Apple Butter, Cinnamon, Pecan Muffins

We grow apples.  When it's harvest time, we have lots of apples.  Too many to just enjoy fresh from the trees. I hate waste about as much as I love apples, so what doesn't  make it into compotes and crumbles or pies and pie holes, has to be preserved.  Last season I made apple butter for the first time... it won't be the last.  It's delicious spread on hot buttered toast, dolloped onto a bowlful of hot porridge (or any breakfast cereal for that matter), swirled though thick and tangy Greek yoghurt, used as a filling for a sponge cake along with some softly whipped cream, spooned on top of pancakes with a pat of slowly melting salted butter, or as a lush ingredient in some warm, moist breakfast muffins.  Apples never had it so good.

NOTE: Here's the recipe I used to make the apple butter, but you can also use store bought applesauce for this recipe.

Apple Butter, Cinnamon, Pecan Muffins
Makes 6

For the Topping:
¼ cup pecans, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon golden caster sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the Muffins:
180g self-raising flour
60g brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
60ml buttermilk
60ml grape seed oil
1 cup homemade apple butter (or store bough applesauce)

Make the Topping:
Put all the topping ingredients into a small bowl and mix until combined.  Set aside.

Make the Muffins:
Preheat the oven to 180C.  Grease a 6 hole muffin pan generously with cooking oil spray.  Set aside.

Put the flour, sugar, cinnamon and pecans into a large bowl and mix.   In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, vanilla, buttermilk, oil and apple butter together.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and stir until just combined.  Divide the batter between the muffins pans and spoon the topping mixture evenly on top of the muffins.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Leave the muffins to cool for 2 minutes in the pan before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.