The apples are ready for picking! I have a friend with an apple orchard (well, her parents have an apple orchard), and I’ve been pestering her for the last few weeks to find out when their orchard opens for picking. She kept telling me, “After the first frost”. Well, this past weekend, we got our first frost! So we are going to head up this weekend. (My kids had a blast last time we went a few years back).
Last night my apple orchard friend said, “while they apples have been ripe for a few weeks, they turn extra sweet once the weather turns cold.” True? I don’t know. But she grew up growing apples, so I kind of believe her.
Apples are a great thing to add to your kids menu! An apple a day, really might keep the doctor away (although, I’m not sure that anyone has ever tried it!)
I found some tips for apples on Produce for Kids ( A GREAT resource for all things produce-with a ton of awesome recipes!)
- Pick: Select apples that are firm to the touch and free of bruises.
- Store: To maintain freshness, apples should be stored in the refrigerator in a plastic bag.
- Prep: Thoroughly wash apples in water before using. Apples can be enjoyed in salads, smoothies, and breads.
We wanted to try some muffins using our apples, and found these Pumpkin Apple Muffins on Produce For Kids. You can use their search feature and just type “Pumpkin”, or “Apple” or any produce you have on hand to find some great recipes. My Apple search actually came up with a ton of fun ideas:
This recipe was simple, and I had everything on hand, even the pumpkin. Simply mix the ingredients, then line your muffin tin with baking cups, add the mixture and bake!
However, if you are so inclined- you can make your own pumpkin puree rather than buy it! Here is our post on how to make your own pumpkin puree in 3 Simple Steps! We’ve got more pumpkin recipes for you next week, so come back!
How is sugar healthy? It is one of the worse products out on the market. You should practice what you preach.
There’s raw, unbleached sugar; Sucata, which is basically dried sugar cane juice; coconut sugar, which is also minimally processed and still contains all the nutrients from the coconuts..
It’s just the white bleached processed table sugar that is so bad, because all the nutrients have been removed, leaving only empty calories to spike your blood sugar!!
Sorry, “Sucata” should have been “Sucanat”.. auto-correct got in the way!
Could you use honey or agave nectar instead of sugar, would that ruin the consistency?
The hard thing with baking with honey is that it browns and burns more quickly than regular sugar. NOT that it wouldn’t work… just watch your cooking time! I think the taste would be great if you can get that perfect point between just cooked, but not yet burned! 🙂
Hi Sara- We have always said excessive added sugar is toxic. But our brains actually use 25% of the glucose in our body. To eliminate sugar wouldn’t be smart either. In the 1800’s we ate about 5lbs of sugar per year- which would be very appropriate. Now, we are eating 120+lbs of sugar per person, per year! We’ve never said sugar is the worst product on the market, but always have practiced what we preach that excessive (more than 5% of calories from sugar) is not healthy.
This recipe looks yum. I love it that you are using seasonal produce. I’m going to make this recipe this weekend.
I just made these…they are SO good. Hubby and I already ate 2 fresh out of the oven. Hope there are some left when the kids come home from grandmas 🙂 Awesome muffin for the fall weather we are having.
Thanks SO much
Ah, yes, thanks for bringing up that point of heating honey. Will definitely try this!
How many does this make? Going to make this TODAY, looks super yummy.
How many does this make? Going to make this TODAY, looks super yummy.
16 Renee! I just added that.
Amy, great recipe. Can you provide calories per serving please?
I too have never heard of apples turning super sweet once it gets cold. But if your friend grew up on an apple orchard, I think she knows best!
Apples and pumpkins are the perfect fall combinations. This is something that I will be definitely making soon. There’s a lot of fibre in this recipe, so it’ll definitely keep me full!
I think having it with some apple cider would be even better!
We can’t forget that the best about baking with kids is that they love to help out and you can make an activity out of it!
Hi Di- all the nutrition data is here http://www.produceforkids.com/meal-planning/recipes/apple-pumpkin-muffins It looks like 394 calories per serving – IF you are serving with the other items they recommend. So, I’m just guessing it’s more like 150 per muffin.
Recipe looks great, just wondering if it would work to replace some of the sugar and oil with apple sauce?
I made these this morning and they are delicious! My kids scarfed them down – thank you!
I made them with my own pumpkin puree (1 3/4 cup) and they turned out great!
