Applesauce Muffins

I have been feeling a little frustrated with school lunches.  My kids typically take about 45 minutes to eat a meal.  At school, they get 20 minutes.  Therefore, they don't typically eat enough for lunch.  So, I have been trying to pack things that they can eat quickly, while giving them some much needed energy!

I store these muffins in the freezer to pack in lunches.  If you pack the muffin frozen, it is thawed well before lunch time.  With the muffin, I pack a Greek yogurt stick, fruit and veggies.  The muffins are made with unsweetened applesauce and honey to keep the sugar lower than most muffin recipes but they are still sweet enough to keep the kids interested in them.  They also have some oat and whole wheat flour to give a little fiber boost in their meal.  I hope your kids like them as much as mine do!

If you like this recipe, you may also like Applesauce Spice Cake (EF, DF).

Applesauce Muffins

½ c old fashioned oats, blended

½ c whole wheat flour

½ c all-purpose flour

½ c honey

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

½ t salt

¼ c vegetable oil

¼ c milk or non-dairy milk

1 c unsweetened applesauce

1 t cinnamon

1 t vanilla extract

Measure ½ c oats and blend in a blender or food processor until a course powder and set aside.  Be sure to measure the oats before blending them.  Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, blend applesauce, oil, milk and vanilla mixing until combined.  Slowing add in the dry ingredients, while mixing the batter.  Spoon batter evenly into 12 greased muffin tins.  Bake at 375^o for about 16 minutes.  Cool in muffin tins. 

Makes 12 muffins

Fresh Apple Cinnamon Muffins {Egg-free, Dairy-free}

Sometimes, I think my family allows fruit get a little over ripe on purpose in hopes that I will make some kind of treat out of it.  We had some bruised apples that no one seemed interested in eating, that then became somewhat over ripe.  I decided I wanted to try some muffins made with fresh apples.  If you follow my blog, you may have noticed my over ripe fruit often reappears as some kind of muffin.  So, I adapted this Fresh Apple Cake (EF, DF) recipe to make muffins.  They turned great.  My husband LOVED them!!

I made 22 muffins, just two shy of an even two dozen.  As you can see, some of them are a little bigger than others.  I think you could adjust the amount you put in the muffin cups, if you wanted an exact two dozen.

Fresh Apple Cinnamon Muffins

1 c flour

1 c whole wheat flour

1 c sugar

2 t baking soda

1 t salt

2 t cinnamon

5 c apples, peeled and chopped (about 4 large)

½ c vegetable oil

¼ c honey

1 t vanilla

1 c chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° and put paper liners in muffin cups.  Set aside.  Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, except for walnuts (if using).  With an electric mixer, beat on medium speed for 3 minutes.  Stir in walnuts.  Spoon evenly into prepared into paper lined muffin cups.  

Bake for about 20 minutes.  Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes.  Move to wire rack to cool completely.  

Makes about 24 muffins

Applesauce Spice Cake {Egg-free, Dairy-free}

Here is a simple, tasty little cake.  I cooked this in a flower shaped bundt pan and it held together beautifully.  When we discovered my husband's egg allergy, I figured my days of pretty bundt cakes was over, as a lot of egg-free recipes are more crumbly.  I was so excited when this one worked!  I just sprinkled it with some powdered sugar so the flower petals would stand out!

Applesauce Spice Cake

1 (18.25 oz package) Duncan Hines^® spice cake mix

1 ½ c unsweetened applesauce
½ c vegetable oil
1 t baking powder

powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350^o.  Generously, spray bottom and sides of a Bundt pan with cooking spray.  Using an electric mixer, combine the cake mix, baking powder, oil and applesauce.  Blend on medium speed for 2 minutes, scrapping sides of bowl.  Spread evenly into the prepared pan.  Bake for about 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool for at least 10 minutes in the pan, then invert to a wire rack to continue cooling.  Once cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Store the cake in the refrigerator.  It tastes even better cold!  

Overnight Applesauce Oatmeal

I have been intrigued by the increasingly popular overnight oatmeal recipes popping up all over Pinterest.  I decided to try one.  I chose this one because I had all of the ingredients at home and it seemed a little healthier than the almost dessert variety.  We really liked it!  We actually ate them cold which was a nice way to eat oatmeal in the summer.  I plan to try some other varies and may try warming them especially in the winter.  I think these will especially helpful for my husband during the week who usually eats grabs his breakfast and eats it in the car or at his desk when he gets to work.

Overnight Applesauce Oatmeal - Click to here to link to recipe.

Allergen Notes:
This recipe could easily be made gluten-free with certified gluten free oats.  I have also seen several overnight oatmeal recipes that use a non-dairy substitute for milk.

Wheat Coffee Cake {Egg-free}

In attempts to make some of our favorite recipes a little healthier, I replaced half of the all-purpose flour with whole-wheat flour in our favorite Coffee Cake (EF) recipe.  My kids didn't even seem to notice that it was different.  Maybe there was still plenty of sugar so they didn't care.  My husband on the other hand, could tell a difference in his favorite coffee cake.  But he still ate it happy to have something tastier than the normal hum drum cereal of normal weekdays!

You may be asking yourself, why bother adding whole wheat flour if I left all of the sugar?  Well, I will tell you why.  Big increase in fiber!  Whole wheat flour has 6 times more fiber than all-purpose white flour.  So, by substituting just half of the flour with whole wheat, this coffee cake now had 3 times the fiber it did before!  Yay!

Wheat Coffee Cake

½ c sugar

8 T margarine, separated

1 c milk

1 c all-purpose flour

1 c whole wheat flour

1 T baking powder (aluminum-free)

4 T sugar

1 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350^o.  Cream together ½ c sugar and 3 T margarine.  Stir in milk.  Add baking powder and flour, stirring until incorporated.  Pour into a greased 8” square baking pan.  Cube remaining margarine into small cubes and sprinkle over top of cake.  Gently push margarine cubes down into batter, leaving them partially exposed.  Combine cinnamon and 4 T sugar and sprinkle over batter.  Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes.

Serves 9

Apple Crisp

I finally cooked up the rest of our apples from our apple picking adventure and made this delicious apple crisp.  I like this recipe because it is just the right amount for an after dinner treat.  But you could easily double it if you wanted to make more for a party! We ate ours a little warm topped with vanilla ice cream.  Yum!!

If you like this recipe, you may also like Apple Pie with Streusel Topping (EF).

Apple Crisp - Please click here to link to recipe.  I think this crisp could easily be made dairy-free, by replacing the butter with your favorite dairy-free margarine.  I think next time I make it, I may add about 1/2 cup of pecans to the topping. 

Fresh Apple Cake {Egg-free, Dairy-free}

Last weekend, we went apple picking!  It was so much fun, minus a couple of bee stings.  I think the bees wanted to keep their apples.  We picked such a nice variety of beautiful apples.  So, we are now making all things apple.  We made this apple cake and plan to make more applesauce.  My husband is requesting apple pie . . .

This cake is so moist and delicious!  When you first combine, the ingredients it doesn't look much like a cake batter.  But the electric mixer breaks down the apples some to make the perfect cake batter consistency.  It seems almost magical to me.  In these pictures, the walnuts have been omitted since I was sharing it with friends that do not care for nuts.  The cake was a big hit with everyone that tasted it.  I hope it is at your house, too!

Fresh Apple Cake with Cinnamon Glaze

2 c flour

1 c sugar

2 t baking soda

1 t salt

1 t cinnamon

5 c apples, peeled and chopped (about 4 large)

½ c vegetable oil

¼ c honey

1 t vanilla

1 c chopped walnuts (optional)

For the Glaze:

1 ½ c powdered sugar

½ t cinnamon

½ t vanilla

3-4 T milk or water

½ c chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° and coat a bundt pan with cooking spray.  Set aside.  Combine all cake ingredients in a mixing bowl, except for walnuts.  With an electric mixer, beat on medium speed for 3 minutes.  Stir in walnuts.  Pour into prepared bundt pan.  Bake for about 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 30 minutes.  Invert onto a serving platter and cool completely.  Combine all ingredients for the glaze, except for walnuts.  Blend until smooth.  Spoon glaze over cooled cake and sprinkle with walnuts. 

