Applesauce Muffins

from Deceptively Delicious

Prep: 20 minutes
Total: 40 minutes
Makes 12 Muffins (I got 18 but who's counting?)

TOPPING:
2/3 Cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 Cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons trans-fat-free soft tub margarine spread, melted

BATTER:

1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 Cup old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup nonfat (skim) milk (I used 1%)
1/2 cup butternut squash or carrot puree (I used squash)
1/2 Cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/4 Cup vegetable or canola oil
1 large egg

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.

2. To make the topping, stir together the oats, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in the margarine.

3. To make the batter, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl or zipper-lock bag and stir or shake to mix. IN a second bowl, mix the applesauce with the milk, vegetable puree, sugar, oil and egg with a wooden spoon. Add the flour mixture slowly, stirring until just moistened. Do not overmix - the batter is supposed to be lumpy.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle with the streusel topping. Bake until the topping is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffins, 18-20 minutes. Turn the muffins out on a rack and serve warm or cool.


**I made up a bunch of my own vegetable purees when I got this cookbook and froze them in 1/2 cup amounts. Comes in very handy! If you don't want to mess with your own purees you could always use baby food.

These muffins were DELICIOUS and the house smelled of cinnamon & apples all day.