A day of being “walled about with apples” produced these apple-bran muffin beauties

I’ve always loved the expression “walled about with rain”, a line from one of my favorite historical novels, The Child from the Sea. On Saturday we were  “walled about with rain” from sunup to sundown. My planned day of gardening tasks had to be set aside, but who’s complaining? Our sun-parched land was so grateful for the soaking moisture.

Instead, I became “walled about with apples”. The drop in temps and the sure sign that fall was at hand got me grabbing up every apple I could find and stirring up apple goodies. How fall-ified the house smelled with apple things baking.

We loved these Apple Bran Cereal Muffins, the recipe having been procured from the Chickasaw Nutrition Services a few days before. Finely chopped apples and bran flakes were the key elements in these tasty gems. Interesting: the recipe called for 1/2 cup applesauce, which I didn’t have on hand. I merely inserted a diced, peeled apple into the blender and pureed it until the apple was a nice mush. I poured in a tablespoon of water, a sprinkle of sugar substitute, and dash of nutmeg. Instant applesauce to use as an ingredient! No emergency trips to the store; no opening a can. This helped make the muffins plenty moist; they turned out beautifully golden.

Pulling weeds could wait while we luxuriated in the smells and tastes of welcomed fall.

Apple Bran Cereal Muffins

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

2 cups bran flakes

1 cup skim milk

1 egg white (I used 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1 cup apple, cored, finely chopped

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 12 muffin pan cups with cooking spray. In a large bowl mix flours, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In another bowl mix cereal and milk; let stand 3 minutes. To the cereal mixture add egg white, apple, applesauce, brown sugar, and margarine. Mix well. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir until moistened. Spoon 1/3 cup batter into each muffin cup; bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 12 muffins. (Source: Chickasaw Nation Nutrition Services)

Caramel Apple Muffins and promises of fall refresh the heart

What pleasant thoughts get conjured up by a magazine feature entitled “Apple Delights”! Who doesn’t feel hopeful reading about a variety of ways with apples? Fall and the promises it holds suddenly feel a lot closer when a recipe for Caramel Apple Muffins sits on my kitchen counter with ingredients for it gathered.

Muffins from this recipe appeared on the cover of the September issue of Southern Living magazine. Darling little muffins that resemble real caramel apples, with a nut-sprinkled caramel glaze on top and little twig handles for decor, were so appealing, I had to bake them first thing.

A basic muffin batter with 2 cups diced apples fills muffin cups, with a cinnamon topping sprinkled on before all is baked. Once removed from the pan these muffins remain top-side down. You melt the caramels and dip the bottom side of the muffin surface (yes, I did a double-take on that one, too!) and then roll this surface in nuts. I decided to forego inserting sticks or twigs and enjoy these without the dress-up, but the idea is cute indeed.

Not long after those delicious-beyond-words muffins popped out of the oven, our part of the world experienced a refreshing cool spell that put everyone in a better state of mind. Fall and its promises and Caramel Apple Muffins—they make the heart sing.

                                                               Caramel Apple Muffins

1 (8-ounce) container sour cream (I used fat-free)

1 cup sugar (I used sugar substitute)

2 large eggs (I used egg substitute)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt (I used salt substitute)

2 cups peeled and diced Granny Smith apples

1 (14-ounce) package caramels

3 tablespoons whipping cream

1 cup chopped lightly salted roasted pecans (I used walnuts)

wax paper

food-safe twigs or craft sticks

Cinnamon topping:

1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl prepare cinnamon topping by combining brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse meal. Set topping aside. Beat sour cream and next 3 ingredients at a low speed with an electric mixer 30 seconds or until all is blended. Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients. Add to sour-cream mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended. (Do not overmix.) Stir in diced apples. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 12-cup muffin pan. Fill muffin cups three-fourths full. Sprinkle with cinnamon topping. Bake at 375 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until muffins are golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in center emerges clean. Immediately remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely (about 30 minutes). Microwave caramels and cream in a microwave-safe bowl at high 1 to 2 minutes or until mixture is smooth. Stir at 30-second intervals. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until thick enough to coat muffins. Quickly dip bottom three-fourths of each muffin into caramel mixture; roll bottom half of caramel-coated portion of muffin in chopped nuts. Place muffins, caramel sides up, on lightly greased wax paper. (If caramel mixture begins to harden before you’ve dipped all the muffins, microwave mixture a few seconds to siften.) Insert food-safe twigs or craft sticks into caramel-covered portions of muffins. Makes 1 dozen muffins. (Source: Southern Living September 2012)

Apple Muffins—savor now or save for Thanksgiving week

For me, a new cookbook with untried recipes inside operates as though it were a giant magnet pulling me into its pages. I start purposing to try out each suggestion and to write my comments in the margins after the item is prepared. The fresh-produce recipe book from the Southwest Chili Peppers Nutrition Task Force (mentioned last week) is one such lure. The highly basic nature of the recipes—designed to help people learn to cook produce in the most elemental manner—appeals to me.

