Apple cinnamon muffins

Name: Apple cinnamon muffins
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 12 muffins
Ingredients: 2 medium apples; 200 g (1⅔ cups) plain (all-purpose) wheat flour; 2 tsp baking powder; ½ tsp ground cinnamon; 2 eggs; 120 ml (½ cup) water, breast milk or formula; 60 ml (¼ cup) vegetable or olive oil

Soft muffins sweetened only with cooked grated apple and a pinch of cinnamon, with no added sugar or salt. Contains egg and wheat: offer them once your baby has had each of these on its own.

From: 6 months
Time: 45 min
Makes: 12 muffins

Contains eggContains wheat

Ingredients

2 mediumapplesabout 300 g (10½ oz)
200 g (1⅔ cups)plain (all-purpose) wheat flour
2 tspbaking powder
½ tspground cinnamonplain, not cinnamon sugar. Some ground cinnamon brands have been recalled for lead: check your jar against the FDA list and throw away any listed product
2eggs
120 ml (½ cup)water, breast milk or formula
60 ml (¼ cup)vegetable or olive oilplus a little for the tin

Steps

1Wash your hands. Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F), or 160°C fan, and lightly oil a 12-hole muffin tin. Rinse the apples under running water, gently rubbing the skin, then peel them and cut out the cores and seeds.
2Finely grate the apples. Put them in a small pan with 2 tablespoons of water and cook over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring, until soft. Let them cool for 10 minutes.
3Mix the flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a jug, whisk the eggs, the water, breast milk or formula, and the oil. Pour the wet mixture into the flour, add the apple, and stir until just combined. Don't add sugar, honey, syrup or salt.
4Don't taste the raw batter: raw flour and raw egg can carry germs. Wash your hands after handling them. Spoon the batter into the tin, filling each hole about three-quarters full.
5Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, until risen and golden and a skewer pushed into the middle comes out clean, with no wet batter. If you use a food thermometer, the center should reach 160°F (71°C).
6Let them cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then on a rack. Break one open and squash the middle between your thumb and finger: it should be soft. Trim off any crisp edges, and check they're only just warm before serving.

How to serve it by age

6 months+

Once your baby has had egg and wheat each on their own without a reaction, cut a muffin into strips about the size of an adult finger, roughly 6–8 cm long and 2 cm wide (2½–3 × ¾ in). Each strip should squash easily between your thumb and finger.

9 months+

Cut muffins into pieces no bigger than about 1 cm (just under ½ inch) for pincer-grasp practice, or keep offering soft strips to bite.

12 months+

Serve halves to hold and bite, or bite-sized pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch), with soft fruit, or with plain yogurt once dairy has been introduced on its own, for breakfast or a snack.

Where US and UK guidance differ on this recipe

United States(AAP and CDC)Your setting

The AAP says fresh baby food should be cooked with no added salt or seasoning, and it gives no age for cinnamon. If you'd rather follow that line closely, leave the cinnamon out until 12 months, or ask your pediatrician.

United Kingdom(NHS)Your setting

The NHS says not to add salt or sugar to your baby's food. Its recipes for babies 7 to 9 months use a pinch of ground cinnamon. If you use it, keep it to a small amount of plain cinnamon, mixed in.

We cover US and UK guidance in detail. Elsewhere, check your national health service's advice too.

If your baby reacts

This recipe contains egg, wheat. Introduce one new allergen at a time, mixed into a food your baby already eats, before serving it in a dish with other new foods. Contact your pediatrician, GP or health visitor if you notice mild signs after eating, such as a few hives or a little vomiting. See signs of a reaction.

Call 911999your local emergency number (such as 112 in Europe or 000 in Australia) now if your baby has trouble breathing, wheezing, can't cough or cry, has lips, mouth, tongue or throat that suddenly swell, or becomes pale, bluish, floppy or unresponsive. Also call if hives come with repeated vomiting.

Leftovers and the rest of the family

Storing it

Cool leftover muffins completely and keep them in a covered container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, or freeze them for 2 to 3 months (freeze them in a single layer, then pack them together once frozen solid). Reheat only once, from frozen or thawed, until steaming hot, 165°F (74°C), then let them cool before serving. Throw away anything left in your baby's bowl. Don't leave muffins at room temperature for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour if it's hotter than 90°F (32°C).

For the grown-ups

Older children and adults like these with breakfast or in a lunchbox. For a family batch, stir oats into the batter left after you've filled your baby's muffins. Add chopped nuts only to muffins for adults and children aged 4 and over: the CDC lists chopped nuts as a choking hazard for young children.