Cinnamon Sugar Muffins filled with Raspberry Jelly

By nanasally4

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 2/3 cups whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1-1.5 tsp ground nutmeg (Anjali used 1.5 tsp because she loves the flavor)
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1/4 cup unsweetened raspberry preserves (similar to Crofters Organic)
• 2 tsp melted butter
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 6 tsp sugar

Details

Servings 12
Preparation time 45mins
Cooking time 60mins
Adapted from pickyeaterblog.com

Preparation

Step 1

They take about an hour to make (including baking time) – but it is so, so worth it.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a standard muffin tin or line with 12 muffin cups.

In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter, apple sauce, and sugars with a hand mixer until smooth. Then add the eggs, egg whites, and vanilla, beating to combine.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.

Stir about one-third of the flour mixture into the butter mixture until incorporated, then stir about one half of the butttermilk into the butter mixture.

Continue alternating between the two until you’ve mixed in all of the flour mixture and buttermilk (so you begin and end with the flour mixture).

While they’re cooling, melt the butter for the topping in the microwave and mix together the cinnamon and sugar. Use a pastry brush to spread the top of each muffin with the melted butter, then sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture on top, using 1/2 tsp per muffin max.

This recipe makes 12 muffins, but each one ends up being a pretty big size, so you could also use this recipe to make mini-muffins which would make each less than 100 calories. Just cut your cooking time in half if you decide to do this!

The muffins have a wonderful nutty flavor from the whole wheat flour and the spices – it almost tastes like they’re made with oats (I bet these would work well with oat flour too for a gluten-free version!)

The cinnamon sugar crumble on top was the husband’s favorite part of the muffin because it forms this perfect little crust that adds great texture to the recipe.