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It's been a while. A LONG while. I've been busy, but you know what that means.....it means I have new pictures, new recipes, and new stories to post for you all! Minestrone, Pennsylvania, trees, slow cooker chicken, Halloween, pumpkins, cookies, Festivals...lots and lots! As soon as I get my act together and upload pictures, I'll have lots to write about! See ya'll soon!

All About Apples Part 3: Apple Streusel Muffins

I hope everyone has enjoyed the apple recipes I've posted this last week. This will be the final recipe (at least for now) using the homemade applesauce. 

I love muffins, and in my opinion, if a "cake" doesn't have frosting on it, it's a muffin. Philosophy of life. I usually use the Betty Crocker mixes to make muffins since it's so easy and quick. But Betty is steppin' aside, cuz these wonderful Struesel Muffins put those to shame! I ate one, could have eaten the whole dozen. True.

I got this recipe from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures and I'm officially a HUGE fan of her blog. So many great recipes! :) She has lots of baking recipes (my fav!) and lots of dinners/entrees. As usual, I altered this recipe a bit since I was using a homemade and chunky applesauce. I only used one cup of chopped apples and increased the applesauce by 1/4 cup. It worked, no problem! Delicious! 

I hope you all enjoy! I'll be posting a fall cookie recipe later this week (as well as a couple dinners), so stay tuned!

These are the required ingredients: flour, sugar, salt butter, cinnamon, eggs, baking powder, milk, vanilla extract, apples, and applesauce.

First, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Beat in eggs one at a time:

Stir in the applesauce. (If you need to mix everything, now's the time! Once you add the flour mixture, you can't over-mix the batter!)

Mix dry ingredients together.

Add in alternately with the milk. Stir only until combined.

Fill cups 2/3 full:

Mix together the crumble mixture. Best way is to soften butter and mix with two butter knives:

Top the muffins with the crumble/streusel topping. Pat down so the topping sticks to the batter.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.

Serve and enjoy your delicious apple treat...er, breakfast!!

Apple Streusel Muffins - originally from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures
Makes about 1 1/2 dozen muffins

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup applesauce
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
2 cups peeled, cored, and sliced apples

Crumble topping:
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbls butter, cubed
3 tbls flour

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin pan or line with paper liners. In a large bowl cream together butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt until light and fluffy. Beat eggs in one at a time. Stir in applesauce. Set aside.

Mix together flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Stir this into batter alternately with milk. (Make sure to begin  and end with the milk. The best way is to pour in 1/3 of the milk, 1/2 dry ingredients, 1/3 milk, other 1/2 dry ingredients, and the last third of milk.)

Fold in the apples. Make sure once the dry ingredients have been added you don't over-mix the batter.
Fill cups 2/3 way full and top with crumble.

Cinnamon crumble:
In a small bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon, flour and softened butter. Mix together using a pastry blender, or two butter knives.

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. If the tops begin to brown too fast, cover with foil.

All About Apples Part 2: Baked Oatmeal

What pairs wonderfully with homemade applesauce??? Answer? Baked Oatmeal! Now, I'm not usually a fan of oatmeal, but this stuff tastes more like dessert than breakfast! Nom nom, I will never go back to the instant oatmeal again! And, as with the applesauce, this is a great alternative to more processed oatmeals that you find in stores.  This is a recipe also given to me by Nikki. I'm tellin' ya, she never fails me in the kitchen department. :) For those of you who have rushed mornings and always forget to eat breakfast or run out of time (*I'm raising my hand*), this is the perfect alternative for YOU. This is a very fast recipe! In fact, I made this the other morning as I was getting ready for work. It  was done by the time I left, hot and delish! 

Try it out and let me know what you think! :)

Ingredients needed: oats, brown sugar, milk, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, unsalted butter, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla. (I added nutmeg...cuz I can!)

Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separate. Once that is complete, combine the two in a bowl and mix together.

Butter an 8x8 dish and pour in mixture. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Baked Oatmeal

2 cups uncooked old fashioned oats

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1-2 teaspoons cinnamon (I like a lot!)

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup each of raisins and dried cranberries (I left these out)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 ½ cups milk

½ cup applesauce

1 ½ tablespoons butter, melted

1 large egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preaheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl an combine the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir well.

Pour the whole thing into an 8 inch square baking dish and bake 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown. 

Serve and enjoy!

Note: I added some nutmeg. I didn't measure exactly but I would guess it was about 1/4 tsp. I also poured some extra applesauce over the top and heated it up, and it was the best brekkie I've ever had! No joke.