Apple MuffinTuesday - problem solving in the kitchen

Labor Day threw me off a little this week as I scrambled to go grocery shopping before Tuesday so I would have some muffins to make and bake! It’s not quite fall here in California (in fact, it was actually over 100 degrees this past week!!), but it is in Minnesota, as my parents keep reminding me. It’s nice and cool there so I should move back, right? Wrong. Even though it gets hot here, it sure beats the cold! But what always reminds me of fall in Minnesota is APPLE PICKING - a classic fun family outing, where you go on wagon rides, sit on each other’s shoulders to grab the best apples, and try out some tasty treats in the bakery.

So, in honor of Minnesota fall, I bring you APPLE MUFFINS! I even pick up honeycrisp apples, a cultivated variety developed in… you guessed it: MINNESOTA!

Now that I figured out what type of muffins to make… now to actually make the muffins ( https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/06/10/glazed-apple-crumb-muffins/ ). This recipe calls for room temperature butter, which with this heat was a little tricky. I can’t just leave it out overnight otherwise it will melt (it’s literally 95 degrees in my apartment), and I no longer have a microwave (roommate took it with her when she moved out), so I got down and dirty with it. I chopped up the butter into small pieces and used my fingers, running at about 98.5 degrees, to smoosh the butter into room temperature.

I also had a little problem with my eggs. I had a whole carton that I very unfortunately found out were ROTTEN - not pictured, as I was too grossed out to do so, they smell as bad as everyone says. As I have made vegan muffins before, I remembered that applesauce makes for a good egg substitute (and very fitting considering I made apple muffins!).I keep a few single serving containers in my cupboard for exactly these emergencies.