Christmas is Coming!

Christmas Baking Has Begun

I can hardly believe Christmas is less than a month away! Which means it's time to start sharing all of my favourite Christmas recipes! As is the case with many people, I have several recipes that I only make in the month of December. It's not that there's anything particularly "festive" about my cookies, they aren't gorgeous snow flakes, or cute gingerbread men, they just equal Christmas in my mind so are reserved for this time of year. I can't explain it, but I'm sure you understand.

This week I shared with you a photo of my tourtière because that's always the first holiday recipe that gets made. It's usually the first thing I crave. Not even the taste, but the smell of it baking. I will definitely share my recipe with you so that you can make it too, but I need to play around with it a little bit first. Growing up my Mom absolutely hated rolling out pie dough so we always used the Tenderflake frozen pie shells. While I'm 100% on board with that approach (so quick and easy), I've decided to torture myself by making my dough from scratch. This yielded a much deeper pie that needed way more filling! So before I share I want to get my spice levels adjusted for the increase in meat. I'll work on that this weekend (hopefully) and share next week. Hang in there! And don't be afraid to hound me for any recipes you want if I'm too slow getting them up.

Okay, now for why I'm here: Apple Streusel Muffins. Every Christmas morning, for as long as I can remember, we have had these muffins. Growing up it was just my Mom, my sister, and I. So Christmas Eve my grandmother would stay over, then the next day, after spending the morning at home, we'd all head over to my Aunt's place for the lunch and dinner. Christmas morning was always the same: we'd wake up, Mom would head straight to the kitchen to make coffee, and warm the muffins, while my sister and I were tasked with waking Gram. Not as easy as it sounds. We would then head to the kitchen and have to wait until Gram FINALLY arrived. But we still weren't allowed to go to the tree (conveniently in the basement, far away from every other room in the house). No, before we were allowed anywhere near presents we had to have a glass of juice, THEN we could race downstairs and oooh and ahhh over the tree and presents.

Every year it was the same routine. Every year we had apple streusel muffins (with possibly some others added to the mix). And every year Mom would have to stop my sister halfway through her presents and force her to sit down and eat a whole muffin before continuing. LOL. The tradition (mostly) continues in my house now. The grandparents don't stay over on Christmas Eve and so it's just hubs, me, and the kiddo in the morning (which I love) but the muffins are here to stay! It's just not Christmas morning without them.

What are some of your holiday traditions? Feel free to share them in the comment section, I'd love to hear them.

Apple Streusel Muffins

2 medium apples: peeled, cored, and diced (I use gala apples)
1 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 large egg
1/2 C unsalted butter, melted
1/2 C whole milk

Topping
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cold

Grease 2 muffin trays and set aside. (Use liners if you wish, but be sure to grease them as I have found they really stick to these muffins.)

In a small bowl toss apples with brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large bowl combine the flour, granulated sugar, and baking powder. Set side.

In a small bowl beat the egg with the melted butter, and milk. Add to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Fold in the apple mixture.

Topping: in a small bowl combine both sugars and the cinnamon. Cut in the cold butter until crumbly.

Spoon the muffin mix into the cups of your prepared pans. Evenly distribute the crumbled butter topping over the muffins.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 mins. Allow to cool in the tray for few minutes, and then very carefully (they want to fall apart when warm) move them to a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.

Enjoy!!

*A quick apology to those who have not been receiving their update via email. Hopefully I can get the issue sorted out asap!