Sweet Saturday: Apple Cider Doughnut Muffins with Apple Cider Glaze

Happy Saturday, my dear friends! I hope you're enjoying a beautiful weekend. :o)

This week flew by, but I'm ecstatic that I had some fun kitchen time yesterday! :o) My loved ones and I adore the tastes of the season, so I opted for another Autumn delight. This time I wanted to celebrate apples and was thrilled when I stumbled upon a fantastic recipe: Apple Cider Doughnut Muffins with Apple Cider Glaze! (And homemade Apple Pie Spice, too!)

If enlarged, you can sort of see the shiny glaze on top and slightly pooled along the paper liner. Not only is it always fun to dunk treats into glazes, but this one is delicious. Both the muffin and glaze taste like Autumn. :o) The diced apple bits combine so beautifully with the spices, delivering flavor this is quintessential to this season of harvest. The muffin is light and fluffy, and while the apple cider doesn't wallop you in the face, it is certainly there. I hadn't made muffins in an extremely long time, but this one will be made again very soon.. as in the next couple of days to bless my mom's coworkers again. They love when I bake! :o)

Another fun thing about this recipe is it followed one for homemade Apple Pie Spice. I'm not a fan of buying seasonal spices, only because it seems silly to buy a bottle of spice that contains ingredients already in my spice drawer. Another benefit to making your own spice blend is that you can tweak the amount of spices that go into its creation. If you especially love a particular component, add a little extra! Not a massive fan of one spice? Dial that one down a notch. :o)

My family loved these muffins, which makes my heart flutter. It may just be a muffin, but when it brings about smiles... it means so much more. :o) Bake these, enjoy them with your family, and celebrate Autumn! :o)

Apple Cider Doughnut Muffins with Apple Cider Glaze
Yield: Approximately 12 muffins

Ingredients:
For the muffins:
2⅔ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon homemade apple pie spice (recipe below)
¾ teaspoon salt

¾ cup milk

¼ cup apple cider, at room temperature
¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup lightly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup diced Honey Crisp apples

For the glaze:
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
¼ teaspoon homemade apple pie spice (recipe below)
3 tablespoons apple cider, at room temperature

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425º F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin or line with 12 paper liners.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, apple pie spice, and salt. Set aside. In a glass measuring cup, combine the milk and apple cider. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugars until smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating to combine. Reduce the speed to low and add in the flour mixture alternately with the milk/cider, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, until thoroughly combined. Fold in the diced apples.

Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups nearly full.

Bake the muffins for 15-17 minutes or until they're pale golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle of a center muffin comes out clean. Remove pan to a cooling rack and allow muffins to cool for about 10 minutes.

Prepare the glaze: In a medium bowl, mix together the melted butter, confectioners' sugar, apple pie spice, and apple cider. Whisk until smooth.

Place a layer of wax or parchment paper under the cooling rack. Dip the muffin crowns into the glaze. Place the muffins back onto the cooling rack and allow the glaze to harden.

Muffins will keep in a sealed container at room temperature for about a day.

Source: My Baking Addiction
*****

Apple Pie Spice
Yield: Approximately ⅓ cup

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1½ teaspoons ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1½ teaspoons ground cardamom

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix together spices until well-combined. Store in a small jar or spice container.

Notes:
 * These measurements don't need to be precise. If you prefer more of one spice or less of another, feel free to adjust to your liking.
 * If using freshly grated nutmeg, decrease the amount a bit as it tends to be quite a bit stronger than jarred ground nutmeg.

Source: My Baking Addiction