Apple Pie Muffins: for Family and Flock

Earlier this week on Farm Chick Chit Chat, some inspiring bloggers had a showdown of the most delicious kind: Apple Pie Bake Off.  It started my mind (and my stomach) working on how I could possibly make something as wonderful as they had, but still find a way to share it with my chickens.  As of late, I've really enjoyed taking recipes and tweaking them so they are not only safe, but nutritious and tasty treats for the girls!  But there is just no way I could do a traditional apple pie.  I fail at pie crust.  Even the store bought kind.  I normally wait around until my mother-in-law makes her FABULOUS dutch apple pie for holiday gatherings, which satisfies my sweet tooth but that isn't going to help me with an apple themed blog post.  What's a girl to do?  Well, how about some apple pie muffins?

I wouldn't be a very good wife and mother if I forgot the family inside the house, so my first step was making a human batch of these individual sized desserts.  Here are the ingredients you need and steps to make your non-feathered family these yummy Apple Pie Muffins.

    Muffin Ingredients

• 2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• a pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 1 1/3 c. buttermilk
• 1/2 c. butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
• 3 c. diced apples (I used Jonathan, but use whatever variety you prefer)

    Crumble Topping

• 1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
• 1/3 c. all purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, mix 2 1/4 c. flour, 1 tsp baking soda and a pinch of salt.
3. In a medium sized bowl, mix together 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1 1/2 c. brown sugar.  Once combined, slowly stir in 1 1/3 c. buttermilk and 1/2 c. melted butter.
4. Gradually add your wet mixture to your larger bowl, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to prevent dry clumps at the bottom.
5. Stir 3 c. diced apples into the large bowl.
6. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 c. brown sugar, 1/3 c. flour, and 1 tsp cinnamon.  Slowly mix in 3 tbsp melted butter with a fork until mixture is crumbly.
7. Line muffin tins with heavy duty liners (trust me on this) and give them a light spray of non-stick cooking spray.
8. Fill muffin tins full to the top.  Add crumble topping and very gently press the topping down just enough to keep it from spilling off.
9. Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Allow muffins to cool for about 15 minutes in the pan before transferring the muffins to a rack to cool completely.

My family really loved them and even though I'm on a diet right now, I admit I had to indulge in one!  The apples were just tart enough to let their flavor stand out and the muffins were very moist.  If you really wanted to, you could add in some more diced apples, however I chose not to because I didn't want the muffin to become even heavier.  It is a heavier muffin as it is, so don't expect that you'll sit down to eat two or three at a time!  Though maybe one warmed up, served with a scoop of french vanilla ice cream...

Back to the recipe!  Here is my modification I made for my chickens.  Yes, they deserve dessert too.

Muffin Ingredients

• 1 c. all purpose flour
• 1 c. oats
• 1/2 c. chicken feed (any brand is fine, but I use Fresh Eggs Daily's Breakfast of Champions mix)
• 2 tbsp. wheat germ with flax seed
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1 1/3 c. buttermilk
• 1/2 c. butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
• 3 c. diced apples (I used Jonathan, but use whatever variety you prefer)
• 2 c. craisins

    Crumble Topping

• 1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
• 1/3 c. oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, mix 1 c. flour, 1 c. oats, 1/2 c. chicken feed, 2 tbsp wheat germ with flax seed, and 1 tsp baking soda.
3. In a medium sized bowl, mix together 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1 1/2 c. brown sugar.  Once combined, slowly stir in 1 1/3 c. buttermilk and 1/2 c. melted butter.
4. Gradually add your wet mixture to your larger bowl, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to prevent dry clumps at the bottom.
5. Stir 3 c. diced apples and 2 c. craisins into the large bowl.
6. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 c. brown sugar, 1/3 c. oats, and 1 tsp cinnamon.  Slowly mix in 3 tbsp melted butter with a fork until mixture is crumbly.
7. Line muffin tins with heavy duty liners (trust me on this) and give them a light spray of non-stick cooking spray.
8. Fill muffin tins full to the top.  Add crumble topping and very gently press the topping down just enough to keep it from spilling off.
9. Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Allow muffins to cool for about 15 minutes in the pan before transferring the muffins to a rack to cool completely.

Chicken Version

Human Version

Was the original version ok for the chickens?  Sure it was, but I'd like to think that by removing some of the excess flour and adding in good-for-them things like oats, wheat germ, flax seed and chicken feed that they are benefiting from the recipe tweak.  My flock loves craisins so I couldn't resist mixing them in, although you certainly don't have to.  Feel free to mix in whatever goodies your girls (and boys) love!  Maybe some nuts? Diced carrot?  Shredded zucchini?  Let me know what you come up with!

In case you wondered, this recipe is whole heartedly endorsed by my chicks.  With very few exceptions have I ever seen them eat something with such excitement!  They were making the most adorable little contented clucking noises and scrambling around to find the biggest muffin chunks they could spy.  After they cleaned up every last crumb, they came over to me and began their big eyed pleading for more.  You know the look: head tilted to one side, one eye keenly focused on you, a little questioning clucking breaking their intense stare.  With reactions like that, I'll be sure to fire my oven up every now and again.

Four of the girls dig in

Boo and Fifi spy an apple chunk at the same time