Muffins!

Whatever you think might be a novel idea... isn't. I suddenly thought up "apple pumpkin muffins" the other day, but a quick Google search let me know that I'm far from the first person to put together apples and pumpkin puree in a muffin batter. Ah, well...

I went with this recipe over at All Recipes. With a 5-star rating and 150 reviews, how could I go wrong? I made a few changes, which are reflected in my recipe below: less sugar, more pumpkin, no liners. These muffins are very moist flavorful. Next time I think I'd cut back the sugar to 3/4 cup, and use Granny Smith apples, which are more tart. I took half of the batch in to work and my coworkers were searching me down to let me know how much they enjoyed these.

Apple Pumpkin Muffins

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
15 oz. (1 can) pumpkin puree
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 c. chopped peeled apples

Streusel Topping
1/4 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tsp. cold butter or margarine

In a bowl, combine the first five ingredients. In another bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in apples. Fill greased muffin cups mostly to the top. In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

I made a dozen muffins and 8 or 10 mini muffins. If you make mini muffins be sure to take them out of the oven earlier, around 15-20 minutes should do it. You can check the muffins with a cake tester, toothpick, or, in my case, metal skewer. You should only have a tiny bit of muffin sticking to your tester after you insert it in the middle of a muffin.

By the way, these make the house smell delicious...

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The animals have all been very snuggly lately, probably due to the colder weather and the fact that we keep windows at least cracked open in our home most of the time since we like fresh air. All week the dogs have been hanging out on the couch with us of an evening, and the cat has taken to sleeping on top of Ayla.

Paws

Kitty no like flash photography!

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving, and curl up with the one you love!