Canadians are not really muffin people.*

But they are donut people.

For the first month at this new cafe I was baking ‘morning tea’ (aka elevenses) style muffins. Apple and bran, banana and oat, lemon and poppyseed. And most people turned their noses at them.

I get it. New Zealanders would too if every second cafe in the country offered muffin-from-a-mix muffins! At first glance, how do you tell between stodgy cake-mix muffins and supersoft, fresh from the oven delights? I have learnt that the hard way and seen too many cake-mix muffins hit the trash.

But make a muffin in donut shape? Sold.

Light, wholewheat baked donuts, studded with red apple and lightly dusted with cinnamon sugar. All the joys of a morning-tea muffin, but with that guilty pleasure of enjoying a donut.

*Gross generalisation I know..

Cinnamon Apple Donuts
Recipe from Chocolate & Carrots
Makes 8 donuts

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup low-fat milk
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 apple, grated and squeezed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar (1/2 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon cinnamon)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray the donut pan with non-stick baking spray and set aside.

In a bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon.
In another bowl, combine the milk, eggs, butter and vanilla. Grate the (unpeeled) apple and squeeze to remove most of the liquid. Reserve liquid and add grated apple to wet mix. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. If too dry, add the reserved apple juice.

Either spoon the batter into the pan or put the batter into a large ziplock (or pastry) bag and squeeze into the pan (be careful not to overmix or squish the mixture too much!).

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until golden and top of donut springs back when lightly pressed. Remove from pans and let cool on rack. Once cool, brush the tops with melted butter and dip in the cinnamon sugar.