Friday, January 15, 2010

Applesauce Muffins

Mmm...muffins! I love 'em! Especially when I can mix them up the night before and stick them in the fridge. Let's get started on this goodness.

You'll need 1 cup of margarine, softened. I never use that stuff except for when it comes out of the Country Crock tub! I just use good 'ole butter. You'll also need 2 eggs, room temperature, and vanilla.

2 cups of sugar...

4 cups of flour, sifted with 1 teaspoon of cloves, 2 teaspoons of allspice, and 3 teaspoons of cinnamon. I feel like sifting is something special and only do it when completely and utterly necessary. This is not that time.

Just so you can see I'm doing fancy things with my pictures (haha), I've labeled the spices.

You'll need 1 (1 pound) can of applesauce. I picked up the 1 lb, 8 oz can so I weighed mine out.

Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla to the applesauce and stir...

Add 2 teaspoons of baking soda to the applesauce and stir...

And then freak out a little when the soda reacts with the applesauce and almost spills all over the counter. I had no idea that this would happen!! Luckily, this was an almost mess, but stayed in the bowl. Whew.

Put your butter into your mixing bowl, add the sugar, and cream them together until nice and fluffy. Just a minute or so.

Add the two eggs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla and mix.


Then, add the flour mixture. I missed a picture of this step, but my mixer was getting really, really bogged down by this point because the batter is so thick. I tried to stir it a little and my spatula broke. That's how thick it is. I suggest using a wooden spoon. In this spatula's defense, I had accidentally melted the handle a little in a previous cooking endeavor and that's where the break occurred...in the weak spot. Too bad it also sliced my finger open in the process. I'm taking one for the team here.

Add the fizzy applesauce and mix again. The mixer can handle this with ease! It just needed a minute to rest after all of that flour.

Looking good!

At this point, I poured all of my batter into a bowl and put it in the fridge overnight.

The next morning... Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cups and spray the cups with cooking spray. You may think that there's no reason to do this, but trust me, there is. If you don't spray the cups, the muffins will turn evil on you in the oven and will adhere to the paper. You'll have a devil of a time separating the paper from the muffin and it will cause lots of frustration. At least it does at this house. Don't believe me? Try not spraying them...you'll only do it once!

Fill the cups half full and set your timer to 17 minutes. (Ovens will vary...my recipe says 12 minutes, but they're always soft in the middle still...)

Need a closer look? Yummy!

Serve warm with butter or sprinkled with powdered sugar. So good!

The batter will keep in the fridge for a week or so, so I only make 12 muffins at a time. These muffins are so good that you'll want to put them in your breakfast menu rotation!

Here's the full recipe:
  • 1 cup margarine or butter, softened
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla, divided
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon cloves
  • 2 teaspoons allspice
  • 3 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 (1 lb) can applesauce
Cream margarine, sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Sift together flour and spices; add to creamed mixture. Blend 2 teaspoons vanilla into the applesauce and add baking soda. Blend applesauce mixture into the batter. Stir until well mixed. Spoon into greased muffin tins half full.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 17 minutes.

Serve hot with butter or sprinkle with powdered sugar

Makes about 4 dozen.

Very cute as mini muffins, too. Just adjust your baking time!

Enjoy!

2 comments:

Karen said...

Those look yummy - I love muffins too! Four dozen though?! Where did you get that recipe. I might try to half or quarter that recipe for our family. We'd never eat it all even if we kept it in the fridge.

Teresa Andel said...

Oh, that does sound yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipe.