Apple Muffins

These apple muffins were lovely, nice and moist and the fudge bits give it and interesting texture, they aren’t too sweet but the sugar on top gives them a crisp crunchy topping. Without sweetening them up too much, they’re also easy and relatively cheap to make, which is always an added bonus. I guess you could also go as far as to say they are healthy too, when you think about it, apples, wholemeal flour, one of your five a day and fibre (assuming you eat loads of them). I don’t for a second really begin to presume that these are healthy. It’s always nice to be able to kid yourself though. I shall carry on in my little dream world and hope that my weight, will even itself out soon. I have been struggling as of late – medication, and the fact that I have been flat on my back due to knee issues, inactivity is not conducive of weight loss. I’m left with the daunting task of losing all that weight AGAIN! The hardest part is that I love cooking and my food. The thing I struggle most with though, is knowing how far I had come and now I am right back there again. Back to square one. Time for another diet I think.

Apple Muffins

1 apple peeled, cored and chopped

115g/4oz light brown sugar

200g/7oz plain flour

85g/3oz wholemeal flour

1tsp ground mixed spice

4tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

60g/2oz fudge bits

250ml/8fl oz milk

4tbsp sunflower oil

1 beaten egg

1. Preheat your oven to 200˚C/400˚F, line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper cases and put to one side. Put the apple in a bowl, add 4 tbsp of the sugar and leave for 5 minutes.
2. Sift both the flours, baking powder, mixed spice and salt into a large bowl. Add the bran left in the sieve. Stir in the sugar and fudge bits, then make a well in the middle.
3. Whisk the milk, oil and egg together. Pour into the well add the apple then stir to a lumpy batter.
4. Add a ¼ cup to each of the paper cases, each one should be about ¾ full, bake for 20-25 minutes or until peaked and brown, a cocktail stick should come out clean. Put the muffins on a wire rack and sprinkle with a little white sugar, eat warm or cool.

Fudge

This recipe was a little moreish, I took the fudge with me into work and it was a hit with everyone that tried it. I did make one mistake and that was that I used normal granulated sugar instead of caster sugar so it didn’t go as smooth as I would have liked, it had a grainy texture to it instead of that smooth creamy texture…It’s easily rectified though next time. It was an easy recipe to follow and I will be making it again, it’s kind of cool that I can make my own sweet treat from now on.

Fudge

1 tin condensed milk

100g butter

450g caster sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

1. Put all the ingredients into a large saucepan and bring to a boil over a medium heat, constantly stirring for about 10 minutes, until it reaches the soft ball stage. To test this put ½ tsp of the fudge mixture into a glass of cold water, it should be firm but malleable.

2. Take the fudge off the heat and stick the saucepan in a sink of cold water, about 2-3cm deep, stir the mixture until it cools down slightly – it should have a thick, matt appearance.

3. Line with baking paper  a square or rectangular baking tray and carefully pour in the fudge, smooth it out and let it cool, then cut it up into squares.