Apple & Raisin Whole Wheat Muffins

A muffin and a cup of coffee is a great way to start my morning.  A healthy whole wheat muffin is even better (well, better for me at least)!  I took my favorite whole wheat muffin box mix and added a whole lot of apple flavor to it.  Autumn is officially here today.  Since apples are THE fruit of the season, what better way to kick off the season?     🙂

 

I don’t usually use box mixes, but sometimes the occasion calls for it.  The Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Muffin Mix is a great way to have all of your whole wheat ingredients in one convenient little box.  I find this and other Hodgson Mill products in the “healthy” aisle of my grocery store (or as my husband calls it the “earthy crunchy aisle”).

I have fun taking the base muffin mix and adding ingredients to make them my own.  It’s Fall so of course I reach for my apples.  I shredded the apples because I don’t like chunky fruit in my baked goodies.  Baking tip:  Remove some of the moisture from the apples in order to avoid soggy muffins.  I gently pressed the apples shreds in between a couple paper towels.  Obviously this tip is not to be used 100% of the time, for example, please don’t follow this for apple pie.  This tip works works for other baked goodies, like carrots in a carrot cake or cranberries in a loaf.

I love to add a topping to my muffins.  In the spirit of keeping these muffins on the healthy side I added oats and a little bit of light brown sugar.  Oats are full of protein.  Plus, it reminded me of oatmeal, another Fall time favorite of mine.  What can I say, a bowl of almost anything warm and hearty just goes great with hoodie weather.

As a heads up, the batter will be thick and lumpy and that’s exactly what you want because you’re muffins will come out light and fluffy, even with these earthy crunchy whole wheat muffins (as compared to other whole wheat muffins because let’s face it, no matter which recipe you use a whole wheat muffin will be more dense and hearty than a regular muffin).

Oh my goodness, my kitchen smelled like oatmeal cookies when I baked these muffins!

I want the apple flavors to pop so apple pieces alone was not enough.  I added unsweetened apple sauce too!  That is the key to making these muffins so moist.

Let’s not forget about those raisins!  I think they taste awesome with the oat topping and ground cinnamon, reminiscent of the combination of flavors in my Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.  No wonder why the kitchen had the aroma of oatmeal cookies.     😉

I also love raisins and apples together so it was a no brainer to include them in these muffins.  I will admit that I’m picky with the texture of raisins in baked goodies, so I only added a few.  If you don’t have “texture issues” like me, then feel free to load them up.  If you’re not a fan of them, skip them entirely.

I’m loving those oats on top.  They look so pretty.     🙂

These muffins are seriously delicious.  Apples, raisins, oats, cinnamon…doesn’t that say it all?     😉

Plus, I love that I can eat these muffins and not feel guilty about it.  I’m on a kick to eat more healthy (who isn’t) and these will do the trick.

What are you making to welcome the Autumn season?

Rating:

 

Adapted from: Hodgson Mill

Note: Not a paid advertisement for Hodgson Mill. I’m just sharing my opinion.

 

Here are some other healthier muffin ideas.

Whole Wheat Muffins

 

Whole Wheat Banana Peanut Butter Muffins

 

Chocolate Banana Muffins