Applesauce Muffins

Muffins work for our family for a lot of reasons. I can make a lot at one time. They make a good snack. Muffins are perfect for breakfast along side some fluffy scrambled eggs and bacon, or yogurt and fruit. They are easy to pack into lunches or to eat on the way to work or school. Muffins just make sense for us.

Because they work so well for us, I tend to make them often. There are several muffin recipes here on this blog and I love each one because they are so quick and simple. Oh,, and tasty too!

This recipe is a Gooseberry Patch recipe and if you've ever made one of their recipes, you KNOW how good they are. I'm never disappointed in them. Since we have been trying to switch to more whole foods and less processed ones, this recipe has some changes from the original to better suit my baking style right now. I'll note where I made my changes so you can decide for yourself if you'd like to as well, but the biggest one was using freshly ground whole wheat flour from grain mill.

Applesauce Muffins

For the muffin:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar (I used 1 cup cane sugar and 1 cup organic packed brown sugar)
• 2 cups applesauce (I used home canned unsweetened)
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups flour (I used soft wheat, freshly ground but I think white whole wheat would work just as well)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the topping:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cups flour (I used soft wheat, white whole wheat can be used)
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup oats (I used old-fashioned)
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners and set aside. Combine all of the topping ingredients first. Mi with a pastry cutter, two forks or your fingers until it forms small, well mixed lumps. Set aside. Stir all of the muffin ingredients together and mix until just moistened. Fill paper lined muffin cups 2/3 of the way full and sprinkle on the topping, dividing it equally between the 24 muffins. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and a cake tested inserted near the center comes out clean. Makes 24 muffins. 

These are spicy from the cinnamon, slightly sweet, very moist because of the applesauce and the topping gives them a very nice crunch. I omitted the raisins and chunks of apples simply because they wouldn't be well received here, but feel free to add them (amounts listed on the original recipe linked at the top of the page). 

These were a great start to our rainy, dreary Tuesday morning and I'm confident they will help keep us going until lunchtime. Did I mention they were delicious? Because, my oh my, they are!

Looking for more muffin recipes? Here are a few of my favorites:

Coffee Cake Muffins
Coconut Banana Whole Wheat Muffins
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Morning Glory Muffins
Apple Oatmeal Muffins with Maple Glaze