Spicy Apple Muffins

From Beat High Blood Pressure Cookbook

Apple sauce replaces some of the fat, and fresh apples and oats add nutritious fibre to these muffins. But these are still as delicious as any homemade muffin you can remember.

Preparation time 10 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes
Makes 12

Ingredients for Spice Apple Muffins

13⁄4 cups (245g) plain flour
1 cup (155g) soft brown sugar
2 sachets (about 40g each) apple-flavoured instant porridge
1 tbsp salt-reduced polyunsaturated spread
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1⁄2 tsp mixed spice
1 jar (about 250g) unsweetened apple sauce
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 medium eggs
1 large green apple, cored and chopped

Preparation Method for Spicy Apple Muffins

1 Preheat the oven to 190°C. Lightly coat a 12-hole American-style muffin tray with cooking spray. Combine 1⁄3 cup (50g) of the flour, 1⁄3 cup (50g) of the brown sugar, 1 sachet of the porridge and the spread in a small bowl. Rub in with your fingertips until the mixture is crumbly. Set aside until needed.

2 Mix the remaining flour and porridge mix with the bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice in a medium bowl, and make a well in the centre.

3 Stir together the apple sauce, oil, remaining brown sugar and the eggs in another bowl until the brown sugar has dissolved. Pour into the well in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined (do not overmix; the mixture should be lumpy). Stir in the apple.

4 Spoon the mixture into the muffin tray. Sprinkle with the crumble topping. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins on a wire rack.

Some more ideas…
Use a pear instead of the apple, and add 1⁄2 cup (80g) raisins to the mixture.

For a denser muffin with even more fibre, you can replace some or all of the plain flour with wholemeal flour.