Applesauce Spice Muffins
1.5 cups flour (I use unbleached but whole-wheat would probably work just as well)
5 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup water
1 tablespoon vinegar (white distilled)
Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.
Combine all dry ingredients together. Sift well.
Make 3 wells for the vanilla, applesauce, and vinegar.
Pour cup of cold water over the whole thing and gently mix all ingredients together.
Pour batter into muffin tin…you can lightly grease the pan, put those little muffin paper cups in, or just pour the batter directly into the tin. They might stick somewhat if you just pour it directly but that's okay.
Bake at 350 and check after 20 minutes. They may or may not need more time.
Serve warm with some vegan margarine spread on top. :)
The applesauce makes these a little dense so if you don't like that and don't mind using oil... substitute oil for the applesauce. You can either do 2.5 tablespoons oil and 2.5 applesauce or 5 tablespoon oil.. it's really versatile so do as you please.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I made these yesterday. They're ok; I did use half the sugar though. I had to make them in a toaster oven, so they didn't really cook all the way or rise too much. I made 6 muffins, but I filled the cups up really high. However, I took the rest of the dough and made 2 waffles with it (I can only fit one pan in the toaster oven ;) ). The waffles were really good!
I didn't really care for these. They're too sweet. Maybe a half cup of sugar is all that's needed. Because they have too much sugar, they are very sticky. Eh. I probably won't make these again.
They smell great and are pretty tasty. Mine came out just a little gluey not sure why but maybe I should wait for them to cool down.
I made two batches, one with toasted walnuts and one with caramelized apple, both taste delicious.
The guys at work are going to love them.
These are pretty tasty, but possibly a little too sweet for me. I might use 1/4 cup less sugar next time. I used whole wheat flour. The first batch came out pretty flat but for the second batch I used AshleyKimball's tip and preheated the oven to 400, then turned it down to 350 when I put them in. They rose about twice as high!
My husband liked them and said that they remind him of pumkin pie (his favorite dessert), which made me wonder if you could substitute canned pumpkin for the applesauce...
BTW, I would say that the recipe makes more like 10 muffins.