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.

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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.

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16 Responses to “Caramelized Apple Grilled Cheese”

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    Fun and Fearless in Beantown — October 11, 2010 at 2:33 pm

    This looks great! After apple picking last year, I was desperately searching for ways to use the apples in savory ways. Now one of my favorite recipes is a calzone filled with apples, proscuitto, brie and sage. SO good!

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    The Red Headed Mama — October 11, 2010 at 3:08 pm

    My husband used to laugh at me when I told him that as kids we would do apple pie filling and cheese in the hobo pie maker. It was fabulous…I’m going to show him this post to prove that I’m not crazy. We’re apple picking this weekend, so I’ll be sure to try this out!

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    Melissa — October 11, 2010 at 6:12 pm

    I definitely need to think of some savory ways to use up all of the apples we pick every fall, and stop making sweets! This looks like a great recipe!

    http://www.madeinmelskitchen.com

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    Heavenly Housewife — October 11, 2010 at 7:31 pm

    What a great apple treat. I’ve got loads of apples this years from my trees and am looking for yummy recipes to use them up. After all, a girl can only eat so much apple sauce LOL.
    *kisses* HH

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    Cupcake Activist — October 11, 2010 at 8:54 pm

    I didn’t realize this was going to be a sweet sandwich. It looks so yummy! I once had a grilled cheese sandwich with thinly sliced apples in the middle and it was delicious!

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    The Small Boston Kitchen — October 11, 2010 at 11:26 pm

    I love what you did with your leftover apples! This looks incredible…love the apple and cheese combinations!

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    feerlessfood.com — October 12, 2010 at 2:07 am

    This recipe looks really tasty! I tried a similar flavor combo, but it was apple, cheddar omelete. I needed as apple with more flavor- the one I used wasn’t tart enough!

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    nutmegnanny — October 12, 2010 at 2:40 am

    What a great way to use up apples…yum!

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    Val — October 12, 2010 at 12:40 pm

    This made my mouth water. I have to make this soon.

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    Boston Food Diary — October 12, 2010 at 1:27 pm

    Looks delicious Jen! I love the combination of apples and gouda! After my apple picking adventures I am definitely seeking lots of good apple ideas as well!

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    Rachel Cannon Humiston — October 12, 2010 at 6:56 pm

    This looks like a great comfort food sandwich! I spent yesterday baking apple pies and snacking on cheese and crackers. I snuck in a few apple slices on my cheddar & crackers – yum!

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    Evan B — October 12, 2010 at 9:21 pm

    Um YES please! ps. everyone in the office loved your brownie recipe- it has totally become my go-to 🙂

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    Jen — October 12, 2010 at 10:20 pm

    I love making grilled cheese with a really great goat’s milk gouda–it’s our new favorite grilled cheese–but I think I’d die and go to heaven if I made it this way! thanks for sharing.

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    newlywed — October 12, 2010 at 11:30 pm

    This looks delicous! I love the combination of apples and cheese. It is great to see a savory apple recipe…I have lots too!

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    .dear.jenny. — November 25, 2010 at 1:48 am

    HUSH! oh my…looks amazing!!

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    Souffle Bombay (Colleen) — January 6, 2011 at 2:54 pm

    I HAVE to try this!!!

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