The only thing I found confusing was the mention of the Crunch Pak of apples. I found myself scouring this blog post and then having to Google search the Crunch Pak to make sure I could use one of my apples (and leave the skins on). Just wanted to throw that out there. 🙂
Thank you so much for this delicious recipe!
Glad everyone liked them Meg- and sorry about the Crunch Pak of Apples. I don’t even know what those are- they must be a sponsor of Produce for Kids or something.. I printed this recipe with their permission, so I was trying to keep it close to the original as possible. 🙂
Makes sense to me! Thanks again! (Just ate another muffin while the kiddos are napping…..oops!) 🙂
Lol–OOPS!
I just changed the wording in the ingredients, so hopefully everyone will know , they are just chopped apples!
Definitely! let us know how it turns out.
Very informed response. Nicely said.
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my kids will be happy when i will make this! thank you!
These were great! I used 1/2 C honey instead of sugar and applesauce instead of canola oil. I will make them again for sure!
Glad to know that turned out! Thanks for sharing Hope. People want advice on substitutions all the time, so this is great!
Any suggestions for substituting eggs?
since some people mention using apple sauce instead of oil I’m wondering if you use equal amounts?
Typically, you would use equal amounts when substituting apple sauce for oil.
I just saw your pumpkin apple muffin recipe for kids and was wondering you said it made 16 muffins is that reg size or the mini muffin tins I would use. They look so good. And could I use Splenda instead of sugar as I am diabetic.
Love, love, love your site! You do a great job of providing healthy recipes with normal ingredients and doing things in moderation. Please don’t let people like the first poster ever get you down!
On to my question…
I have leftover basic “muffin mix” that I made from the recipe on your site. Do you think if I use, say, 2.5 cups of that (to cover the bulk of dry ingredients) that it would work for this recipe???
Can you tell me where you got the cupcake liners?
Yes Stacy- We’ve done this with a flax/water mixture. I think we use 1 tablespoon of flax to 3 tablespoons of water, and whip until frothy.
Rachel- when I sub with applesauce, I do replace it 1:1. But generally only half the oil. So for this I would likely use 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup applesauce.
16 regular size muffins- not mini (although I made mini of course in the photos.. that would definitely be misleading. Sorry!!) I’m going to edit to reflect that.
LOL! Thanks Kara- People DO get intense around here 🙂
You should be fine doing that! I will try it too. I need to make some new master muffin add-ins soon.
Christine- I find those at the party store- they are the little treat cups for filling with candy and stuff. But I use them for muffins because they are stronger than muffin papers.
Thank you. I will try. My daughter is allergic to milk and eggs so this recipe is great!
Awesome, thank you!
What temp and time do I use for mini muffins? I’m planning on using paper muffin liners unless you think they would be too hard to remove. Can I use other flours without changing the other ingredients?
Could you use olive oil or coconut oil instead if canola oil
Hi kid,
This sounds yummy
Mom
Do you just whip the flax seeds and water by hand or in a blender or something?
That’s a really good recipe for my daughter…i’ll do it for her feeding time at school:) thanks…
How many medium sized apples are needed for 1 cup of chopped apples?
You are just using chopped apples, right? What’s a Crunch pak? We live overseas….I don’t know anything American anymore 😉 BTW, I love your recipes! Hey peeps if you don’t like the stuff, don’t make it. Some people need to learn, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
These look delicious.. I will make them for sure, but do you have nutritional info? Or calorie count? Thanks!
I just made these and replaced the canola oil with coconut oil and the white sugar with organic coconut palm sugar and they turned out perfect!!
JLB- Usually one, good size apple is plenty.
Yes Heidi, others have said it works just fine. I would definitely start doing that- and we should replace more of our recipes with other oils!
@Sally- same temperature, but about 10-12 minutes ont he cooking time. I haven’t tried it with other flours. Paper muffins are OK- but you are right, they are tougher to remove from muffins. I would even just use no paper at all, and grease up your muffin tin well.
LOL. Thanks @Jana-
I think a crunch pack, is just apples that the company has chopped for you. So, yeah – just an apple. LOL
@Nancy, I don’t have the nutritional info for the muffins alone, but you can calculate it at nutritiondata.self.com
Hi Amy:
I just made these muffins and used Stevia instead of sugar and coconut oil instead of oil….and they are dark brown and a tad on dry side…why? Is it the whole wheat flour maybe? There is no orange color to them at all and I used a whole can of pumpkin…any tips?
