Allspice apple butter muffins

After a whirlwind trip to Canada, France and Italy for three weeks, I'm finally back and ready for fall in Chicago. What better way to celebrate my return than with some fall-themed muffins! I'd noticed this recipe several months back and bought apple butter in anticipation of making it, but ended up keeping it on hand in case I needed to make something and didn't want to run to the store, which came in handy this morning!  

Recipe

from 750 Best Muffin RecipesMakes 12 muffins2 tbsp granulated sugar1-1/4 tsp ground allspice, divided1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour1-1/2 tsp baking powder3/4 tsp salt1/2 tsp baking soda3/4 cup packed brown sugar2 eggs1 cup apple butter3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted1 tsp vanilla extractPreheat oven to 400 F. In a small bowl combine sugar and 1/4 tsp of allspice, set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and the remaining allspice. In a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, eggs, apple butter, butter and vanilla until well blended. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just blended. Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle with sugar mixture. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 3 minutes, then transfer to the rack to cool.

Musings

A few notes on preparation: I used dark brown sugar, as that's what I had available. Bake time for our oven ended up being about 16 minutes.Easy to make, and they turned out to be wonderfully moist and aromatic. They didn't have a strong "apple sauce" flavour as I worried they might upon sampling a bit of apple butter. David noted that they had more of an aroma of apple rather than a strong apple flavour. It tasted like fall in a muffin--all that allspice reminiscent of pumpkin pie. Definitely one for a cool autumn day with a bit of mulled cider. Yum!