With Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) right around the corner it is time to start baking; and more specifically, baking with apples!
Traditionally, every Rosh Hashanah feast begins with eating sliced apples dipped in honey, which symbolize a sweet start for the new year. Even though my family is as secular as it gets, we still love this tradition and enjoy it every year.
In the last few years, we established another tradition of our own - a family vacation for Rosh Hashanah! Every year we all travel together and celebrate the new year. The vacation is dedicated to family quality time, a time for us to be grateful for having each other, a time to create more shared memories and set some goals for the upcoming year.
Being on the road does make it more difficult to sit down for a proper New Year feast, so I decided it would be great if I could come up with a special apple treat we can take with us on the road.
These apple rose muffins are what I came up with! They are easy to pack, great for snacking, definitely much better than airplane food and most importantly, they are really beautiful.
This year we are traveling to Santorini, Greece, and I will definitely be packing these to go!
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Preheat the oven 350°F (175°C). Prepare a muffin tin with liners or lightly grease them.
In a small bowl or glass, mix the flaxseed meal together with the water and set aside to create a flaxseed "egg".
Thinly slice the apples using a mandoline slicer or a sharp knife (I set my slicer on 1/8"). Cut the thin apple slices to half, mix with the cinnamon and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl or standing mixer, beat together the olive oil, applesauce, sweetener of choice (in this batch I used a combo of date syrup and honey) and vanilla extract. Mix in the flaxseed "egg".
Gradually sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the mixture, beating just until combined.
Divide evenly among 12 muffin tins, filling them almost all the way up to the top. Top with apple roses and cinnamon crumble.
Make the cinnamon crumble: In a small mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Add the coconut oil and use your hands to create soft crumbs.
How to make apple roses? Arrange the desired amount of apple slices in a straight line (to create a nice big rose use about 14 slices), overlapping slightly. Starting from the top apple, begin to tightly roll the apples to form a rose shape. Place the rolled rose in a muffin cup and press lightly into the muffin mixture.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Once cooled completely, store in an airtight container at room temp to keep fresh, or save in the freezer.