Cooking Done Light

I made these muffins for John yesterday morning – and the house smelled like a bakery almost all day! It is a recipe that I have been working on for a few weeks now, and I finally decided to test them out, using John (my muffin man) as a guinea pig. The verdict? He said that they were delicious!! They reminded him of that fantastic applesauce bread that bakeries used to sell years ago. I have a feeling that when fall begins to roll around, I will be making these quite often – which is fine with me, because not only are they really yummy, but they sure will save me a lot of money since they’ll take the place of expensive scented candles and potpourri!!

To Make the Crumb Topping:
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

4 teaspoons whole-wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces

Mix the brown sugar, whole wheat flour and cinnamon in a small bowl and using a fork, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside while you make the muffin batter.

To Make the Muffins:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (or allspice)

1 large egg

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup apple cider

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (or no sugar added apple butter, if you can find it, it adds a really intense apple flavor)

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and coat a 6 cup jumbo (or 12 cup standard) muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk egg, brown sugar, apple cider, and applesauce until well combined.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir until just combined.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups (they will be quite full). Sprinkle the top of each muffin with the crumb mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes (or until the tops are golden brown). Let the muffins cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 6 jumbo (or 12 standard) muffins. Per jumbo muffin: 259 calories, 6 g total fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 32 mg carbohydrates, 4 g fiber, 7 g added sugar, 5 g protein, 126 mg sodium, 21 mg cholesterol