I made banana pecan muffins a few weeks back. I froze the extras and really enjoyed having this daily snack to take with me to work. I decided to make a different flavor this time. I sachet on the internet for a recipe. All of the ones I found seemed to have a lot of butter. If you look at this recipe, you'll see that it originally did as well. In the comments, people had tried it with less butter so I decided to test my luck on my first try. It seems to have paid off. These are delicious muffins. Plus, they're better for me than the previous ones since I've added whole wheat flour.
Adapted from recipe in Gourmet, November 2003
Active time: 20 min
Servings: Makes 12 muffins.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (original called for only all-purpose flour)
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (original called for a full cup)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (original called for 5 tablespoons)
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
Special equipment: a muffin pan with 12 (1/2-cup) muffin cups
Preparation:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Grease muffin pan.
Stir together flours, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together eggs and brown sugar in a large bowl until combined well, then add butter, a little at a time, whisking until mixture is creamy. Stir in applesauce, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened. Stir in nuts and divide batter among muffin cups.
Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then remove muffins from pan and cool slightly.
These muffins are supposed to have a topping that I forgot to add:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
The topping is added before baking.