From the Red Truck Bakery cookbook, these muffins, to me, are perfect: loaded with apples, very subtly spiced with cinnamon, soft-crumbed, and sugar crusted. They are made with all of my favorite ingredients, too: oil (as opposed to butter), buttermilk (the magical milk), maple syrup (my love… recipe calls for sorghum syrup or honey, but maple syrup worked beautifully), and turbinado sugar, which makes the best crust. You can absolutely use granulated sugar in its place, but if you’re heading to the store, pick up a bag — you’ll never want to make muffins without it. I’m using the Wholesome brand Organic Raw Cane Turbinado — it’s a little lighter in color than turbinado sugars I’ve used in the past, and I’m really loving it.

Also loving my new muffin pan.

A few notes:

• I did not use nonstick spray or butter to grease my muffin tin. I just used muffin liners, and it worked just fine.
• I omitted the raisins — I’ve never liked raisins in muffins… just me.
• I used Honey Crisp apples.