Whole Wheat Pumpkin Apple Muffins

Fall is here…well it’s arrived everywhere else but South Florida.  I think it almost hit 90 today!  It’s mid-October and it’s 90 degrees with humidity….yuck!!  Fall is one of my favorite seasons, and while growing up in Atlanta I looked forward to the weather cooling off and the leaves changing.  It meant Halloween was on its way and Thanksgiving wasn’t too far behind.  It meant pulling out the sweaters and your jackets.  It also meant that the smell of pumpkin filled the house.  I always miss “home” around this time of the year.  So to help me handle the homesick feeling I’ve had lately I decided to make these Pumpkin Apple Muffins.  I can’t explain it, but baking and cooking is like a calming healing thing for me.  I know very weird, but I guess that’s why I love it.  Ok, back to the muffins…. Pumpkin is one of my favorite ingredients and honestly I use it year round.  Then there are apples which I love and this time of year they are everywhere.  I had pumpkin puree left over and a lot of apples so I thought I would combine the two and make muffins.  I added a sweet crunchy topping that adds a lot to the muffins.  As usual I added whole grains to these delicious bites.  As I took my first bite of the muffin it made me feel like it was fall outside.  As I’m typing this the weatherman says a cold front is coming in a few days which will bring our highs down to about 82.  Of course when it’s January and cold everywhere else I will then remember why living in South Florida as benefits.  For all of you out there enjoying the fall weather I hope you also find these muffins enjoyable!  Happy Fall and happy baking!

Whole Wheat Apple Pumpkin Muffins

Print Recipe

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ¼ cup sucanat (you can use all light brown sugar if you don’t have sucanat)
• ½ cup light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup Greek yogurt (0% or 2%)
• 1 large apple, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
• 1 cup pumpkin

Topping:

• ¾ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• ¼ cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 450. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper muffin cups and set aside.

Mix together in a medium bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and applesauce with the sucanat and brown sugar.  Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.  Mix in the yogurt and pumpkin.  Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple pieces.

To make topping, combine the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a small mixing bowl until well blended.  Stir in the melted butter until the moisture forms large crumbs; stir in the chopped nuts.  Divide the batter evenly among prepared muffin cups and sprinkle the topping over the batter.

Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 400 and bake an additional 5 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.  Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the muffin tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Serve warm with butter.

Makes about 12 to 16 muffins