Apple Butter Snickerdoodle Muffins
Ten years ago Andrew planted our first apple tree. Over the course of the next handful of years he faithfully tended to them and also added a few more trees so that we now have four, each a different variety. The past couple of years we have had modest harvests as the the older trees began to produce and the younger ones slowly tested their fruit bearing capabilities. But this year there was nothing modest about the harvest. These trees have come into their own. Each one is now a full grown, apple producing marvel.
That meant I needed to become an apple processing marvel. In other words, I needed to figure out what to do with them all.
I learned years ago when we’d get bushels of cheap, end-of-year apples from the orchard, that I like making and canning applesauce. So I did lots of that. We also like pies and crisps to eat fresh and some to freeze for later. So we did lots of that. Some of us like dried apples (though not that much) so we did some of that, too. I also made some specialty things here and there like Apple Baked French Toast or Apple Cinnamon Scones, and the kids sliced up lots of apples for peanut butter dipping. And of course, to anyone who said, “Oh, look at all those apples,” we’d say, “Let me get you a few bags full.”
But still we had apples. And more apples. And more apples.
I needed something else. Something easy. Something yummy and giveaway-able. The something I was looking for turned out to be apple butter.
If you are not familiar with apple butter, it is like applesauce but cooked down even further and then pureed until it is smooth as, well, butter. It is perfect for spreading on toast or muffins. It is basically apple jam.
When making applesauce, I cook the apples down (but leave it chunky) in a giant pot on the stove with nothing added, but I found the Instant Pot to be the perfect thing for batch after batch of apple butter. I simply filled it up with chunks of apples (no core but skin is fine), some water, a bit of cinnamon and a touch of sweetener, cooked it until super soft (20 min on high should do), blended with an immersion blender, and then let it simmer on slow cooker mode for hours, until nice and thick and ready to be canned.
Apple butter was a great addition to our apple processing plan, and as the cute little jars came out of the canner, I realized they would make great gifts for neighbors, teachers, and friends. If you happen to be one of those neighbors, teachers, or friends who has received a jar of apple butter, here is a recipe you could try. It would use up just part of your jar and you’d still have some left to spread on a muffin fresh out of the oven.
Enjoy!
Apple Butter Snickerdoodle Muffins
Ingredients
- 3.5 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 cup of sucanat or brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2/3 cup of coconut oil or butter or 1/3 cup of each, melted
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup of sour cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup apple butter
- 1 tbs sucanat or brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Combine the dry ingredients (numbers 1-5) in mixing bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients (numbers 6-10) to the bowl and stir with the dry ingredients until just combined.
- Scoop batter into muffin tins 3/4 of the way full.
- Mix 1 tbs of sucanat or brown sugar with 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and sprinkle the mixture on each muffin.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes.
