#MuffinMonday: Apple Blackberry Muffins

July 25, 2016July 25, 2016 ~ lk529 ~ 10 Comments

fb5cd-muffin2bmonday2bcrop #MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins to brighten their Mondays. There isn’t a theme to #MuffinMonday posts so anything goes, as long as it’s a muffin!

You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

I am sharing with you this month a muffin I made way back in May after one of our weekly trips to the Farmers Market. I had picked up some blackberries from one of my favorite vendors for my husband. I am not the biggest blackberry lover mainly due to their texture. I didn’t think my husband would actually eat the entire carton of berries before they started to spoil so I decided to make muffins with about half of them. While assembling all of the baking supplies and getting my little helper situated, he started eating all of the berries! I knew I couldn’t use the fruit in the muffins, now; anything healthy my picky eater will willingly eat is all his! We had frozen blackberries for smoothie making, so I carried on with my muffin plan.

You’ll notice the recipe doesn’t call for any butter or oil, making them a little bit healthier than most breakfast treats I bake. I mean, there’s still sugar and syrup involved so it balances out, right? The downfall to not having butter or oil in the recipe means they’ll stick to muffin liners, so be sure to spray them as you would a non-lined muffin tin.

Apple Blackberry Muffins (toddler) Sew You Think You Can Cook

Firecracker really enjoyed these muffins. I’m pretty sure he had 3 in one day.

I froze half of the muffins and had a quick morning snack throughout the month, I simply popped them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.

This recipe makes 2 dozen muffins.

Apple Blackberry Muffins

Ingredients:

3 C whole wheat flour
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 large apple, peeled and finely diced
2 eggs
1/2 C brown sugar
1 C milk
1/2 C Greek yogurt
1/2 C cinnamon applesauce
1/4 C maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 C blackberries, chopped

Steps:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin, even if using liners.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Add the apples and toss to coat until evenly distributed.
In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and brown sugar. Mix in the milk, yogurt, applesauce, syrup, and vanilla.
Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. Gently fold in the blackberries. Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way.
Bake muffins for 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake another 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out cleanly.

*This recipe is adapted from Sally at http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/10/14/sky-high-blackberry-apple-muffins/*

Apple Blackberry Muffins for #MuffinMonday from Sew You Think You Can Cook

And don’t forget to check out these other muffin recipes:

Cappuccino Chip Muffins by Palatable Pastime

Cheesy Chile Corn Muffins (Gluten Free) by Farm Fresh Feasts

Cinnamon Swirled Muffins by Passion Kneaded

Fresh Peach Muffins by Karen’s Kitchen Stories

Lemon Meringue Muffins by Making Miracles

Phase 3 Muffins by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Raspberry Mini Muffins by Food Lust People Love

#MuffinMonday: Apple Carrot Muffins

April 25, 2016May 14, 2016 ~ lk529 ~ 15 Comments

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins to brighten their Mondays. There isn’t a theme to #MuffinMonday posts so anything goes, as long as it’s a muffin!

You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

My cookbook library received a well deserved expansion this past Christmas and we excitedly started cooking out of them immediately. One of the books I received was a signed copy of Giada’s Happy Cooking. This cookbook is quite different from her previous cookbooks in both feel and format. Looking through the book makes me feel like I’m going through a beautiful magazine instead of a book book. There’s even a very honest introduction written by Giada.

The first thing we made were the black bean brownies. All I can say is these were… different. To be fair, we changed it up and used a can of refried black beans instead of regular black beans. Stuart took the interesting result to work for others to try our experiment. Successful wouldn’t be the term to describe that baking adventure! Maybe we’ll give them another go and follow her recipe exactly.

Apple Carrot Muffins for #MuffinMonday from Sew You Think You Can Cook (2)

Today’s muffins came from Happy Cooking. I did have to use all AP flour because I was out of wheat flour and omitted the flax meal. As always, I used cinnamon applesauce in place of the unsweeted regular applesauce called for. I also substituted golden raisins in place of dried goji berries. (I wouldn’t recommend shredding baby carrots, but you do what you gotta do!) Even with my changes, these muffins were definitely successful!

This recipe makes one dozen muffins.

Carrot and Apple Muffins

Ingredients:

6 tbsp butter, at room temperature
1 C dark brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 C flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp allspice
1/4 C cinnamon applesauce
1/4 C apple juice
1/2 – 2/3 C shredded carrot
1/4 C golden raisins

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with liners.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and allspice. Add half of the flour mixture to the stand mixer and mix until combined.
Add the applesauce and apple juice. Mix until incorporated.
Add the remaining flour mixture and mix until combined. Fold in the carrot and raisins.
Divide batter among the prepared muffin tin.
Bake 18 – 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly. Allow muffins to cool in the pan 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

*This recipe is modified from Giada’s Happy Cooking*

Apple Carrot Muffins for #MuffinMonday from Sew You Think You Can Cook (1)

