When I was a kid, apple picking was one of my favourite school field trips. I remember jumping off the yellow school bus, wearing an ill-fitting, bright-coloured pinny so everyone knew which group we were with, and running into the orchard, trees laden with bright red apples. You were allowed to fill up your bag and eat as many apples as you liked while you were there. McIntosh were my favourite, until I overdid it one year. Nothing tastes better than a sweet, crisp, just-picked apple — until you eat 6 or 7 in a row. It was not a pleasant bus ride back.

I got a crash course in apples a few years back, when I was working as a journalist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corportaion (CBC). It was a slow news day and my producer, Nathalie, sent me to a nearby apple orchard to do live reports for Homerun, the CBC Radio afternoon show in Montreal at the time (88.5FM — a shameless plug for my CBC friends, who are awesome!) While there, I learned that McIntosh apples are not the best apples to bake with because they tend to break down pretty quickly when cooked — which makes them perfect for applesauce. Cortland apples, on the other hand, are a great apple to bake with because they do not brown when they’re cut and hold their shape really well. The Lobo variety is also great for cooking and baking. I almost always use Cortland and Lobo apples when I bake because they are a little tart and really hold up well in recipes.

This apple muffin is moist and flavoured with all the traditional autumn spices — cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. But, the best part of this muffin is the streusel topping. Don’t skip it — it’s crunchy and delicious!

Looking for more apple recipes? Check out my Nonna Maria’s Apple Cake!

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 4-6 apples, peeled and grated  (about 2 cups)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sour cream or plain Greek yoghurt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves

For the topping:

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cups oats
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp flax seeds (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400F and line a muffin tin with paper baking cups.
2. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, sour cream, vanilla and brown sugar. Stir in the grated apples. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined.
5. Spoon batter into the paper-lined muffin tin — I like to use an ice cream scoop for this.
6. For the topping: In a small bowl, stir together all the topping ingredients. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the muffins.
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean.

*Yield: 12 large muffins