It’s Apple and Blackberry Season. This is one of my favourite foodie times of the years. The trees are bulging with apples and the hedgerows are stuffed with big fresh Blackberries. Apple and Blackberry Crumble is always one of my favourites, so what better to make than Apple and Blackberry Crumble Muffins.
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Apple Season
Apple season is always wonderful. In our village there are a lot of people with apple trees. We only planted ours this year so the harvest is small, to say the least. However, one of our neighbours has 2 of the prettiest apple trees in his front garden. And when he said ‘help yourself’, or else all the apples would just end up going to the horses, I was straight over there with my bowl.
These 2 trees are different varieties. He has no idea what they are, but they are both sweet, eating apples. And that’s what I love most about Apple Season – the variety!
The selection of apples in the shops has now become dull. There are just a handful of different types on sale, and quite frankly it gets a bit boring. So, when I have the opportunity to try new apples, that are homegrown, never sprayed, it is a total treat!
Seasonal Fruit is always so yummy to bake with. When they are at the height of their natural growing season they will have the most flavour.
Apple and Blackberry Crumble Muffin Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
Flour – Plain Flour with added baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. I prefer to use plain or all purpose flour and add my own raising agent. This recipe includes both bicarbonate of soda for the initial rise, and baking powder for the extended rise.
Sugar – I used caster sugar, but you can use granulated or even light brown for a more caramel flavour.
Cinnamon – I love the flavour of cinnamon with Apple and Blackberries. Add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon for a nice spiced flavour.
Wet Ingredients
Buttermilk – Buttermilk adds a great creamy flavour. It is also acidic so helps the bicarbonate of soda to do it’s job. If you don’t have, or can’t get hold of buttermilk you can make your own. Simply stir 2 teaspoons of lemon juice into 150ml of Milk and leave to thicken for 5 minutes.
Egg – I used a UK large free range egg.
Butter – Melted butter/baking spread or oil is always best in muffins. I used melted baking spread as it has more flavour than oil but is cheaper than real block butter.
Fruit
Apples – I used fresh apples straight from the tree. Use whichever variety you prefer. If you prefer a slightly more tart flavour then use Bramley Apples or cooking apples.
Berries – Again I used some that I had foraged from the hedgerow. I found lots of plump, juicy blackberries. However, if you are not keen on blackberries you could either leave them out or swap them for raspberries.
Crumble Ingredients – The crumb topping is the same as if you were making an actual Apple and Blackberry Crumble. I substituted some of my white sugar for light brown to give a nice caramel flavour. If you have demerara that would be add to the crunch.
Substitute Ingredients
Gluten Free - This recipe will work perfectly well with gluten free flour and baking powder due to the high moisture content. If you use gluten free flour I would advise you add some Xantham Gum (according to the manufacturer’s instructions) to stop the muffins being crumbly.
Dairy Free – Use either a low flavour oil, such as Sunflower, Rapeseed or Vegetable, or melted plant-based butter/spread to make a dairy free alternative. Use a plant-based butter or spread in the crumble topping.
Apple and Blackberry Crumble Muffin Technique
Delicious muffins are very simple to make, but there is a specific technique to mixing muffin batter.
I prefer to weigh all my ingredients, but you can use cup measurements if you find it easier.
You start by combining all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Then in a separate mixing bowl or jug combine all the wet ingredients.
Then bring them together and mix until just combined. If it’s still a little lumpy then that’s fine. When researching muffin recipes I read that you shouldn’t mix your muffin batter more than 11 times. I have no idea if this is true, but I think the general idea is to make sure you do not overmix it.
You then mix through your fruit. I cut my apple into small cubes, however if you don’t want large chunks of apple in your muffin grated apple will work just as well.
Spoon into your paper muffin cases or cupcake cases. Depending if you want a classic ‘muffin top’ where the cake overspills the case slightly, depends on how much you fill your cases. If you want a muffin top, fill to a couple of centre metres below the top, if you don’t want them over spilling fill to 2 thirds full.
Lastly, mix your crumble mixture. Crumble topping is like a streusel topping in that it is sprinkled over the tops of the muffins before the baking.
Put all your crumble ingredients into a bowl, and using your fingertips rub to the texture of fine breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over the muffin batter in the tin before baking.
Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until they are a nice golden brown. As soon as the muffins come out of the oven transfer to a wire rack. This will help make sure the paper cases do not peel away.
Apple and Blackberry Crumble Muffin FAQs
Don’t overmix. Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix until just combined. If it’s still a little lumpy don’t worry.
Overmixing. Don’t not overmix. You do not want the gluten in the flour to develop at all, so by barely mixing you will have a light, tender muffin.
Quite simply, pack them full of fruit.
Once baked you can store the muffins in an airtight container for up to 5 days. This will keep them lovely and fresh.
Yes. Put them in a airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. To defrost remove from the freezer and allow to come to room temperature before removing them from the container. This will strop them getting condensation on the outside and going soggy.
Apple and Blackberry pair brilliantly with cinnamon. Adding ground cinnamon will add extra flavour. You could also use light brown sugar instead of white sugar for extra caramel flavour.
I use a regular 12 hole cupcake tray or muffin tray lined with paper cases. The cases will help the muffins come out of the tin easily and will help keep the muffins fresh.
Pro Tip
These are great Breakfast products. They are really quick to make and can go into the oven in a matter of minutes. If you run a café or coffee shop, having fresh baked muffins for breakfast will be great as a take away item.
If you like these Muffins, then you'll love these:
Apple and Blackberry Muffins with a Crumble Topping
Equipment
- 1 12 hole Muffin/Cupcake Tin
- 10 Muffin Cases
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 measuring jug
Ingredients
Muffins
- 2 to 3 Medium Apples
- Handful Blackberries
- 175 gms Plain Flour
- 1 tspn Baking Powder
- 0.5 tspn Bicarbonate of Soda
- 1 tspn Ground Cinnamon
- 90 gms Caster or Granulated Sugar
- 150 ml Buttermilk For instructions on how to make your own check out the post.
- 1 Large Free Range Egg
- 75 gms Melted Butter
Crumble Topping
- 60 gms Plain Flour
- 25 gms Butter or Baking Spread
- 15 gms Light Brown Sugar
- 10 gms Granulated Sugar You can use all white sugar and omit the light brown
Instructions
Muffins
- Preheat your oven to 170c fan, 190f, 375c, Gas Mark 4
- Line a cupcake or muffin tin with paper cases
- Peel and core the apples and chop into 1cm cubes
- Wash and drain the blackberries on a piece of kitchen roll
- In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar and cinnamon
- In a measuring jug pour the buttermilk, egg and melted butter
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until barely combined
- Add the fruit and mix through
- Spoon into the paper cases, filling 2 thirds full
Crumble Topping
- Put all the ingredients into a small bowl
- Using your fingertips, rub the ingredients together until you get the texture of fine breadcrumbs
- Sprinkle the crumble topping over the muffin batter in the tin
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until they are well risen, golden brown and a skewer placed in the centre comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and transfer them to a wire rack to cool fully
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