Carney's Culinary Creations: #5 Caramel Apple Muffins

Ahh. It is already October! And what could be better than cool, breezy weather (perfect baking weather), the sweet smell of cinnamon, and warm, gooey, caramel apple-y goodness?! I'll tell you what: EATING this caramel apple-y goodness, fresh from the oven.

Since it is officially fall weather, I now have a valid excuse to make everything with apple, cinnamon, pumpkin, or a combination of the three. I thought up this little concoction one day while fully engrossed in my pumpkin-dessert-searching endeavors (yes, I have those). But, surprisingly for me, I came across this apple deliciousness. And in my opinion, it did not disappoint!

I would consider it a successful day of baking if you make it through the day without devouring the remainder of these caramel bits. I didn't actually know they existed until I looked them up online, and then I immediately searched and found them in the Halloween section in the grocery store. (Just a head's up - they are not in the normal candy aisle!) I loved the caramel in these muffins, and I would recommend warming them up before consuming, but either way works!

If nothing else, make these just to fill your home with the wonderful, mouth-watering scent of cinnamon and caramel. Waiting in the kitchen for these to bake really tested my patience. Luckily, I held out, and it was worth the wait to bite into these beauties. (Although, I really didn't wait long enough. I ended up, dare I say, scraping the cupcake liner because I couldn't wait long enough for them to cool. Oops. We'll pretend that didn't happen.)

I hope these help bring out the fall spirit in your house like they did in mine! Bon appétit!

Caramel Apple Muffins

Prep Time: 20 minutes. Cook time: 15 minutes. Total time: 35 minutes.

Yields: 18 muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups diced apples (about 1 1/2 - 2 medium apples)
1 cup caramel bits

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.

2. Use an apple cutter to slice apples, then peel them. I used one Honeycrisp apple and one Gala. Dice them very fine. Or, cut apples into chunks and place the chunks in a puree blender like I did to get fine pieces.

 3. Beat the first four ingredients together. Add the dry ingredients. Fold in the apple pieces and caramel bits.

4. Pour the batter into the 18 muffin tins. (If you want to make loaves, I believe this recipe will make one large loaf pan or two small.)

5. Bake for about 15 minutes, doing the toothpick test to check doneness.

6. Let cool for 25-30 minutes before unwrapping.

Enjoy!

Click here to print recipe!