Tastes Like Fall

There is a huge apple festival this weekend, just over the state line. We aren't going, but the coverage on the news reminds me that fall is nearly here and apples are in season. I know that Jessica often makes a trip in the fall to the Georgia mountains to get apples and she usually brings us back apple butter.

We love apple butter, whether it's from an orchard in the mountains or it's a jar of Smuckers from the grocery store. It's all good. When Little Sister is here, she gets a few "grandmother privileges." One is to eat breakfast while watching Doc McStuffins. (That does not happen at her house.) A not-too-messy breakfast for her is a plate of toasted Pepperidge Farm cinnamon bread, cut into sticks, served along with a tiny cup of apple butter for dipping.

Quite some time ago, I printed out this recipe and lo and behold, I found it this week. Even though the recipe has been printed out and in my stack of recipes for almost a year, this was the first time I've made it. Oh my goodness, the house smelled so good! And the muffins were delicious. I asked Daddy-O, "What's the verdict?" after he had his first one. He said, "Let me see. I think I need a couple more before I say." That's his sneaky way of saying "These are really really good."

Think about making these for lunchbox treats. (Mini muffins?) And for breakfast. We almost made coffee to go with them, but figured we might not sleep since I had baked these muffins after supper. I might sprinkle a little sugar over the tops before baking when I make these again. Just to be different.

APPLE BUTTER MUFFINS
     —from Eat At Home

2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter (that's 4 tablespoons)
1 cup apple butter
1/4 cup milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin, or use paper liners.
Stir flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, melt butter in microwave. With a fork or whisk, stir apple butter, milk and egg into melted butter until well combined.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir with a spoon just until moistened. Batter will be lumpy. Spoon into muffin cups. Bake for 15 minutes.


When I was at Mommy's last week, we were talking about making pumpkin bread, one of her favorites. She said she often measured out the dry ingredients for a second batch while she had everything out—a cup of sugar in the bowl, a cup of sugar in a bag for later, etc. Then the next time, she only had to add the wet ingredients. I think this recipe definitely would be a candidate for her method.

Grandmother tip:  I was well into making this recipe when I discovered there was no milk in the refrigerator. Bummer. But I did have a can of evaporated milk in the pantry. Mix evaporated milk with water in equal amounts. And it works fine for baking. Now, I need to replace that can, or I really WILL be out of milk.