Whole Wheat Apple Chai Muffins

After reading Steph's post about baking with King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour earlier this year, I wanted to try baking with it myself. The arrival of a fruit basket at the office resulted in some Granny Smith apples that needed to be eaten up, so I decided to take them home and experiment. The following recipe is a hybrid of my favorite banana bread recipe (which calls for sour cream) and an apple muffin recipe I found online, tweaked and "tea'd up" a bit. I sure like these moist and tasty muffins as my new breakfast treat!

Whole Wheat Apple Chai Muffins

2 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Contents of two teabags of chai tea
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar, divided
1 large egg
1 (8-ounce) carton reduced fat sour cream
1/2 cup skim milk
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped fine

Preheat oven to 450°F. Line muffin pans with baking cups.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, tea and cinnamon, and set aside. In another bowl, cream butter, granulated sugar and about half of the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add egg and blend. Add the sour cream, then the milk and combine. Add dry ingredients and apples, stirring just until combined.

Scoop batter into baking cups (I used an ice cream scoop "not quite full" for each). Sprinkle tops with remaining brown sugar. Bake for 10 minutes, lower heat to 400°F, and bake for 10 minutes more. Yields approximately 16 muffins.


(Also today, we'll be giving away the second of four autographed copies of Laura Childs' "The Teaberry Strangler." To be entered, just leave an "Enter me" type comment to this post between now and 7 a.m. EST tomorrow. Good luck!)