Pimp My Muffin

I am a night cooker. That means after everything else is done for the day, CityBaby is down, I pull out the recipes and KitchenAid and go to it. I have been looking for a healthy muffin alternative. I had a bunch of browning bananas last week and lacking time and creativity, I went to my standby recipe. It includes 3/4 cup of butter. Real butter. Can you hear my arteries hardening? Last night, I was looking at a bunch of turning apples so I decided to experiment. I took a banana nut muffin recipe and altered it. I replaced the butter with applesauce, split the flour into 1cup each of white and wheat and used the Splenda brown sugar blend. They came out delicious. Admittedly, they are denser than your typical muffin but with practically no fat and lots of fiber, they are a great alternative. Plus, everyone here loves them. But please don't tell them the truth.

Low Fat, High Fiber Apple Nut Muffins

2 cups flour (1 cup white flour, 1 cup wheat)
1.5 teaspoons of baking powder
1 cup brown sugar (I use Splenda brown sugar blend)
3/4 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1/2 cups walnuts
2 apples - peeled and shredded

In a mixer, combine eggs and applesauce. Then add in sugar and mix well. Add flour and baking powder into mixer and combine everything. Then hand stir in shredded apples and walnuts just to combine. You don't want to beat this too much at this point.

I like a bigger muffin, so I fill the muffin tins to about the top. This recipe yielded 12 muffins. Bake in a 375 degree over for 18-20 minutes. Since these are dense, I recommend checking with a toothpick or skewer to test when done. Remove from oven when brown on top and done inside. Let stand for a few minutes then remove from pan.