Cranberry Apple Pumpkin Muffins

Friday, November 20, 2009

Cranberry Apple Pumpkin Muffins

After making these pumpkin cranberry muffins a couple weeks ago, Hubby said I didn’t need to ever try another muffin recipe again. He said they were the best I had ever made and he could eat them forever. Now, I’ve made quite a few different muffin recipes. And for anyone who knows me in real life, they know that I don’t just stop trying new recipes. It’s just not my thing. It annoys my family sometimes when they ask me to make something I’ve already made and I get all hesitant because I’ve already tried the recipe. Don’t get me wrong, some recipes I do repeat, but not so much for baked goods…

When I gave Hubby one of these muffins to try, he first thought it was a repeat of the pumpkin cranberry muffin. When I told him it was a new recipe, he seemed apprehensive. But I can say without any hesitation that these are much better (in my opinion) than the pumpkin ones of a few weeks ago. These muffins add a few extra flavors and textures. I love the different textures from the apples, cranberries, and nuts in the muffins. And they’re quite colorful!

I ended up using walnuts and pecans because that is what I had on hand. This is the type of recipe that you can adapt to fit your pantry. I used Granny Smith apples and next time I’ll be sure to chop them a bit smaller. I really enjoyed the bites with the fresh cranberries in them. The small punch of tartness is just great. As always, I doubled the recipe so that I would have muffins to freeze for us.

Cranberry Apple Pumpkin Muffins

Yield: ~20 muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour - I used 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 all purpose
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. light brown sugar
1/2 can (or 7.5 oz) pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1/4 c. oil
1/4 c. applesauce
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 medium apple peeled, cored, and diced
1 c. fresh cranberries
1 c. chopped pecans - I used 1/2 pecans and 1/2 walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin pans.

In large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and whisk to combine.

In another large bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil, applesauce, milk, vanilla and stir to combine well.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just barely blended. Fold in apples, cranberries and pecans.

Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for ~30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Good Things Catered

Check out my week of Cranberries here.

Breakfast

3 comments »

23 Responses to “Banana Split Cupcake”

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1

stephchows — September 15, 2009 at 12:47 pm

Great cupcake hero entry!!! yum!
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2

oneordinaryday — September 15, 2009 at 2:04 pm

You’re right – it’s a freaking cute cupcake! I especially love that frosting and how you got it to look like a scoop of ice cream. Nicely done!
This is my first CH and I can’t wait till the voting begins! : )
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3

Amanda — September 15, 2009 at 2:49 pm

Wow, what a yummy looking cupcake! Great idea!
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4

oneparticularkitchen — September 15, 2009 at 4:14 pm

This is ADORABLE!! I love it!
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5

Xiaolu — September 15, 2009 at 5:08 pm

Gorgeous cupcake, Jen! I love how the cherry stands out. How do you get that black background if you don’t mind me asking? I’m pretty new to this food photography thing 8)
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6

Amy Kingman — September 15, 2009 at 5:41 pm

Yummmm!!!!!
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7

Jen — September 15, 2009 at 5:51 pm

Xiaolu – It’s actually just my black table. I’ve also had luck using a plain black piece of construction paper (most of my backgrounds are the 12×12 scrap-booking papers) or a black towel to get the background all black.

Here is an example using paper, and one using a towel.
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8

Xiaolu — September 15, 2009 at 5:59 pm

Thanks! That’s really helpful.
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9

Joanna — September 15, 2009 at 8:28 pm

Yum! Great idea 🙂
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10

Stephanie Wagner — September 15, 2009 at 10:44 pm

Awesome idea!
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11

bcallegra — September 16, 2009 at 2:04 am

Very creative and it looks great!
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12

The Novice Chef — September 16, 2009 at 3:15 am

What a cute idea! I love it!! And I know my nieces would be in love!
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13

nutmegnanny — September 16, 2009 at 3:33 am

Great idea…they look delicious!
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14

jesstyler — September 16, 2009 at 4:08 am

holy deliciousness! I NEED one of those! 🙂
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15

Kerstin — September 16, 2009 at 4:48 am

How creative, I love them! So cute and tasty with that cherry on top!
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16

Ingrid — September 16, 2009 at 3:14 pm

Very cute looking! I like your idea.
~ingrid
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17

lifeoftheparty — September 16, 2009 at 7:25 pm

These cupcakes are pure genius… you’ve definitely got my vote!
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18

Jigginjessica — September 17, 2009 at 12:34 am

Cute idea! What a great entry!
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19

thegreatpantryraid — September 17, 2009 at 7:37 pm

Wow – super cute! A lot of work, I’m sure, but such a big payoff! Great job!
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20

Kami — September 17, 2009 at 8:32 pm

So stinkin’ cute!
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21

Caroline — September 19, 2009 at 6:23 am

Very cute, indeed and loving the pineapple in the frosting. I can just imagine how delicious this would taste. What a great idea.
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22

Keiara Wells — September 19, 2009 at 5:57 pm

MMM, it looks fantastic! I’ll have to try this one 🙂 xox
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23

Sweet and Savory — October 15, 2009 at 5:55 am

These cupcakes are precious besides, I am sure, being delicious. What a great idea.