HI Amy:
I just made these and they are dark brown and a tad on dry side..I used coconut oil and sunflower oil and then replaced the sugar with Stevia…but htey aren’t orange at all..they are dark brown..any tips for me?
Hi! Recipe looks great! I don’t have a mini muffin pan… but I have the liners. Can I just fill them and set them on a baking sheet?
Hi! Recipe looks great! I don’t have a mini muffin pan… but I have the liners. Can I just fill them and set them on a baking sheet?
Tiffany:
If they are strong liners like the ones in my photo, yes- you don’t need a muffin tin. You could just arrange them on a baking sheet.
Jana
Hmm.. I wonder if Stevia is a moisture sucker for some reason?? I’m not sure because I’ve never baked with it before. Maybe add a little more pumpkin next time to enhance the moisture?
Fantastic fall recipe! I made them gluten free by substituting with my homemade all-purpose GF flour 1:1 and they turned out perfect! I will be making them again!
Fantastic fall recipe! I made them gluten free by substituting with my homemade all-purpose GF flour 1:1 and they turned out perfect! I will be making them again!
Made these this morning & they are absolutely delish!!!! My three year old LOVES them also! Please ignore the people that are tripping out over sugar. Your recipes are healthy and any normal, sane minded person knows that if we want to change the sugar out to something more suitable for our needs, then we can. BOOM,.. it’s that easy! I happen to love coconut oil & prefer brown sugar (& less of it) over white, so we used that instead.
Anywho,… I absolutely love your site! I find myself here almost daily. I follow you on facebook and Pinterest also. Thank you SO much for all that you do!!! My entire family is truly grateful.
Lisa S.
Royal Oak, Michigan.
Just made these – consistency turned out great but I only used 1/2 cup sugar as stated. I honestly don’t think they have enough flavor – next time I will use the entire 3/4 cup of sugar…as it is, maybe my son would have eaten them plain but I already made a cream cheese glaze to drizzle on top. (guess that defeats the purpose of me trying to add less sugar!) 🙂
Ha ha.. sounds good with the cream cheese glaze though! @Elizabeth.
Hi there! I was so excited to make these, and just as I was about to add the pumpkin I realized my box of puree had expired. 🙁 I was too far into the recipe to turn back, so searched around to see what I might be able to do, and actually substituted a 15 oz can of yams (drained water). The batter was a bit dry so I added 2-3 TBS of milk to get the right consistency.
I don’t know what this does to the nutritional value, but I just wanted to post to say it WORKED (to my surprise). And they are delicious!! 🙂 My toddler ate one right up.
Just in case anyone was lacking pumpkin in their cupboards!
GREAT idea Ariel!!
I replaced the sugar with pure maple syrup and they turned out great!
Are you aware of any pumpkin spice that has no ginger or an alternative homemade recipe? My son is allergic but I’d love to make these….look so good!
Nicole- I would just make my own and leave the ginger out! We have a recipe at the bottom of this post
http://www.superhealthykids.com/pumpkin-porridge/
I purchased a large cushaw squash at a pumpkin farm and have been trying to do different things with it. I replaced the pumpkin puree with the cushaw puree and it was really good. Read that cushaw has more liquid so I used a little less than 1/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup canola and it worked. I also sprinkled some cinnamon on top right before putting in the oven. Kids just ate several!
Great ideas! thanks Sarah!
These were very…..um, healthy-tasting. My kids took one bite- no more. I think half whole wheat and half white flour would have been a bit more palatable, plus more spices some vanilla, and a full cup of sugar… unless you want it to taste like plain bread.
Wow, they are lokking so fruity. Thanks for that wonderful inspiration. I think I will bake them with the kids next weekend 🙂
These look great and I wanted to make them today however the ingredient list looks like it is not loading correctly. For sugar it is showing 3â„4 cups sugar  and oil is 1â„2 cup canola oil. I can’t imagine 4 cups of sugar and 2 cups of oil is correct. Can you please let me know the correct amounts for these? Thanks!!
Did you bake your mini muffins in the treat cups or put them in the cups after baking to dress and photograph them? If you did bake them in the cups, did you spray the cups with non-stick baking spray first? Did the muffins come out easily? I know I’ve asked several questions, but I never thought of doing that before, and I LOVE the idea!
Right Amy- I cooked them in a regular mini muffin tin without liners, and THEN put them in the treat cups for the photo. I always spray my muffin tin LIBERALLY 🙂 If I’m making regular size muffins, I use silicone liners, and they pop out beautifully.