Apple Muffins with Browned Butter Streusel

Before Hawaii: a story and recipe from The Baking Wizard!

A few years ago I was asked to judge a local apple cooking contest. The recipes were incredibly diverse and ranged from apple leather to apple pizza. But there was one recipe that stood out from all the rest: apple muffins. These were the lightest apple muffins I had ever tasted and they boasted a deep apple flavor along with a generous amount of diced sweet/tart apple.

The recipe won best in show, and when I asked the recipe’s creator how she managed to pack so much apple flavor into her muffins she told me she boiled down apple cider to concentrate its flavor. And what about the streusel topping? Why did it have such a nutty flavor? She browned the butter!

So here’s to make these fabulous muffins.

On the left, muffin batter with streusel topping. On the right muffin batter unadorned.