Good Monday morning to you! I believe I am finally over my apple obsession (at least for the next few days) and it's all due to the yumminess of these Easy Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins. Yes, I know that technically there are apples in these too, but it's so not the dominant flavor, that I'm going to let myself off the hook here. Apples or not, you need these muffins in your life right now!!

Every time autumn rolls around and I start to cook with pumpkin again, I always want to give myself a kick for not using it all year long! Not only does it make everything so colorful and orange-y, but it adds so much moistness and texture to baked goods that you can get away with using a lot less butter or oil. The same goes for the addition of the applesauce, which helps keep these muffins light without the addition of any dairy and also adds a lot of natural sweetness.

And perhaps the best part, other than the warm spicy taste and fluffy texture, is how easily these come together--no mixer needed! Just a minimal amount of whisking and they're ready to bake. I added some yellow raisins but these would also be good absolutely plain or with some chopped nuts or chocolate chips, or both of course!!

Enjoy one for a quick breakfast, tuck one into a lunchbox or offer them up as a fairly nutritious after-school treat, I suspect that these will become part of your regular fall and winter repertoire. Time to stock up on those cans of pumpkin purée!

Easy Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins

Makes 1 dozen muffins

Prep Time:  10 minutes; Bake Time:  25-30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda  
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Generous ½ teaspoon cinnamon  
• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs, room temperature  
• Scant cup pumpkin purée (from a 15 ounce can) 
• ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce  
• ½ cup yellow raisins (optional-sub in nuts or chocolate chips or leave all them plain) 

The Recipe

1.  Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 F. Spray or grease a standard size muffin pan and set aside. 

2.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. 

3.  In a separate large bowl, whisk together well the sugar, oil, eggs, pumpkin and applesauce.  Use a rubber spatula to fold in the dry ingredients until there are no visible traces of flour remaining but don't over mix. It's ok if there are some lumps as long as they're not flour clumps. Gentle fold in raisins if using and divide the batter equally between the muffin cups.

4.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, turning pan around once at the halfway mark so that muffins cook evenly. When muffins spring back when you gently poke them and a tester inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean, muffins are done. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

5.  Muffins last well wrapped at room temperature for several days and actually improve in flavor after the first day. 

Enjoy! 

Note:  Recipe adapted from The Sono Baking Company Cookbook by John Barricelli. I left out the ½ teaspoon ginger, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg and ⅛ teaspoon cloves.