90g¾ cup plain gluten free flour blend (I used Doves Farm Freee gluten free plain white flour that doesn't have any xanthan gum added. You can also mix your own gluten free flour blend using this recipe. Note that for this homemade blend, 1 cup = 150g, so ideally use a digital food scale and the weight measurements for best results.)
50g¼ cup light brown soft sugar
1tspground cinnamon
¼tspxanthan gumOmit if your gluten free flour blend already contains xanthan gum.
45g3 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cubed
Apple muffins:
150g¾ cup light brown soft sugar
55g½ stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
25g2 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil, or other neutral-tasting oil
75g⅓ cup full-fat plain or Greek-style yoghurt, room temperature
2US large/UK medium eggsroom temperature
½tspvanilla bean pasteor 1 tsp vanilla extract
240g2 cups plain gluten free flour blend (I used Doves Farm Freee gluten free plain white flour that doesn't have any xanthan gum added. You can also mix your own gluten free flour blend using this recipe. Note that for this homemade blend, 1 cup = 150g, so ideally use a digital food scale and the weight measurements for best results.)
1¼tspbaking powder
½tspbaking soda
½tspxanthan gumOmit if your gluten free flour blend already contains xanthan gum.
¼tspsalt
2tspground cinnamon
1tspground ginger
3medium slightly tartfirm eating apples (about 450g), peeled, cored and cut into about ½-inch (1cm) pieces (I recommend apple varieties such as Braeburn, Granny Smith, Pink Lady or Jazz.)
Instructions
Streusel topping:
In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour blend, light brown sugar, cinnamon and xanthan gum.
Add the cubed cold butter and rub it into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until you get a crumbly mixture that forms clumps when you press it together. You want a mixture of small “crumbs” and larger pea-sized pieces.
Set aside until needed.
Apple muffins:
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC) and line 10 holes of a 12-hole muffin pan with paper liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the light brown sugar, melted butter, oil, yoghurt, eggs and vanilla until well combined.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon and ginger.
Add the dry ingredients and the chopped apples to the wet ingredients, and use a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon to mix everything together into a fairly thick batter. Make sure that there are no flour clumps and that the apple chunks are evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Tip: As you fold everything together, the apples first get coated in the dry ingredients and then mixed into the batter. This essentially mimics the step you often see in recipes which calls for coating fruit (such as berries or chopped apples) in flour, but here this happens in situ.
Use an ice cream/cookie scoop or a spoon to divide the batter evenly between the 10 muffin liners, filling each to the brim.
Tip: For beautifully domed, bakery-style muffins, it’s important that you fill the muffin liners VERY generously, they need to be filled to the brim or even dome slightly above the edge of the liners (because the batter is very thick, it won’t overflow).
Sprinkle the top of each muffin generously with the streusel topping – you shouldn't have any streusel left over at the end.
Bake at 375ºF (190ºC) for about 20-24 minutes or until the muffins are well risen, golden brown on top and an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
Allow the muffins to cool in the muffin pan for about 5-10 minutes, then transfer them out of the pan and onto a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Storage: The gluten free apple crumble muffins keep well in a closed container in a cool dry place for about 2-3 days. Recipe by The Loopy Whisk (www.theloopywhisk.com).