And don’t forget to check out these other muffin recipes:

Blueberry Cornmeal Sourdough Muffins from Karen’s Kitchen Stories

Cherry Chocolate Chip Muffins from Palatable Pastime

Cinnamon Molasses Muffins from Passion Kneaded

Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins from Making Miracles

Peanut Butter Cup Stuffed Chocolate Muffins from Food Lust People Love

Sour Cream and Green Onion Corn Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Spicy and Sweet Hummus Muffins from Kelli’s Kitchen

Strawberry Vanilla Yogurt Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Applesauce Waffles

November 11, 2015October 22, 2015 ~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

Another waffle recipe? Yep! Can you believe how many batter recipes there are that get poured into that wonderful checkered iron!? While I’d be content eating regular waffles every week there’s something intriguing about trying something new. Thank you Pinterest for opening my eyes to the wonder that is waffle creativity.

Today’s waffles are made with whole wheat and applesauce, but they still have a lot of butter to make them that much better! And a decent amount of delicious cinnamon.

Applesauce Waffles

Ingredients:

3 1/2 C whole wheat flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp cinnamon
3 1/2 C milk
1 stick butter
1/2 C unsweetened applesauce
4 eggs
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla

Steps:

In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and cinnamon.
In large microwave safe measuring cup microwave the milk and butter until the butter is melted, about 2-3 minutes.
In another bowl beat the applesauce, eggs, syrup and vanilla. Stir in the warm milk.
Combine wet ingredients into dry.
Into a hot greased waffle iron, drop 1/3 C of batter and cook until golden.

*This recipe is adapted from Jennifer at http://www.mykitchenaddiction.com/2012/10/cinnamon-scented-whole-wheat-waffles/*

SRC: Apple Cinnamon Muffins

August 24, 2015August 19, 2015 ~ lk529 ~ 21 Comments

It’s Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day! In the Secret Recipe Club, each participating blogger is assigned a blog from another participating blogger and secretly searches their site for something to recreate. The accompanying blog post then goes live on reveal day! So while I was immersed in my assigned blog, someone else was picking through mine! I’m so excited to be part of this group, to see what on my blog peaks other’s interests and to stumble upon new blogs and new recipes.

This month I was assigned the blog Life on Food written by Emily. (Emily was charged with my blog last month!) Emily has been blogging since 2008 so there was an incredible recipe index to search through. She has a few different ways to search through her files: by course, by key ingredient, alphabetically, and the most intriguing by cooking method.

I took the alphabetical route and almost stopped at “A”! I didn’t, though, and after making my way through I had 11 recipes to decide between! I was all set to make Maple Cinnamon Quick Bread until I realized it was a previous SRC post. As I had cinnamon on the brain, I wanted to make her Apple Cinnamon Donuts (although mine would have been mini muffins) but I couldn’t fine apple cider in stores just yet – don’t worry, it’s almost fall. As you can see I took the “next best thing” and went with Apple Cinnamon Muffins.

In retrospect I should’ve gone with a savory item on my list because the amount of baking that’s been happening in my kitchen is completely uncharacteristic of me! Caramelized Brussels Sprouts will definitely need to happen next time my in-laws are in town, Angel Hair with Corn, Feta, and Tomato would be perfect for this summer’s produce, and that 1905 Dressing sounds like a much healthier option to muffins…

But who doesn’t love muffins!? Especially when they’re bursting with apples! My little man definitely approved.

This recipe makes 12 large muffins.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Ingredients:

1 stick butter, softened
1 C sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 C flour
1 C white whole wheat flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 C unsweetened applesauce
1 apple, peeled and diced

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tray with liners.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the applesauce to the stand mixer, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Fold in the diced apple.
Divide batter evenly between the 12 muffin tins. Bake 12-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly.

*This recipe is adapted from Emily at http://lifeonfood.blogspot.com/p/recipes.html?recipe_id=6043170*

To see the other bloggers who participated in the Secret Recipe Club this month click here:

CIC: Cranberry & Gingerbread Spice

December 20, 2014December 18, 2014 ~ lk529 ~ 3 Comments

It’s been quite a while since I’ve participated in the Crazy Ingredient Challenge – 4 months to be exact! The problem with squash and melon allergies is that come Fall I have to hide under a rock.

December’s ingredients though are ingredients that I can not only eat but ingredients I even like! They also happen to be ingredients we’ve seen before. Last November we paired Gingerbread Spice with Onion, when I made a very festive onion jam. This July we put Cranberries with Shallots and I made delicious Brussels sprouts.

The combination of two sweet ingredients, cranberries and gingerbread spice, wasn’t as tricky as the two challenges mentioned above. But fun all the same. I was really tempted to make gingerbread cupcakes with a cranberry cream cheese frosting, but we really didn’t need anymore sweets around right now. I thought about going the breakfast route, with cranberry syrup and gingerbread waffles. But this is a crazy ingredient challenge and I already have gingerbread waffles on the blog!

