Killer Maple Bacon Apple Muffins
Maple Bacon Apple Muffins
Maple bacon anything is an easy “Yes”. Add the apple and it is an even quicker yes. Offer it for breakfast to have with the morning coffee and suddenly the day just started out in as good of a way as possible.
It’s like the heavens opened up and looked down on you. You, who took that extra couple minutes to make your bed. Who replaced the roll of paper towels after using the last sheet. You who held the door for the next person coming after you. And the heavens said, “You deserve something extra special.”
In creating this morning bite of deliciousness, we wanted a really good muffin base. Moist and flavorful. Not one that needed to be masked under the flavors of the maple bacon, but one that you’d want to eat straight up. And only after reaching that point would the muffin we worthy of a generous maple bacon topping.
We love the apple muffin recipe from the Food Network’s Ellie Krieger. It is a made with applesauce and buttermilk, ensuring a great moist muffin. We changed up the muffin to accommodate the ingredients we nearly always have on hand in the pantry and pumped up the spices a bit. We love this muffin.
The size of the bacon pieces is a key point for us. I can’t stand it when tiny little bacon crumbles are passed off as acceptable toppings. This is bacon. It is important to not diss the bacon. Yet since we want to eat muffins without a knife and fork, we didn’t want the bacon too big. An inch and a half sized pieces seem just about perfect. If you are going to be using a knife and fork, make it bigger.
Enjoy, you deserve these maple bacon apple muffins.
Todd & Diane
Maple Bacon Apple Muffins
Ingredients
Apple Muffin ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup (60ml) canola oil or vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup (165g) packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (245g) unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (180ml) buttermilk
- 1/2 pound (about 1 large - 225g) baking apple *see Note 1, peeled cored, and cut into small pieces
Maple Bacon Glaze Ingredients
- 1/2 pound (225g) bacon , cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick or 60g) unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup (60ml) maple syrup
- 1/4 cup (55g) packed brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a 12-capacity muffin tray or line with baking cups.
- Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oil and brown sugar. Whisk in the eggs one at a time. Whisk in the applesauce and vanilla extract.Fold in half of the flour mixture. Stir in the buttermilk. Fold in the remaining flour mixture until just combined. Gently stir in the apple pieces.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pan and tap the pan on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the muffins. Let cool for about 15 minutes and then remove the muffins from the pan and place on a cooling rack.
- Make the maple bacon glaze. In a large skillet cook the bacon pieces until nearly crisp, or to your preferred crispness. Remove the bacon from the skillet and drain off the majority of the rendered bacon fat.
- Over medium-low heat, melt the butter in the skillet which the bacon was cooked in. Stir in the maple syrup and brown sugar, mixing until the sugar is dissolved. Add the bacon to the maple/butter sauce.
- Place a few pieces of bacon on each muffin and drizzle the maple sauce over the muffin. Allow to cool slightly and serve.
Notes
Note 1:
Some of our favorite baking apples are the Honeycrisp, Crispin (aka Mutsu), Pink Lady, Fuji, and Granny Smiths.Nutrition Information per Serving
More awesome muffin recipes here for you.
Would this work with larger tulip style muffin cases and not cupcake ones?
Hi Andy,
It should work about the same, we just haven’t tested them with that style cup. Timing might be just a touch different.
Does the glaze make the muffins soggy? I would like to set these out for a 2-hr brunch mtg, but should maybe put the glaze on the side?
This recipe looks delicious. If I leave out the apple chunks, should I add a little more applesauce to keep a good wet/dry balance? (Heresy, I know, but I have a couple people in my family who might reject them on sight if they have chunks of stuff in them.)
I haven’t even made these yet but I love the fact that I actually can because you’ve included metric measures.
Cups make no sense.
OMG — these are killer — I think I was seriously drooling, as I read this recipe!!
A link to these just popped up on my blog roll, couldn’t resist taking a peek! They do look good!
Your book looks great, always looking for good vegetarian books. One question the applesauce that’s in the recipe that’s the same kind of thing you’d serve with pork chops right? (diced apple and little water /apple juice reduced to a semi lumpy sauce kinda vibe)
Maple and Bacon is such a classic and delicious flavour combination so I can imagine how good these muffins would have tasted. Not only do they look incredible but they are beautifully captured as well… pinned!
Yep. Pretty sure I need these. RIGHT. NOW.
These look seriously ridiculous. Send me a baker’s dozen stat!
Whoa, these are simply jumping off the screen!!
What beautiful photography! I love how the tops are decorated with bacon flowers. Gorgeous and creative. Well done!
Your photos always make me swoon. Almost as much as these maple bacon cupcakes! 😉
These. Are. Magnificent. I’m going to call this post “Ode to Maple Bacon” 🙂
These look amazing! I have bacon in the fridge and now I find myself in a maple mood. Beautiful photos as well.
These look amazing!! I have bacon in the fridge and now I’m in a maple mood. Beautiful photos as well.