Fresh Apricot Muffins

I've always been a huge fan of dried apricots, but I've overlooked the fresh ones until recently. While they're lovely on their own, or in a fruit salad, I really wanted to take a stab at baking with them and muffins seemed like the perfect vehicle. I wasn't disappointed- the muffins themselves aren't too sweet and the unique sweet-tart tanginess of the apricots shines through. 

I'm not a fan of big cakey muffins- I always use greek yogurt in the batter which makes the more moist and fluffy than dense- something to with the lactic acid in the yogurt tenderizing the flour. It's better for you and (I think) it tastes better too.

The muffins themselves are quite small compared to the average American muffin, so you may want to consider making a double batch- I wish I had!

FRESH APRICOT MUFFINS

Makes 12 small muffins

1 vanilla bean

1 lemon

1 cup chopped fresh apricot + 1 fresh apricot sliced into 12 thin strips

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 egg

1 cup greek yogurt
3 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp honey

Preheat your oven to 350F and butter a 12 cup muffin tin. 

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and zest the lemon, then add both to the chopped apricots, along with 1 tbsp of sugar; stir together; set aside.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg into a large bowl.

In another bowl combine beaten eggs with the yogurt, the melted butter and honey. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, beating slowly, and then add the chopped apricot stirring just til everything is combined. Spoon batter into the muffin pan and  then top with the sliced apricots. Bake for about 30-35 minutes until a fork inserted in the top comes out clean.

Let cool for a few minutes and.. yum!