Then, thanks to my wonderful neighbors, I got the idea to do applesauce. Last week we were hit with a stomach bug and my neighbors put a little care package on our front step – soups, sodas, crackers, and applesauce. Applesauce is now my new go-to snack during the day. (It has replaced raisins, if anyone’s curious.)

This cranberry applesauce would be a great alternative to cranberry sauce on your holiday table. Using gingerbread spice instead of cinnamon gives it more of a festive flair.

Cranberry Applesauce

Ingredients:

3 apples, peeled and chopped
1/2 C fresh cranberries
2 tbsp sugar
3/8 C water
1 tsp gingerbread spice

Steps:

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce to medium low and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mash to desired consistency and allow to cool.

*This recipe is adapted from Martha at http://www.marthastewart.com/326493/cranberry-applesauce*

cranberry apple sauce

To see the other bloggers who participated in this month’s Crazy Ingredient Challenge click on the link below.

#BundtBakers: Autumn Harvest

September 18, 2014September 18, 2014 ~ lk529 ~ 24 Comments

This month #BundtBakers is welcoming Fall with some beautiful bundts. #BundtBakers is a group of bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bundts with a common ingredient or theme. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme or ingredient. This month’s theme is Autumn Harvest and our creative host is Tux of Brooklyn Homemaker.

Our theme allowed for a lot of posibilities – from apples and pears, to pumpkins and carrots, to cranberries and figs.

My very first #BundtBakers recipe, my Busia’s Fresh Apple Cake, would have been a perfect fit here. I did stick with apple but added dried cranberries too! I’ve been wanting to try baking with applesauce and this recipe allowed me to do just that. Busia’s sister-in-law even thought I had used her recipe! The addition of the dried cranberries gave it a freshness and tart bite.

Dad and I disagreed on whether or not this cake needed frosting. I found it to be perfect just as is – to me, it’s almost like a banana bread instead of a cake. I may or may not have had it for breakfast… I hope you give it a try and let me know what you think – to frost or not to frost?

Applesauce Cranberry Bundt

Ingredients:

2 stick butter
2 C sugar
2 eggs
4 C flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 1/2 C cinnamon applesauce
2 C dried cranberries

Step:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease bundt pan.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and spices.
Add in the flour and applesauce alternately, beginning and ending with the flour.
Fold in the cranberries.
Pour into bundt pan and bake 40 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F, gently cover with aluminum foil and bake another 20-25 minutes, or until a knife comes out cleanly.

*This recipe is adapted from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/applesauce-raisin-cake/*

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. All recipes and photographs can be found on our individual blogs, on our Pinterest board, and the #bundtbakers homepage.

And don’t forget to take a peek at what other talented bakers have baked this month:

Sweet Potato Brioche Bread by Jane of Jane’s Adventures in Dinner

Pumpkin and Chocolate Bundt Cake by Aisha of La Cocina de Aisha

Applesauce Walnut Raisin Cake by Rene of Magnolia Days

Chocolate Zucchini Bundt by Tara of Noshing with the Nolands

Fig and Caramelized Walnuts Bundt Cake by Beatriz of I Love Bundt Cakes

Spiced Pumpkin Bundt Cake by Kaylin of Keep it Simple, Sweetie

Sherried Pumpkin Bundtlettes by Laura of The Spiced Life

Sweet Potato Pecan Spice Cake with Toasted Pecan Glaze by Stacy of Food Lust People Love

Harvest Bundt Cake by Tammy of Living the Gourmet

Pumpkin and Apples Bundt Cake by Kathya of Basic N Delicious

Old Fashioned Kushaw Bundt by Margaret of Tea and Scones

Pumpkin Espresso Bundt by Kelly of Passion Kneaded

Spiced Harvest Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze by Tux of Brooklyn Homemaker

Applesauce Spice Bundt Cake by Carola of En La Cocina de Caro

Carrot Bundt Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting by Cassandra of Cassie’s Kitchen

Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake by Terri of Love and Confections

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake with Pomegranate Syrup by Patricia of Patty’s Cake

Chocolate Caramel Apple Bundt Cake by Teri of The Freshman Cook

Mini Apple Cobbler Bundt Cakes with Cinnamon Glaze by Lauren of From Gate to Plate

Pork Chops and Applesauce

December 6, 2013November 6, 2014 ~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

I bring you a comfort food classic combination. I don’t recall ever having Pork Chops and Applesauce growing up and wanted to know why these two foods are traditionally paired together.

The answer? Because it works! The flavors complement each other nicely.

I made a quick spice rub for my pork – salt, pepper, paprika, ground mustard, thyme. Seared them over the stove top and served them aside homemade apple sauce and a baked potato. (Yes, I realize there should have been a green of some sort, probably broccoli served with this too. But apple is a fruit!)

Slow Cooker Applesauce

Ingredients: