I have something to admit. I bought a bushel of apples. This is the most annoying influencer/millennial thing I’ve done all year — overbought seasonal produce to the point I have to complain about it and serve said produce in weird ways. In my defense, I did not pick a bushel of apples whilst wearing flannel. I just bought them from my mom’s favorite farmstand near my hometown.

Bayer’s Melon Farm is the kind of place I wish we had near us in DC: Great produce, locally grown or sourced through like-minded farmers, and totally unpretentious. I find myself getting a little annoyed at most DC-area farmstands because I am already overpaying for produce, I don’t want a serving of self-righteousness to go with my squash, thanks. And no, I don’t compost, I know, I should, but much like flossing, that’s something I’ll get around to when I grow up. I swear.

Back to the muffins, though. I had a hankering for muffins the other morning, and we know that pandemic Alicia doesn’t say no to baked goods in the morning (see: Biscuits for Breakfast Just Because). But I didn’t have any berries on hand, just a mess of apples. So, apple muffins it shall be. Alas, I feared my go-to muffin recipe wouldn’t be sturdy enough for apples. I wanted something a little heartier, that would support the apples throughout the muffin and stand up to all that apple goodness that oozed out while baking. 

Enter: Smitten Kitchen’s Rhubarb Streusel Muffins. The sour cream (or Greek yogurt, in my case) is a little weightier than the oil I use in my regular muffins. The melted butter provides an excellent richness, combating any tang from the yogurt. And the streusel? It’s little crumbles that practically speak to you, “Fall! Flannel! Gimme’ more cinnamon for my apples!”

Follow Deb’s recipe, but sub in diced apples in place of the rhubarb. Add a little extra cinnamon to the streusel, if you’re feeling extra #PumpkinSpicy, and if you only have Greek yogurt on hand, that works in place of Sour Cream. 

Then for dinner, when you’ve just finished your last muffin and thought to yourself, “I could eat apples with every meal,” you should add diced apples to your arugula salad. As long as you don’t mention the bushel of apples, people won’t even realize you’re serving them a shocking amount of golden deliciousness.

Uncategorized baking breakfast local produce recipe