Update (10/24/15):
I make this every September with in season apples.  It is SO good!  I really love this cake.  I have made it for other people and they love it, too.  No one even suspects that it is egg-free and dairy-free!  Here is this year's cake fresh out of the oven.  You could even omit the icing and just sprinkle some powdered sugar over the top when cooled.

Homemade Applesauce

September makes me think of apples because everyone is back in school and fall is here!  That makes me hungry for cooked apples, preferably with cinnamon.  I had some subpar apples in my fruit bowl that I didn't want to go to waste.  So, I decided to make some homemade applesauce.  I found this simple, delicious on Allrecipes.com.  I doubled the cinnamon in the recipe to 1 teaspoon, which was the perfect amount for us.  An added bonus is that your house will smell amazing while the apples are cooking.  It really sets the mood for the lovely fall season!  Enjoy!

If you like this recipe, you may also like Apple Pie with Streusel Topping (EF).

Homemade Applesauce - Click here for recipe. 

Cinnamon Pull-Apart Loaf {Egg-free, Dairy-free}

After trying the delicious Lemon Pull-Apart Rolls, I thought something similar with cinnamon would also be good.  So, I found this recipe online and it was good!

I doubled the sugar and more than doubled the cinnamon.  I actually ran out of the sugar mixture about half way through.  I don't know if the original recipe is a typo or if I was too generous with my dipping.  Either way, I think it was great with the added sugar.  So, I reprinted the quantities I used below.

If you like this recipe, you may also like Coffee Cake (EF).

Cinnamon Pull-Apart Loaf

Slightly adapted from www.rhodesbread.com.

18 Rhodes™ Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold
½ c sugar
4 t cinnamon
1/4 c butter or margarine*, melted

Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. Mix sugar and cinnamon together. Cut rolls in half and roll in butter and then in sugar mixture. Place in loaf. Cover with sprayed plastic wrap and let rise until double. Remove wrap and bake at 350° F for 25-30 minutes. Remove from pan and place on serving platter. Drizzle with icing.

Icing

 
1 c powdered sugar
4-5 t milk or water*

1/2 t vanilla
Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Drizzle over warm loaf.

*Dairy-free note:  As of the date of this posting, Rhodes™ Dinner Rolls are both egg and dairy free.  If you use a dairy-free margarine and water in the icing, you can have a delicious egg-free and dairy-free treat!

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Squares {Egg-free}

There are numerous recipes going around the internet for Cream Cheese Squares.  I decided to try the one from allrecipes.com first.  It turned out really good but I thought it turned out a little gooey on top.  Upon researching other recipes, I found that most use half the butter or margarine.  The recipe on GroupRecipes.com only uses three tablespoons compared to the eight tablespoons used in the allrecipes version.  The GroupRecipes.com recipe also used more sugar in the topping.  I think that would also help absorb the butter or margarine.  Both of these two recipes use one teaspoon of cinnamon.  We were recently at a function where this was served made with one tablespoon of cinnamon.  We liked the stronger cinnamon taste.  I also found another recipe on Old Town Home blog that used reduced-fat crescent rolls and light cream cheese.  This one also used more cinnamon, including in the cream cheese.  I don't think I will put cinnamon in the cream cheese but I do plan to use the lower-fat versions of the ingredients. So, I will reprint the recipe below, as I plan to make it next time.  Regardless of the version you use, I really don't think you can go wrong with this simple, egg-free sweet treat great for dessert or brunch!

If you like this recipe, you may also want to try Cinnamon Crescents (EF).
 

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Squares

Multiple Sources:  see links above

2 8 oz tubes reduced-fat refrigerated crescent rolls

2 8 oz blocks of light cream cheese, softened

1 t vanilla extract

1 1/2 c granulated sugar, divided

3 T margarine, melted

1T ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350^o.  Lightly grease a 13x9 baking pan.  Unroll one tube of crescent rolls and press into the bottom of the pan, sealing the seams (or you can use the seamless crescent dough).  In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar and vanilla extract, until smooth.  Spread cream cheese mixture over dough.  Unroll second crescent roll dough over cream cheese mixture but do not press down.  Brush top layer of crescent dough with melted butter.  Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar and sprinkle on top.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until top is crisp and golden.