash of lemon juice. Don’t want milk? Use 2 eggs. Want to use food storage? Use cannery dried apple slices and soak in water spiked with  lemon juice. Replace eggs with dried egg whites and a tsp oil. Use powdered milk. Voila! Enjoy.