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Apple-Pumpkin Spice Muffins
I have been making these for as long as I can remember, it is a morphed recipe, with changes for health and taste.
Every year I repost this recipe because it is just that good, the scents in the kitchen just send you into Fall Heaven and....you tummy into Fall memories.
It's that time of year again. Time to sit down, pour a cup, and have a tasty muffin made with fresh seasonal ingredients and whole wheat/grains.
This is a recipe I have adapted for the way I cook, homemade, healthy and as farm-to-table as possible.
Though, it all begins last fall with the GREEN homegrown and sometimes farm bought fresh pumpkins and squash we roasted in the oven and froze in bags, for use all season long. (Canned pumpkin can be used)
DIY Fresh Squash/Pumpkin is high in fiber, low in calories, and high in flavor. For roasting, slice your pumpkins in large chunks, pile skin side-up in roasting pans, add 1/2 to 1 cup of water in bottom of pan, cover with foil or lid, and roast 1-2 at 350 degrees, until fork easily inserts and all the 'meat' is the same color or cooked through.
You can chop in a blender or chopper at this point or just measure scraped pumpkin flesh into bags, mark and freeze. Use for soups, breads, cakes, brownies, muffins, throughout the year.
With fresh apples in season also, I opened a defrosted bag of pumpkin and drained the excess water off. This leaves the best part...which I chopped up in the food chopper until smooth.
Assemble your dry ingredients. I chose bar butterflavored Crisco for this recipe instead of butter, though it has saturated fats, it has no cholesterol. I'm having dairy sensitivities, right now so am not using butter. But this recipe works well with butter or any oil for that matter, as it is measured after melting. I use whole wheat or oat flours from Hodgson Mills. or Ceresota unbleached flour. Using all oat products will make this recipe gluten-free.
Lots of spices, flours, and oatmeal measured into first bowl.
I made a double batch which still worked perfectly.
Bowl #2 holds the eggs, pumpkin, chopped apples, and vanilla. Mix well.
Fold the wet ingredients of the two bowls together.
Do not beat, this is a quick bread, so just combine. Add applesauce if extra moisture is needed.
You get 12-18 muffins depending on your pan size. I also baked two round coffee cakes from this double-batch, which I froze. This recipe freezes well.
Here they are before puffed up in baking. The round coffeecakes took about 35-40 minutes at 375 degrees.
Here is the fresh muffin, still warm on the plate.
The texture is excellent with big chunks of fresh apple and raisins in this batch.
You can't tell this is made with whole wheat flour and rolled oats, it is so tender.
Best Fall Pumpkin Spice Apple Muffins makes 12-18 muffins (single batch)
1st bowl
1 cup of unbleached flour (I use Hodgson Mills or Cerasota)
1 cup of whole wheat flour (I use whole wheat pastry flour (Hodgson Mills) as it is ground finer than whole wheat but with the same benefits. Hodgson makes a great Oat flour for gluten free pastries.
1 cup of long-cooking rolled oats (trusty old Quaker Oats)
1 1/2tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp cardamom (this is the secret to this recipe)
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2nd bowl
3/4 cup of melted stick margarine, butter, or crisco cooled.
1 cup of packed brown sugar (light or dark)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup of roasted fresh pumpkin drained and blended smooth or canned
1 apple-cored and loosely chopped
(up to 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce if needed)heat oven to 375 F. Line or butter/flour 12-18 muffin tins holes.
In large bowl whisk together flours, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cardamom, clove, salt, raisins or cranberries, and nuts. (I add everything together---dusts your nuts and fruit at the same time.)
In second bowl whisk together cooled melted shortening/butter/oil, brown sugar and vanilla, whisk in eggs until frothy and blended, then stir in pumpkin and apples.
Gently, but thoroughly mix this into the dry bowl ingredients, folding until well incorporated.
Do not over-mix. If batter is too thick, add up to 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce. (Dense whole wheat or multi grain) flours are subject to dryness which can effect the moisture content of your recipes as can weather, so applesauce is the perfect consistency to add.)
Do not over-mix. If batter is too thick, add up to 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce. (Dense whole wheat or multi grain) flours are subject to dryness which can effect the moisture content of your recipes as can weather, so applesauce is the perfect consistency to add.)
Fill muffin cups to desired fullness, bake at 375F for 25-30 min, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the tops are a bit crusty. These are very moist muffins.
Cool in pan for 5 minutes and then finish cooling on rack.
These are tasty, moist, and freeze well.
The original recipe called for a crumble on top, or I have lightly frosted with cream cheese frosting or a dusting of cinnamon and sugar, but plain is excellent.
This recipe with added milk makes great pancakes, too. I fry them and then freeze a huge batch with wax paper between for quick breakfasts.
ENJOY! and always thanks for stopping by,
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All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions or posts. Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle
