Fall Apple Muffins

We have a bunch of apples that I thought were too sweet to eat, but would be perfect for baking. In one of the “cookbooks” I recently purchased I found a recipe from Gold Medal Flour and Betty Crocker. The sheet of printed recipes probably came with your Gold Medal Flour and is typical of the many company promotional recipes common in the 20th century. Invented to sell their products to housewives, these recipes are often great.

The recipe for Apple Muffins was touted as a “brand new taste treat” and that they would be tender and delicious. They were also very simple to make. To read more about the history of muffins read my earlier blog on Aunt Lil’s Blueberry Muffins. My guess is that this Apple Muffin recipe dates between the late 1940s – 1950s. The sheet is marked Series 28 and to see the whole grouping of recipes check out this post.

Here’s the recipe:

Apple Muffins   

The ingredients

Sift together in a bowl the following:

• 2 cups sifted Gold medal “Kitchen-tested Enriched Flour
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Blend in the following:

• 1 egg, well beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 c. shortening (melted and cooled) (I used butter)

Stir just enough to mix ingredients (note – over stirring can make a tough muffin so this is crucial).

Carefully fold in 1 c sliced apples sweetened with 1/4 c. sugar

In the muffin tin

Pour into well greased muffin pans filling muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 20-25 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Serve piping hot. Makes 12 muffins.

The result – well this is not one I’d recommend. Its bland (partially because I forgot to sweeten the apples with 1/4 c sugar) and tastes overly of baking powder. You can see why when you compare it to Aunt Lil’s Blueberry Muffin recipe. They are basically the same with the amount of baking powder being the major difference.

It’s always disappointing when a recipe doesn’t turn out well, but they all can’t be great can they? But my next blog won’t let you down. It’s a great Apple Betty recipe from the Depression.

Looks good, but taste doesn’t hold up