Applesauce Spice Muffins

I’m kind of obsessed with muffins lately.

I just keep opening my cupboards on Saturday mornings to see what I can stuff into a muffin so that I may eat many muffins.

They’re like healthy versions of cakes for breakfast! At least the “healthy” part is what I tell myself while I’m halfway through my second muffin in 5 minutes…

“Applesauce” certainly seems to imply the muffin is healthy, but unlike most healthy recipes where the applesauce replaces eggs, oil or butter, applesauce is just added for flavour.

This recipes still totally has eggs. And butter. BROWNED butter. It’s still got all of its “hahahaha you think I’m healthy? Yeah, okay then..” ingredients

Mmm… that’s some nutty browned deliciousness.

It’s not like these are explicitly “bad for you” muffins. You could inject muffins with much worse things like chocolate chunks or icing.

I just mean that in the end, it’s still a buttery, nutty lump of plush.. warm.. muffiny… …

What was I talking about again?

It’s a terrible idea anyway, calling muffins not all that healthy. I need to hold on to that little white lie when all my muffins start to disappear and I’m oooddly full…

Besides, when compared to a thick, gooey cinnamon roll, it’s practically IS a health food.

It’s all relative.

I could really go for a cinnamon roll right now.

Or an applesauce spice muffin. I made these on Saturday and they were gone by the end of the weekend.

Self contained vessels of not totally bad for you, bready deliciousness.

Yeah… I’m sorta obsessed with muffins.

Adapted from Epicurious.com

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melte
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup pecans (3 1/2 ounces), coarsely chopped
• raw sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a standard 12-muffin pan or line with paper liners.
2. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Keep an eye on the butter.  Melt and cook down the butter until little brown bits appear in the pan.  The crackling will subside and butter will begin to brown fairly quickly after that.  Keep a close eye.  Remove from heat and pour into another container to cool.
3. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together eggs and brown sugar in a large bowl until combined well, then add slightly cooled butter, a little at a time, whisking until mixture is creamy. Stir in applesauce, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened. Stir in nuts and divide batter among muffin cups.
4. Sprinkle raw sugar on top of muffins. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then remove muffins from pan and cool slightly.

Once cooled completely, keep in an airtight container at room temperature 1 day.

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