Applesauce Muffins by Jessica Seinfeld

My dear friend Lisa and I decided it would be a great idea to try and make one recipe a week from Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook Deceptively Delicious, so that's what we are going to do! I'm very excited about this, so here's the second recipe from Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook - it's such a pretty one! I love all of the pictures in it! Here goes the Applesauce Muffin Recipe:

Prep Time: 20 min

Total: 40 min

Makes 12 muffins

*Nonstick cooking spray (I used pretty silicone muffin cups instead!)

Topping (Streusel)

*2/3 cup old-fashioned oats

*1/4 cup firmly packet light or dark brown sugar

*1 tsp cinnamon

*2 tbsp trans-fat-free soft tub margarine spread, melted

Batter

*1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

*1 cup old-fashioned oats

*1 tsp baking powder

*1/2 tsp baking soda

*1/2 tsp cinnamon

*1 cup unsweetened applesauce

*1/2 cup nonfat (skim) milk

*1/2 cup butternut squash or carrot puree

*1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar

*1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

*1 large egg

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper backing cups.

This is what the topping (Streusel - my favourite!) looks like - only takes 2 minutes to mix together!

2. To make the topping, stir together the oats, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in the margarine.

This is what the dry and the wet ingredients look like.

This is what the batter looks like - ready to be put in the muffin tin!

3. To make the batter, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking sodar, and cinnamon in a large micing bowl or zipper-lock bag and stir or shake to mix. In a second bowl, mix the applesauce with the milk, vegetable puree, sugar, oil, and egg with a wooden spoon. Add the flour mixture slowly, stirring until just moistened. Do not overmix - the batter is supposed to be lumpy.

First, the batter is evenly distributed, then the streusel topping is equally divided up.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle with the streusel topping. Bake until the topping is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the muffins, 18 to 20 minutes. Turn the muffins out onto a rack and serve warm or cool.

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