Yummy Apple Spice Muffins!

I don't usually post recipes, but this one was requested so here it is! I rarely bake a recipe exactly the way it is laid out because I like making things a little bit healthier. These turned out awesome!

This is the recipe I used courtesy of www.epicurious.com, but I changed it a little. I'll add in my changes with Red text.

For muffins:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups Unbleached whole wheat 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 - 3/4 cup unpacked real cane light brown sugar (I really don't like things too sweet!)

1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted - 1 Stick melted butter

1 cup unsweetened applesauce - I did an overflowing cup to make up for the 3 less tablespoons of butter

1 cup pecans or walnuts (3 1/2 ounces), coarsely chopped - Instead I added 2 fuji apples cut into small pieces (I'm not much for nuts in my food)

For topping: - I skipped the topping because It's just more sugar, but I'm sure it's great with the topping too!

2 tablespoons granulated sugar1/4 teaspoon cinnamon1/4 teaspoon ground allspice1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Special equipment: a muffin pan with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups

Prepare muffins:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.

Grease muffin pan. - I used paper muffin cups

Stir 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 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/or apples) and divide batter among muffin cups.

Stir together all topping ingredients and sprinkle 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.

I cooked mine for 20 min at 400, but the bottoms burned slightly. Next time I would bring down the baking temp to 375 and increase the time just slightly.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Applesauce-Spice-Muffins-108784#ixzz0g2Gv7BbZ

A beautiful day for a bike ride

Today I was pretty determined to get outside, but this morning Zeke had other plans. He definitely didn't want to go out before his nap. So, while he was sleeping I sat out on the front porch (which is actually just a slab of cement... not much of a porch) and had some awesome snacks of dark chocolate, strawberries and blueberries and read a book. I felt so free for an hour and a half while he napped. It was awesome.

After his nap, I got him ready and we went out for a bike ride. =)

Warning, these photo's are out of order... I'm not sure why or how to fix it so deal with it!

This is our view on the trail on the way home from the park

Zeke saying "cheese"

Zeke and I in the shed waiting for Nate to get home after we got back from the park

Zeke thought this bump in the trail was a slide. =)

The trail headed to the park

On the trail on the way home.

Zeke always wants to stop to see the water when we go out on the trail.

He's so cute in his trailer

A nice lady took a picture of us.

Playing on the toys

Being a goof

Beautiful Boulevard Park

Recent events

We've had a lot of stuff going on lately... for instance, we got a new dishwasher finally!!! After 5 months of hand washing dishes, I'm very thankful for the new one.

Nate is working hard while Zeke is laying down on the job!

Now he's helping!

Zeke got is first bike! It's a balance bike. He's slowly warming up to it... I think he'll be zipping around with that thing in no time!

Zeke is sleeping in a toddler bed now! He's such a big boy! We got it so he could take his time transitioning into it. The day we set it up, he took his afternoon nap in it and has slept in it every night since! Crazy kid!

We went to the Museum of Flight to pick up some airplane toys from the gift shop. Zeke was elated by all the amazing airplanes sitting outside and flying overhead. I can't wait to go back again to experience the museum with him. He just loves airplanes!

The results are in...

We had our ultrasound yesterday and our baby is measuring perfectly for the due date of June 30, 2010. The baby has adorable feet and was moving around ferociously.

And now to the info you've all been waiting for...

Drum roll please...

...

...

We're having a:

We're really excited about Zeke having a little brother and he is too! He even tries to say it by saying, "brober." it's so cute!

We have a secret...

What's your best guess? » create free polls

Tags : baby

We'll let you all know as soon as I get a satisfactory number of votes. =)

Or as soon as I can't stand to wait any longer!

Thanks!

In regards to my last post, I want to say thank you to all of you who made comments. After re-reading my post I realized that I sounded a bit whiney... that wasn't my intent. I think sometimes it's so easy to post all the wonderful things that are happening in life that it's nice to be honest at times. Not that the nice things aren't honest, but life isn't always perfect. I agree with all of you. I am to hard on myself. I do have wrong expectations on who I am to be as a Mom. I think most of what I need is a mind set change. That can be really difficult.

We just got a new dishwasher and 2 loads later, the dishes feel manageable. Nate and I have talked about adjusting responsibilities while I'm pregnant and continuing to revisit our list of chores and responsibilities so we can continually function as a team as my body grows and I can't accomplish as much as before. I also discovered this blog that has some good tips on how to keep a clean house. I haven't started implementation yet, but I'm working toward it.

Zeke and I have gone on a couple walks this week. Zeke loves his kids hot chocolate at Starbucks! I know, I'm bad for getting him hooked early, but it's such a fun treat on a cold walk.

All in all, I feel better. I think my hormones are on a roller coaster ride and it's hard to keep up. Thanks again for your kind words. Hearing what you had to say helped jolt me out of my hormonal downswing.