Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Apple Cinnamon Whole Wheat Muffins!

I have been on the hunt for a delicious muffin recipe that incorporates fruit, is a bit healthier than the store mix variety and is freezer-friendly.  I stumbled upon this recipe on Pinterest (http://cathlincooks.blogspot.com/2009/03/apple-cinnamon-oatmeal-muffins.html) and modified it to suit my needs.  This is not gluten free (to the dislike of my husband) but I wanted to experiment with a few things first and will eventually get to trying it gluten free.

Since I had a bag of organic apples in my fridge, I decided to make it apple cinnamon as the original recipe called for.  I also used cinnamon, whole wheat flour (my first time cooking with it), rolled oats, eggs, homemade peach/applesauce, milk, vanilla, salt, baking powder, brown sugar and sugar.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  (This smelled fantastic!)

In another bowl, mix together eggs (slightly beaten), milk, eggs, applesauce and vanilla.  The original recipe called for oil; however, I used a few cubes of homemade peach/applesauce instead to make it a bit healthier.

Stir the wet ingredients in with the dry. Peel and dice apples and add to the batter.

Add the batter to lined muffin tins and bake at 400 degrees for approximately 15 minutes.

To freeze; let the muffins cool completely.  Individually wrap the muffins in plastic wrap and then put in a labeled freezer safe bag. 

When ready to eat, remove from freezer bag and plastic wrap.  Microwave in 30 second increments until warm.

Enjoy!

Rachael

Apple Cinnamon Whole Wheat Oatmeal Muffins

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

½ cup rolled oats

1/3 cup light-brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup sugar

Cinnamon to taste

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2/3 cup milk

½ cup applesauce

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ - 2 cups chopped apples

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and put liners in a muffin tin.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, oats, sugars, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.  In another bowl, stir together milk, eggs, applesauce and vanilla until blended.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Peel and chop apples then add to the batter.

Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake for approximately 15 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Allow muffins to cool completely and then wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer safe bag to freeze.  

When ready to eat, remove from plastic wrap and microwave in 30 second increments until warm.

Fresh Blackberry Cobbler

BLACKBERRY TIME!

One thing you should know about me is that I am a wannabe gardener.  It never fails that every March I tell my husband, TC, how I would love to plant a garden that year.  We could plant tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, zucchini, strawberries, corn….and the list goes on and on.  (Yes, I have very lofty goals!)  He looks at me, smiles politely and every year, asks, “But who would water it and pick the veggies in July when it is so hot outside you complain about having to walk from the air conditioned house to the air conditioned car?”  (This man truly knows me).  Needless to say, we do not have a garden.

We do, however, as I learned a couple weeks ago, have blackberry bushes.  I have lived in this house for almost six years and this is the first I have heard of these blackberry bushes!  (After TC’s comment above- you have probably reached the conclusion I do not take frequent walks on our 3.5 acres to inspect what kind of plants and bushes we have growing.)

What should one do with ripe blackberries?  Make blackberry cobbler, of course!

After putting Kate to bed this evening I went, measuring cup in hand, to the blackberry bushes I have heard so much about.  Wow!  There were a TON of blackberries!  They were a bit smaller than I am used to seeing but with the unusually dry spring this made sense.  In the 15 minutes it took me to pick 1.5 cups of these beautiful berries I was reminded of a story my grandparents enjoy telling about my mom. 

When my mom and her brother were young, my grandparents would take them blackberry picking every summer.  The blackberries they picked would be sold and they used the money for their family vacation fund.  It never failed that my mother would just sit and cry in the middle of all these bushes because she hated the heat, was getting bitten by bugs, hated the outdoors, etc., etc.  (Apparently, she was quite the drama queen when she was a child!) I used to join right in and make fun of her with the fam….not anymore!  When I got back to the house this evening I was sweating so much I had to shower and change clothes to be comfortable and I was bitten by so many mosquitos I had to take some Benadryl to keep from scratching the skin off of my feet.  Mom- I am so sorry I made fun of you.  It will not happen again!  J

The recipe I used to make the cobbler is from www.allbisquickrecipes.com .  I had all the ingredients on hand (TC has a gluten intolerance so I used gluten-free Bisquick) so I decided to give it a go.

I removed any remaining stems and washed the berries well.

I mixed cornstarch, sugar, cinnamon, water and the blackberries in a pot, bringing the mixture to a boil and cooking for two minutes.

While this mixture was cooking on the stove, I started on the topping.  In a small bowl I combined the gluten-free Bisquick, sugar, melted butter, and milk.

Once the wet mixture finished cooking on the stove I dumped it into an 8 x 8 glass casserole dish and placed the dry mixture on top. 

I baked it for 25 minutes.  Once cooled, I enjoyed mine with some vanilla ice cream (TC likes his with Cool Whip) and settled into the recliner for some dessert and a rerun episode of the Big Bang Theory.  Perfect way to spend a Thursday night!

I posted the recipe and link below.  Make sure to leave a comment on what you think!

Enjoy!

Rachael

http://www.allbisquickrecipes.com/bisquick-cobbler/bisquick-blackberry-cobbler/

Bisquick Blackberry Cobbler Recipe

2 tbsp cornstarch

¾ cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup water

1 ½ cup blackberries

Topping:

1 cup Bisquick

2 tsp. sugar

2 tbsp. butter, melted

¼ cup milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine water, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and blackberries.  Bring to boil.  Cook for 2 minutes.  Pour into casserole dish and cover with topping.  Topping:  mix Bisquick, sigar, butter, and milk.  Bake until golden, about 25 to 30 minutes.