Apple Green Raisin Muffins

We (my six year old son and Moi) made these muffins last weekend. Perfect day to bake. It was snowing outside so had to be indoors. Just before Christmas we always get into the mood to bake. There's something about this time of the year which makes you crave for sweet goodness.

My son announced the secret Ingredients - Apple and Cinnamon. (You could tell he's been watching a lot of Food Network along with me, especially the Iron Chef where the contestants are given a secret ingredient which they have to use in all their dishes in a set amount of time.)

This is the first time I made Apple Cinnamon muffins. I used to make Banana Walnut muffins and since its been a while that I made them, I had misplaced the recipe. No worries I thought to myself and looked up this very promising recipe on the internet. You can find the original recipe here.

Now to cut a long story short I did make a lot of changes to the above recipe and my muffins did not quite rise as they are supposed to. But they still tasted great. Oh, well To ERR is Human and to Forgive Divine. But good lesson learnt when baking follow instructions to a tee, especially the flour to liquid ratio has to be perfect. (So I should have added less amount of milk ).Well now I know. Or maybe not. If you are reading this recipe, feel free to give your insights as to why my muffins did not rise enough to show off their muffin crowns.

Ingredients:

1) 1 1/2 cups all Purpose Flour

2) 3 teaspoons Baking powder

3) pinch of salt

4) 1/2 cup granulated sugar

5) 2 eggs lightly beaten
6) 1/2 cup or 1 Stick butter

7) 1 tablespoon Orange Zest

8) 1 cup milk

9) 1/4 cup Orange juice

10) 1 1/2 cups Gala apple peeled,cored and chopped

11) 1/4 cup green raisins

12) 1 tablespoon sugar

13) 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation:

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2) Grease the muffin cups or line them with paper muffin liners.

3) In one bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl cream butter and sugar. Add in the lightly beaten eggs. Whisk by hand. Add the Orange Zest, followed by milk and orange juice. Blend them together.

4) Now add the flour mixture to the butter mixture till its all moist and there are no lumps. Add the raisins and gently fold in the chopped apples.

5) Spoon the muffin mixture into the muffin cups already prepared.

6) Now to top the muffins , prepare a mixture of 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

7) Sprinkle the sugar-cinnamon mix on top of the pre-baked muffins.

8)Bake for 15 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.

9) Let it cool for couple minutes and then set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

10) Ready to serve. I love mine with ginger tea. This recipe yields 2 dozen Muffins(12 small and 12 mini muffins.)