Apple Pie Muffins

This morning I happened to have caught a few minutes of Chef Emeril Lagasse making apple pie on Good Morning America, and do you know what he did? He broke the pie crust! It was by mistake, of course, but that's the thing about pie crust: It breaks sometimes -- even for the experts.

If you're craving apple pie but don't want to deal with tricky crust, then this recipe for Apple Pie Muffins is here to save the day. It has the same buttery-cinnamony-appley goodness of pie, but without all the hassle. Take that, crust!

Apple Pie Muffins from Food.com

Ingredients

For muffins

• 1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups diced peeled firm apples (such as Granny Smith)

For muffin topping

• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

1. Whisk together brown sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla until smooth.

2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, soda, and salt.

3. Stir oil mixture into flour mixture alternately with buttermilk.

4. Fold in apples, mixing just until combined.

5. Spoon into greased muffin cups filling 3/4 full.

6. Make topping: toss together sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon until crumbly.

7. Sprinkle topping over evenly.

8. Bake in preheated oven at 350 until golden brown and tops spring back -- about 25-30 minutes.

Image via Gudlyf/Flickr