Apple Muffins

 As fall is winding down, I have realized I may have gone a little crazy apple picking this month! Spending time at the orchard is one of my favorite things to do every fall, and this was no exception! Although now I have the dilemma of left-over Macintosh apples, and a husband who claims he can't eat another bite of apple pie or apple crisp. I'm sure he can't refuse that spicy cinnamon aroma that fills the kitchen- but I would rather not take the chance.



So I set out to make some apple muffins, which I have only made once before and it was a total flop. But, after a few tries in the kitchen, I think I may have finally created an apple muffin recipe worth sharing (and eating!) The true test is bringing these muffins to work, and my fellow educators ate them up before lunchtime! If you have made my pumpkin muffin recipe before, then you will notice the similarities (I based this new recipe off my best recipe) If you haven't made my pumpkin muffins yet, you definitely need to!

Ingredients

2 cups flour  
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder            
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon                    
1 tsp. apple pie spice
1 tsp. Chinese Five-Spice      
1 cup sugar
2 cups shredded apple          
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup canola oil                
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs (lightly beaten)

Process

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray muffin cups inside a muffin tin.

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together the shredded apple, sugar, applesauce, oil, eggs and vanilla. *If you have never baked with apples before- be sure to use a corer to core and peel the apples. Next I slice the apples in manageable pieces for my food processor to shred. Ok, so now you will add the wet bowl to the dry bowl, stirring until combined. Do not over-mix.

Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes- using the toothpick test until the center comes out clean. Once completely cooled, these muffins can also be frozen for future use. They will keep up to 3 months frozen, and I would use my freezing trick of lining up muffins on a parchment paper and once muffins are frozen (8 hours) they can be stored in a freezer bag. Don't forget to write the date!

I hope you enjoy these muffins as much as my co-workers and husband did,

Michelle