Caramel apple muffins

Little foodie and I have been putting some effort into some fall baking. It's a little hard these days when the weather tops 80 degrees and the smell of smoke from fires miles and miles away cake your lungs. Anyone know why fall has been non-existent around these parts this year? Hard to put a mama in the baking mood.

Mama's little golfer in training!

Anyway, these little muffins were gooey, caramel-y and full of juicy organic gala's, granny smith's and golden delicious apples.. make sure you cut them in hearty chunks because then its reminiscent of a big ol caramel apple and yeah, what is better than that. Pears would be a wonderful substitute if preferred but keep the caramel! oh yes! Give it a try and you won't be disappointed!

Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Muffins

2 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 C. organic pure cane dark brown sugar
2 1/2 t. cinnamon
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 C. warm milk
1/4 C. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
4 apples, diced ( i used bigger size so it seemed like there was more apple than batter but it turned out amazing!)
1 cup caramel bits ( i used this bag of tiny caramel bits/balls that worked great but you could cut up the caramel squares. i got the nibblets at target but maybe a big grocery store would carry them, I believe they are Kraft brand but not entirely sure.)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease muffin tins or line with paper cups.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

In another bowl, combine egg and milk. Stir in butter and vanilla extract. Add flour mixture and stir just to blend. Stir in apples and caramels. Divide batter evenly among prepared cups. Sprinkle with flax seed for extra goodness or to fool yourself! Bake for 25 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly pressed. Serve warm.

Makes 12-14 muffins.

pear n'apple date bars

these may end up as one of my favorite snack bars ever. they came out moist and soft with huge chunks of juicy bartlett pears and gala apples and sweet little dates. i adapted the recipe for apple-date bars from an old cookinglight magazine...like so many other recipes there it was laden with white sugar and white flour..2 cups of sugar was insane and really even 3/4 cup could be scaled to 1/2 cup if so inclined. i can't imagine eating this any other way now! littlefoodie booty and bigfoodie daddy just could'nt get enough. the camera battery just pooped out on me so i'll have to make it again this week to definitley post a pick of these bars in all their heavenly and juicy glory!

enjoy!

3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup organic spelt flour
1 tspbaking soda
1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup organic natural dark brown sugar
7 tbl unsalted organic butter, softened
1 lrg organic egg
2 lrg organic egg whites
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp pure all natural vanilla extract
1 cup chopped medjool dates
1 tsp whole wheat flour
2 bartlett pears, diced chunky
1 gala apple. diced chunky

preheat oven to 325°

combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a and stir. set aside.

beat sugar and butter in a mixer at high speed until light and fluffy. add egg and egg whites.

Stir in applesauce and vanilla.

add flour mixture to sugar mixture; stir just until combined.

toss dates with 1 tsp flour.

add dates, pears and apples, and nuts stirring just until combined.

pour batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

bake for 1 hour.