Bucket List!

Tomorrow means that it is officially Fall, so tonight I'm celebrating by baking these delicious muffins that take me right back to fall at home in Gig Harbor as a little girl. Mom used to make these every fall, once or twice. We loved it. Mom didn't bake a lot, but when she did...she did it right. The recipe came right off the back of a can of Libby's pumpkin, which is now ripped and yellow around the edges from years of use. Tonight I attempted making them a little more health-friendly by using whole wheat flour and sans streusel. They are just as delicious as ever, but the wheat texture makes me feel just a little less guilty for eating two. Or three. 

Muffins

2 1/2 cups flour

2 cups sugar (I cut down on this measurement a bit)

1 tbls pumpkin pie spice (I just threw in a bunch of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups pumpkin

2 large eggs

1/4 cup butter

2 cups apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (I did big chunks tonight, but you can chop them as finely as you want)

Streusel

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbls flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbls butter

Combine all the dry ingredients for the muffins in a big bowl and mix it up with a whisk. In a smaller bowl, combine the wet ingredients (the recipe called for oil, btw, but I just melted butter and it worked great) and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix just until everything is blended together, then add the apple chunks. This is the point where you have to stop yourself from eating all the dough.

If you're making the streusel topping (which we never did growing up, but I'm a firm believer in all things butter, so I'm sure it's fantastic), combine the dry ingredients then cut in the butter. If it's crumbly, you know it's good. 

Spoon dough into greased or lined muffin tins until 3/4 of the way full. Sprinkle streusel on top. Proceed to bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. 

They taste good warm or cold, and even better with a glass of milk near by. Enjoy!