Day 24: Apple Cinnamon Muffins + Low Fat Chicken Nuggets

Please note...these two recipe's are separate, my cooking venture today wasn't some freaky apple chicken hybrid meal. Let me explain. Tonight I was needing some comfort food, and after driving past McDonald's on my way home from work, the mcnugget meal crossed the corner of my eye. Chicken nugget's have always been a favourite of mine. I'm pretty sure i had never tasted any other meal at maccas until I was about 14. Please don't judge me on my guilty pleasure. I know most chicken nuggets are packed full of yucky-icky bits of animals, but you can't deny their flavours. So tonight I decided to make my own healthy style chicken nuggets. Long story short...they pretty much sucked. My conclusion for tonight: chicken nuggets will never taste good 'healthy'. 
Which is where the apple cinnamon muffins came into the picture. To make up for my bland chicken, I baked- apple and cinnamon can never go wrong.


Here's where to find the chicken nugget recipe- who knows, yours might turn out better than mine!
Low Fat Chicken Nuggets

Here's how mine turned out- they don't look too shabby. Just tasted quite bland. I'm sure with a bit of good sauce they would be yummy!






Here's what you need to make the muffins:

• -Melted butter or margarine (optional), for greasing pan
• -300g (2 cups) plain flour
• -1 tbs baking powder
• -2 tsp ground cinnamon
• -150g (3/4 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
• -2 medium (about 375g) Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled, chopped
• -125g (3/4 cup) seedless raisins
• -125g butter or margarine, melted, cooled
• -2 eggs, lightly whisked
• -185mls (3/4 cup) milk

How to make them:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Prepare your ingredients. You will need 12 medium (125mls/ 1/2 cup) muffin pans. They are available in trays of either 6 or 12. Non-stick muffin pans are wonderful to use as they don't need greasing. If you aren't using non-stick pans, brush the pans with the melted butter or margarine to lightly grease. Alternatively, line the pans with paper muffin cases.
2. Sift the plain flour, baking powder and cinnamon together into a large bowl. The baking powder acts as a raising agent and will help give the muffins a light texture. Stir in the brown sugar, apples and raisins until well combined.
3. Whisk together the butter or margarine, eggs and milk until well combined. Blending the wet ingredients before adding them to the flour mixture makes it easier to evenly combine the two.
4. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a large metal spoon until just combined. It is important that the ingredients are only just combined. If the mixture is over-mixed, the cooked muffins will have a tough texture.
5. Spoon the mixture evenly into the muffin pans.
6. Bake the muffins in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through. To test if they are cooked, insert a skewer into the centre of one - if it comes out clean, it is ready If not, cook for a little longer before testing again. When cooked, remove from oven and stand for 2-3 minutes before turning onto a wire rack. Letting them stand makes them easier to remove from the pans. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 day.

These muffins were delicious. A little bit crunch but still moist and flavoursome. Absolutely adding to the mental cook book to remember for next time.