I wanted to try its recipe for Pear Muffins but had only apples (of course!) and not pears in my produce bin. So I merely subbed 1 cup diced apples (about 2 medium ones) for the 1 cup diced pears it called for; for a little spiced-up flavor I also added 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. The zest of 1/2 orange (you also could use the zest of 1 lemon or 1/2 grapefruit, the recipe says) plus 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans) are nice additions. I think its flexibility is the thing I like most about the recipe—it allows for various adaptations. If you don’t have a particular ingredient on hand, try similar one that is available to you.

Tempting to devour all of these now, but they were soon spirited away to the deep freeze to save for Thanksgiving week. Apple-y and spice-y, they represented an easy way to put a little fall away for some family time later.

Apple Muffins (adapted from the recipe for Pear Muffins)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1 cup milk (I used skim)

1 egg beaten (I used egg substitute)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

zest of 1 lemon, 1/2 orange, or 1/2 grapefruit

1 cup diced apples (about 2 medium apples, peeled)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat together milk, beaten egg, oil, and zest of lemon (or orange or grapefruit). Mix apples and nuts into flour mixture. Gently stir milk mixture into dry ingredients. Batter should be lumpy and not smooth. Do not over mix. Spray muffin pans with nonstick spray. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until tops are browned. Remove from pan immediately; serve warm. Makes 12-14 muffins.

Spicy aromas in every corner while these apple muffins bake

Bring-on-Fall Recipe #3—Easy Apple Cinnamon Muffins. Saturday seemed like another baking-with-apples kind of day. I was ready for that autumnal aroma to fill every corner of the house again; Hubby was ready for a special, Saturday-morning breakfast.

Allrecipes.com helped me out with these quick muffins that spiced up our weekend—and, as we just observed, were the prelude for a few actual rain sprinkles this morning (at least our loved ones in East Texas are getting a good bit of moisture).

Easy Apple Cinnamon Muffins are filled with delicious apple chunks and topped with streusel. The prep on this was quick—even more speedy because Hubby helped with the apple chopping. Nothing like a little cheerful teamwork in the kitchen!

The topping helped hold the baked muffins together well after they were removed from their tins. Best yet, although the recipe said it yielded 6 servings, I somehow managed to get 10 muffins out of the mixture—even with filling the pan to the top of the muffin cups as the recipe called for. Easy Apple Cinnamon Muffins may not have brought on fall’s full effects just yet, but they brought on a joyful day and weekend and more hope for fall's arrival.

Easy Apple Cinnamon Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose four

3/4 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1/3 cup skim milk

2 apples—peeled, cored, and chopped (I used Granny Smith)

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup butter, softened and cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease six muffin cups or line them with paper muffin liners. Stir together 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt, baking powder, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix in oil, egg, and milk. Fold in apples. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups; fill to the top of the cup. In a small bowl stir together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix together with fork; sprinkle over unbaked muffins. Bake in a preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin emerges clean. Serves 6-10.

Recipe links apples and storebought corn muffin mix for ease and flavor

Speaking of apples, which this blog did yesterday and has since before fall "officially" began on Wednesday, a truly incredible recipe from Family Circle magazine a few years back hit the jackpot with this flavor combination.

It uses fresh, chopped apples with a storebought corn muffin mix and adds pumpkin pie spice and chopped nuts. The resulting muffins can go a variety of directions--playing to their "corn-muffin" side, to be used with soups and stews and down-home cooking, or playing to their apple-y, spicy side, to be used as a breakfast accompaniment.

In our family we interpreted them as corn muffins and served them alongside the Easy Vegetable Soup I mentioned a few days back. Truly wonderful! The inclusion of the apple bits made the soup, with its veggies and ground turkey chunks, seem as though it was a complete meal.

Baking Apple-Corn Muffins also makes you feel virtuous because it helps you create a "from-stratch" menu item with the convenience and speed of a mix.

Apple-Corn Muffins

2 boxes (8.5 ounces each) corn muffin mix

2 eggs (I use egg substitute)

1/2 cup milk (I use skim)

2 small sweet apples (such as McIntosh, Empire, or Jonagold), peeled, cored, chopped very fine

3 tablespoons sugar (I use sugar substitute)

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Coat 12 cups of muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl combine muffin mixes, eggs, milk, finely chopped apple, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and the pumpkin pie spice. Stir until ingredients are moistened. Then divide evenly between prepared muffin cups (usually a heaping 1/3-cup batter in each cup). Sprinkle tops of muffins with remaining tablespoon sugar and the chopped nuts. Bake at 400 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes until lightly browned around edges. Slide a thin knife between muffin and pan; gently lift muffins from pan. Cool and serve.