Whole Wheat Applesauce Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

Hi everyone!  Happy Friday!  The weekend is almost here, which means baking is on the agenda!  In today's post, I'll be sharing with you what you should bake this weekend.

Technically, it's still summer, but with the commencement of nippy weather, muffins are a must-have.  Not only do muffins warm the body, but they warm the soul.  There really is something special about savoring a bite of a sweet muffin fresh out of the oven after experiencing the cool weather.

To the dismay of my fellow pumpkin lovers, I will not be sharing a pumpkin muffin recipe today.  (I'm hoping to do that at some point, though 😉.)  It's not autumn yet, (and I haven't made any pumpkin muffins yet 🙊) so a recipe for pumpkin muffins will have to wait.  But don't be disappointed!  Today, I'm sharing with you a muffin recipe that is arguably as good as any pumpkin muffin you'll stumble across:  an applesauce muffin!

At this point, some of you might be wondering why I'm sharing applesauce muffins in the season of apples.  My answer:  who wants to deal with peeling and cutting apples for a muffin when one can just peel open a carton of applesauce and flavor the muffins with that instead?!  The answer to my question would be literally no one who wants a fun and fuss-free baking project.

Since these muffins are applesauce muffins, they might as well be kept nutritious.  That is why I use whole wheat flour for today's recipe.  While whole wheat flour is definitely denser than all-purpose flour, it works great in these muffins once it's sifted.  Also, since applesauce encapsulates the sweetness inherent to apples, not much additional sugar is needed in this recipe.

But let's face it:  no wholesome muffin is complete without a little something...extra.  In this case, the welcome bonus aspect of these applesauce muffins is the cinnamon streusel they are topped with.  If you've been reading this blog for a while (and if so, thank you so much for bearing with me, a bear of very little brain 😁), then you know all about my love for streusel toppings.  A simple streusel can take a mediocre muffin and elevate it to a stellar bakery-worthy treat.  I have a couple of streusel recipes on my blog, but for today's recipe, I decided to adorn these muffins with this streusel.  If you desire, you could definitely top these applesauce muffins with my other streusel, but I think that the plethora of oats in my gluten-free streusel perfectly compliments the warm cinnamon and sweet apple.

I tweaked a recipe from this website for the muffin portion of the recipe.

That's all for now.  Don't forget to follow me on Instagram!  I look forward to posting again on Monday 😊.

Whole Wheat Applesauce Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

For the Muffins:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour, sifted
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2.  Spray the 12 cavities of a muffin tin with non-stick spray.

3.  In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together by hand.

4.  Divide the mixture evenly among the greased cavities, then sprinkle with streusel (recipe below.)

5.  Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out mostly clean.

6.  Enjoy, storing at room temperature for up to 3 days and freezing for at least a month.

For the Streusel:

• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (You may use pecans if desired.)
• 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1.5 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 T. unsalted butter, melted

1.  In a small bowl, stir all the ingredients together except the melted butter until combined.

2.  Stir in the melted butter, making sure that it evenly coats the dry ingredients.

3.  Enjoy, storing in the fridge for up to a week.