Applesauce Spice Muffins

The work / school week started off with muffins and ended with muffins. We kicked off Monday with deep, dark and delicious Double Chocolate muffins and welcomed in Friday with the flavors of fall. These glorious little cakes are moist with applesauce and spiced with the flavors of cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg.

A wonderful way to ensure a moist crumb is to use applesauce whenever you can. There isn't a hint of dryness in these little babies! Plus, the apple flavor is truly heightened with the addition of all those "apple pie" spices we have loved since childhood.

I made these at 6 AM today and they were ready in 1/2 hour. So by my math, the prep time took no more than 10 minutes and they were baked to perfection in 20 minutes. To save yourself cleanup time, line your muffin cups with liners. These are parchment fluted liners but any muffin liner will work well. I love the parchment liners because they peel off so easily and are a nice change visually as well.

For this recipe, use unsweetened applesauce only. The sugar adds the required sweetness. I used a finer ground turbinado sugar for the batter and a coarse turbinado sugar for the topping. If you prefer, use a light brown sugar in the batter at a 1:1 ratio. The taste will pretty much be the same. Do not use white sugar. You will lose so much flavor if you go that route.

I like the texture and flavor of this brand
but any sugar free applesauce should do the trick

So are you ready? Let's get baking !

RECIPE:
*altered source recipe: Applesauce Spice Muffins, Epicurious.com

WHAT YOU NEED

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup turbinado sugar (not coarse ground)
1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup unsweetened applesauce

coarse turbinado sugar and cinnamon for topping

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 400F
LINE 12 muffin cups with paper liners

IN LARGE BOWL, whisk together first 7 ingredients
IN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together eggs and sugar
ADD butter and applesauce to egg mixture and whisk until thoroughly combined
FOLD wet ingredients into dry ingredients blending just until combined

USING your ice cream scoop, add one scoop of batter to each muffin cup
SPRINKLE tops with turbinado sugar and ground cinnamon
BAKE 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean

REMOVE immediately from muffin tray and place muffins on cooling rack

SUPERB WARM AND FRESH FROM THE OVEN !


Also seen here:

Raisin Bran Muffins

Here's an odd tidbit of info for you. I suffer from migraines. I probably get 2 a month and each time I do I get a craving. It is the same craving each and every time : muffins. Once the headache starts to subside I begin to behave like a rabid fox. I NEED a muffin. Nothing will stand in my way. And yes, I also have a craving for a specific flavor of muffin. Not any old one will do. Yesterday I had a migraine and sure enough, today I woke up salivating for a plump and juicy raisin bran muffin so much so that I dragged my worn out body (and head) to the grocery store to specifically buy All-Bran cereal.
Then I got crackin'.

I am in love with Lyle's Golden Syrup and Black Treacle. I wanted the best of both worlds jam-packed into one gorgeous muffin so why not a deep, dark and rich spiced raisin bran muffin?

I had bookmarked a recipe several weeks ago which I had found on a fellow blogger's site knowing a craving would arise when it would come in handy. Sure enough, that day arrived.

I did alter the recipe and ensured Lyle's brands stayed in the forefront. If you have not had Lyle's products then get out there and buy them! I could sit and eat the syrup or treacle with a spoon they are simply that good.

Ok, on to the muffins. I wanted large, substantial muffins and as good luck would have it, I had just purchased a giant muffin tin in the USA last weekend. It sure came in handy today. This recipe made 9 giant muffins.

So let's get started !


My preferred ingredients





This recipe produces incredibly rich and moist bran muffins

RECIPE:
*adapted source recipe: The English Kitchen

WHAT YOU NEED

2 cups all bran cereal
1/4 cup corn syrup (I use Lyle's Golden Syrup)
1/4 cup black treacle ( again, I only use Lyle's. If you don't have treacle, use molasses)
1 1/4 cup milk (2% works fine)
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup oil (my preferred choice is grapeseed oil but feel free to use any neutral vegetable oil)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (Saigon variety is excellent here!)
1 large handful dark raisins
1 large handful golden raisins
large oats for sprinkling before baking
turbinado sugar for sprinkling before baking

MAKE IT

PREHEAT OVEN to 400F
LINE 12 regular sized muffin cups with paper liners or 9 muffin cups from 2 giant muffin tins
ADD water 1/2 way up to the top of any empty muffin cups to ensure muffins bake evenly
IN LARGE BOWL, add 2 cups all bran cereal
IN MICROWAVE SAFE BOWL, combine milk, syrup and treacle
MICROWAVE 1 minute 80% power
WHISK milk mixture to thoroughly combine and pour over all bran cereal
LET sit 15 minutes
IN SMALL BOWL, whisk together egg, vanilla and oil. Set aside
IN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, allspice and cinnamon
POUR wet ingredients and dry ingredients into all bran mixture
FOLD together until just combined
GENTLY FOLD in raisins
WITH ICE CREAM SCOOP, fill muffin cups nearly to top of paper liner
SPRINKLE tops with oatmeal and turbinado sugar
BAKE 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean
LET cool in pans 5 minutes the remove to cooling rack.

ENJOY !

Also seen here:

Blueberry Cornish Fairings

Cornish Fairings are sweet and spicy little cookies traditionally made with very finely diced mixed peel. As I didn't have any such thing on hand I decided to switch things up a bit. My attention shifted to the stacks of dried fruits in my pantry and I started to contemplate which one would pair well with allspice. I had recently purchased a little container of dried blueberries at my local health food store and had some left over after making another batch of Jonnie's Granola.

Blueberries and allspice go very well together so I decided to give it a try. Happy to say that the result is an amazing little cookie, perfectly sweetened and wonderfully highlighted with the dried fruit.

These are so fast to make and bake that I sat back stunned as to why I have never stumbled upon this recipe in the past. They are truly great little cookies ! Well, it is safe to say , after further research, that the cause of delay in my meet-and-greet with Cornish Fairings lies with my geographical location. I do no live near or even remotely close to Cornwall, UK. You see, the Cornish Fairing originates from Cornwall - a quite lengthy plane or boat ride away for me. Regardless, I have found them now and this recipe is a keeper.

During my Cornish Fairings research, I found this interesting video on YouTube and thought I would share here too. A little history lesson for us all and a chance to see the way these are made in bulk!

NOW ON TO THE RECIPE!

Here they are, rolled and ready for baking


Fresh out of the oven



A gorgeous batch of cookies

RECIPE:
*source recipe (adapted) : Cornish Fairings, The Great British Book of Baking

WHAT YOU NEED

100g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
40g fine granulated sugar
50g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
1 heaping tablespoon dried blueberries
3 tablespoons golden corn syrup (warmed in microwave for 15 seconds on HIGH)


MAKE IT

PREHEAT OVEN 375F
LINE 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper

IN MEDIUM BOWL, combine first 5 ingredients
ADD butter and cut in with pastry cutter until crumb-like consistency is reached
STIR in blueberries
ADD CORN SYRUP and stir with wooden spoon until combined into a somewhat stiff dough

ROLL dough into marble sized balls and place, spaced apart, on cookie sheet. This recipe yields approx. 18 cookies
BAKE 7-8 minutes rotating 1/2 way

LET COOL in pans 1-2 minutes before moving cookies to a cooling rack. Let cool completely

PERFECT WITH A CUP OF TEA!


Also seen here: