Pumpkin Apple Muffins

Just an hour before we planned to leave town on Friday, with packing and laundry still to finish, I got an overwhelming urge to bake something for our trip. It was one of those urges that tends to strike at the least-opportune moments in my life (late at night, or when I am stressed and have a to-do list that could stretch for kilometers... or both), but one which I know better than to deny. I did a quick search and picked this recipe (detailed below) on a whim because I happened to have everything it called for, so I crossed my fingers that the finished result would be decent, taking comfort in the fact that at least I was using up the apples on my kitchen counter that were about to go bad. Thankfully the prep was simple and quick, and my helpful hubby was around to chop and taste test the apples, since I have that little deathly-allergic problem.

I had a little extra batter but didn't want to break out a third muffin tin, so I poured the rest into two ramekins that I baked alongside the 24 muffins. When they came out of the oven, I tried a bite out of one of these ramekins.... yum. These guys turned out delightfully moist and flavorful and were a huge hit with everyone from my baked-good-skeptical husband (who took one bite and told me he would "chop apples every week if I would keep making muffins") to our friends' nine-month-old. I'd call that a success.

I didn't have time to make the streusel topping that is included in the original recipe, but I did add one quick step to the recipe: after Dan chopped the apple, I threw it into a pan with some butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon and sauteed it for a few minutes. I drained this and then added the apples in to the rest of the mix. I can't say for sure that this made a huge difference in the end, but I think it may have helped boost the flavor.

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 (15-ounce) can solid pack pumpkin (don’t use canned pumpkin pie filling)
¾ cup vegetable oil
2 ¼ cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped 

Directions:

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place a rack in the center of the oven. Generously grease 18 muffin cups or line them with paper muffin liners.

*my addition: Saute chopped apples in 1-2 tablespoons of butter with ~1/3 cup brown sugar and ~2 tablespoons cinnamon for 5-7 minutes or until soft. (sorry for the approximations -- I sort of made this part up as I went along)*

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, vegetable oil, sugar, and eggs. Slowly add the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Whisk until the flour is incorporated. Stir in the apple pieces.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups; filling them almost to the top.

Bake for 18 to 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool briefly in the pan and then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Definitely worth a try if you're looking for something easy but yummy... or if you get one of those unavoidable urges to bake and happen to have apples and pumpkin hanging around. Just me? Oh well... Happy baking!

   Love,

    Meg