Beautiful Food

Whoa, whoa whoa…hold the phone.  Three fruits of produce in one muffin?  You’ve got to be kidding me! Oh, but I’m not kidding.  I’m taking the best seasonal foods there are to offer and jam-packing them into this low sugar, moist and springy muffin recipe!

Can I just tell you again that autumn is my very favorite season.  The season in which I was born (yes, happy belated birthday to me), and the one in which I would die if I had a choice.  Wow, that was dark…  But back to muffins!   Soaking up this beautiful and perfect equinox weather, wearing a different concoction of scarves and boots on a daily basis, and throwing back WAY too many fall-foods is what this time of year is all about.

If I could name a few of my favorite things they would probably involve:

Chai Lattes

Pumpkin Spice everything

And these muffins.  

I think I ate six just doing the photo shoot….and believe me it was easy to do because I made a batch of mini muffins as well as normal sized.  Oi vey I need to stop!
If you’re ready to stop drooling and start baking then scroll on to the recipe!

Yes to all of these: 

Yields: About 24 regular muffins or 3 dozen mini muffins

You will need: 

A mini muffin pan or regular muffin pan

Cooking spray

Stand mixer with glass bowl

Rubber scraper

Medium mixing bowl

Silicone whisk

Serving spoon

Cooling rack

 

Ingredients: 

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room temperature butter
• 1/4 cup of coconut oil, slightly melted
• 1/4 cup of light or dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup  of white superfine baker’s sugar
• 1 small container of unsweetened applesauce
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup canned pure pumpkin
• 1 very ripe, medium sized banana, mashed
• 2 small Jonathan apples, finely chopped (or 1 medium, tart apple)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups of all-purpose flour (you can also go 1/2 whole wheat)
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• ½ teaspoon of baking powder
• ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon of ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon of allspice or pumpkin pie spice
• ⅛ teaspoon of ground cloves
• 1/3 cup of chopped pecans (optional*)

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350º F

Spray your muffin pan and set aside.

•   In your stand mixing bowl, pour in the sugars, butter, oil, and applesauce, and beat until well combined.
•  Add in eggs to mixer while on low.  Then slowly add in pumpkin, banana, apples, and vanilla.
• In your separate bowl, combine the flour, soda, salt, powder and spices and whisk to combine.
•  Slowly add the dry ingredients (and nuts if desired) to the mixer and beat on low until just combined.  Scrape the sides if needed.
• Using a spoon, dish the batter in to the muffin pans and fill about 9/10 of the way.
• Bake for 25-35 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
• The muffins should be golden in color with an even all around finish. 🙂

 

I think what I love most about these muffins is how springy, lite and moist they turned out.  The applesauce gives it just the right amount of moisture and the honey and cinnamon round out the sweetness for a perfect amount of tart and spice 🙂

If you’re in the mood for other fall-inspired recipes, check out these other posts below!

Pumpkin Oat Bars:              Choco Banana Muffins:            Oatmeal Raisin Cookies:

                             

 

 

Enjoy!

 

-K