Cooking and baking my way out of a Facebook addiction....Day 2

Ah, yes this is of the recipes I discovered last Fall when we were over run by apples after our family's 1st trip to the apple orchard....though it really only uses 1-1.5 apples. Apple Carrot Muffins! I made it a couple times back then but haven't made it in months. I got the recipe from my favorite place to go for recipes or starting points for meals. When cooking I tend to look at several similar recipes and combine them as I like...baking I'm not so confident in doing that.

But with today's recipe I did buy more healthy bran flakes without raisins (had only 5g of sugar vs. the Raisin Bran with 17g of sugar) so I did add a 1/4 cup more sugar to the recipe. Also it's a must to sprinkle the tops of the muffins with sugar and a dash of cinnamon before baking. It gives the top of the muffins a lovely sugary crunch. And since there is so much other healthy stuff in them, a little extra sugar is worth it to make them yummy. And they are! Everyone in my family loves them...and today I made some without raisins and some with to please everyone.

Apple Carrot Muffins

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups raisin bran cereal (this time I used plain bran flakes, added 1/4c sugar)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar (plus 1/4 cup to make up for less sugar in bran flakes)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used less...maybe 3/4 of a tsp.)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup finely chopped peeled tart apple
3/4 cup grated carrots (I use the matchstick kind and then throw them in the chopper to make them smaller)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (skipped this because of picky eaters!)

Directions
1. In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients. In a small bowl, beat the egg, buttermilk and oil. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in apple, carrots and walnuts. Fill paper-lined muffin cups or cups coated with nonstick cooking spray three-fourths full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm.
Here's the link to the original recipe. FYI they look much darker than in the picture (sometimes I wonder where they get those pictures from.)
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/apple-carrot-muffins/detail.aspx

I love this recipe and everyone else seems to as well since they are already almost 1/2 gone and I finished making them not more than 3 hours ago.


Update from previous recipe -Mardi Gras Dinner: It was a success except with my picky eater Jack. I think if I make a small section without tuna next time it will go over better since he said "Mommy, there are parts that I really like in this and parts I really don't like."