Apple Cider Donut Muffins

Apple cider donuts are a quintessential "fall food"; they make me think of apple orchards, crisp autumn days, and changing leaves. I made these apple cider donut muffins in mid-September on the first day that felt a little cool.

These muffins are from a NY Times Cooking recipe. NY Times Cooking is probably my favorite place to find recipes online. I love that you can not only see how people have rated the recipes, but you can also read reviews and tips that others have provided. Before I start any recipe I always read the reviews and tips and choose what tips are relevant to me. That's the great thing about using a recipe - you don't have to stick to it exactly! Every recipe can be adapted to how you want to make it.

I liked this recipe because the donuts are baked rather than fried. This is both easier and healthier. I also liked that they could be translated into muffins since I don't have a donut tin.

My adaptation: Dairy Free

I made this recipe dairy-free by using vegan butter. I have recently, (and by recently I mean over the past couple years), become lactose intolerant. I used to get quite gassy and bloated at night to the point of discomfort. This past summer I started avoiding dairy as an experiment (doctor's orders) and I've been feeling much better. I'm not one to ever give up anything permanently. I still eat dairy now and then, but now if I'm going to eat something with dairy in it, I'll take a Lactaid pill beforehand.

But for many foods I've discovered that I taste no difference using a dairy-free or lactose-free substitute. The Earth Balance brand of vegan butter worked great in this recipe - I couldn't tell any difference at all.

My Review

An easy, quick, and delicious fall treat: 5/5

I have nothing negative to say about this recipe. It was super easy and fast to make and tasted absolutely delicious, just like something you might get after apple picking or at a pumpkin patch. These muffins were gobbled up in about two days by three people, that's how good they were.

The only thing I would say is that I didn't get a ton of "apple cider" flavor from these muffins. There's only a 1/2 cup of apple cider in the whole recipe so that's not particularly surprising. If you want more of that apple cider spice flavor, it would be easy to add more spice to the recipe. However, I liked it just fine as is!