Apple & Honey Muffins

All our friends and family with apple trees have kept us with a steady supply since late July, it has been a bumper year! It is the end of the season now but there are still a lot of English apples around and if you have lots leftover from your own tree this recipe is great as the compote can be made and frozen now and then defrosted whenever you feel like a batch of these delicious muffins!

They make a delicious breakfast treat and are perfect for children’s lunch boxes, the apple compote keeps them lovely and moist.

Makes around 10 muffins.

Ingredients
5 tbsp apple compote (dice up your apples and simmer over a low heat with a splash of water until you have a thick mushy sauce)
90 ml sunflower oil
2 free range eggs beaten
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g golden caster sugar
200g wholewheat plain flour (or a mixture of wholewheat & white plain flour)
3 tbsp rolled oats
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp sultanas
2 tbsp chopped pecans (optional)
Mixed seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, sesame) for the topping

Method
1) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) and line a muffin tray with paper muffin cases.
2) In a bowl mix together the wet ingredients (apple, sunflower oil, eggs, honey, vanilla ext.) and sugar until well blended.
3) In a separate larger bowl sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon and stir in the oats.
4) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined, the mixture will be quite lumpy.
5) Add the sultanas and nuts in the last few stirs. Be careful not to over mix.
6) Spoon the mixture into muffin cases, filling 3/4 of the way up
7) Sprinkle the tops with the seed mix and bake for 20-25 minutes, the tops should spring back easily when lightly pressed, if not cook for a couple of minutes more and check again.