I made applesauce yesterday, as a sort of “making lemons into lemonade” situation after a tough weekend. Cooking and baking generally boost my spirit, and having the house smell like baked apples and cinnamon as fall is fast approaching, well — that’s a pretty good bonus.
I have been looking for some easy grab-and-go snacks for Prim lately, as we have fallen into the rut of consuming the same snacks day-in and day-out. The girl eats allll day long, so having plenty of snacks on hand is crucial. She’s in a bit of a picky phase, so any time I can sneak in anything mildly healthy I try to take advantage.
These muffins are a great dessert, but given that they’re pretty low in sugar, they’ve mostly been serving as a snack in our house. They come together quickly and make exactly 12 muffins — two things that are somewhat essential right now, given that I only have one muffin tin and very limited time where I can be out of eyesight of Lark now that she’s semi-mobile.
Whole Wheat Applesauce Muffins
makes 12 muffins
- 1 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup milk (I used whole)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 4 tbsp melted butter
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- big pinch of nutmeg
- big pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup unpacked raisins
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Whisk together oats, applesauce, milk, vanilla, egg, melted butter, and sugar.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and raisins.
- Add dry ingredients to wet, stirring just to combine (don’t overmix).
- Spoon into muffin cups or a greased muffin tin, then bake for 10-15 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Modifications
- You could probably use 1/4 of cup maple syrup or 1/6 cup (about 2 2/3 tbsp) to a scant 1/4 cup of honey in place of the sugar, but you may need to decrease the amount of milk by a couple teaspoons if you take this option. (Though it may be so minimal that it won’t make much difference.)
- UPDATE ON SUGAR ALTERNATIVES: I have made these with one ripe banana in place of the sugar and with 1/4 cup maple syrup in place of the sugar. Both work well if you modify the recipe use 1/4 tsp salt and a scant 1/2 cup of milk. The banana addition wasn’t my favorite, but my kids gobbled up the muffins (so maybe it’s the best of both worlds — kid-friendly and sugar free, but not tasty enough for me to dive into after they’re in bed. Ha.) The maple syrup in place of the sugar tasted almost identical to me, so if that’s your jam — go for it!
- Subbing coconut oil for butter shouldn’t be a problem.
- Feel free to add dried cranberries or nuts in place of the raisins — both should work well.