Apple Muffins the Old Fashioned Way

Next Sunday is Apple Day on Orchard Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side and yours truly will be there representing my place of employ, Henry Street Settlement.

We'll be distributing literature about our social service and arts programs, along with some exciting give-aways -- pens! tattoos!  magnets!  And the first twelve visitors to our table will get a homemade apple muffin from a recipe in The Settlement Cook Book published in 1901 by a Milwaukee settlement house.

Come early to get your muffin (which would go great with Workforce Blend Coffee, an artisenal blend created just for Henry Street and available for purchase by clicking the link).

These muffins hearken back to a time before ginormous, super sweet muffins ruled the planet.  Modest in both size and sweetness, these originals are still pretty big on flavor.  Simple, hearty and delicious.  And way less caloric than the modern versions.  So you can have your muffin and eat your cake, too!

For those of you who can't make it to Apple Day, I'm pasting the recipe below in the hopes that you will create a little time-travel magic in your kitchen and make these yummy treats.

(A few production notes: This technique (cutting butter into the flour) is reminiscent of biscuit-making and is very easily accomplished using a food processor or pastry blender.  And don't forget to put the sugar and cinnamon on top before putting it into the oven, as I did.  If you do forget, just pull them out of the oven the minute you remember, sprinkle the sugar mixture on top, pop them back in the oven and cross your fingers.)