Deceptively Delicious: Applesauce Muffins

 For Christmas last year I received this cookbook from my mother. It is written by Jessica Seinfeild. Deceptively Delicious a book of recipes where we can add extra veggies to things we eat everyday and not even noticed that a serving of vegetables has been added. Their are recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even dessert. There is a recipe for brownies with spinach, which I am oh so eager to try. I have wanted to make something from this book all year, but have never gotten around to actually making some vegetable puree to put in the recipes. Well man I was being lazy because it is so simple. Before I went to Zumba this morning I filled my crock pot with a bag of fresh carrots. I let it cook until I got home (around 2pm) The carrots were soft and ready for me to put them through my quick chop. I was able to get 3 bags of carrot puree for the freezer and another for the muffin recipe below. I am now planning on making some more purees tonight so I have some ready in the freezer for quick thawing whenever I am ready to try something new from this book. I have decided to post the different things I try and maybe some of you will want to try them out. I am digging the fact of adding even more veggies and fruits into my families diet. I want us to be healthy and this will help us out a little. My kids are pretty good at eating their fruits and veggies, but you can never have to many right?

Anyways this week in school we are doing apples, which is why I chose a Applesauce muffin recipe. Keagan helped me do half and then lost interest (as he usually does when cooking is involved). He was the first to try them out though and he loved them. The kids and I had 3 each. Jason said they were a little to healthy for his taste buds :> I guess I can't win them all over on the first try, but I am bound to find something healthy my hubby loves. It is my mission :> Anyways enjoy the recipe below and hope you are all having a fabulous week!

Topping:
2/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup firmly pack light or dark brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbl butter or margarine

Batter:
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sweetened applesauce
1/2 cup low fat milk (We used 2%)
1/2 cup of butternut squash or carrot puree (I used carrot puree)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or use muffin baking cups.

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

3. To make batter, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and stir. 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 moistened. The batter should be lumpy. Do not over mix.

4. Divide batter evenly between muffin cups and sprinkle with streusle topping. Bake until topping is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean. About 18-20 minutes. Turn the muffins out onto a rack and allow to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy!