Crazy Cooking Challenge: Spiced Apple Pie Muffins (Gluten Free)

Welcome! I am so excited to kick off my new blog with a recipe for the Crazy Cooking Challenge! I discovered the Crazy Cooking Challenge several months ago on Tina's blog Mom's Crazy Cooking and thought it would be a great way to jump into the food blogging world. Around the same time hubby and I decided to sell our house "up north" to move closer to family. I had to put the creation of my food blog (and the challenge) on hold.  (although, you can also find me here on the other end of the blog world where I've been able to update from time to time)

Thankfully we are settled in now and I am able to get a start on things! I have a lot of figuring out work to do on my design yet, but I thought "why not just get it out there anyways, and work on it as I go along". I know this is a little backwards since I intended to start out with a separate welcoming to Stirring Up The Kitchen, but the challenge is on the 7th of the month - and ready or not, that is TODAY! So, my welcome page will come later... I hope you'll follow along and bear with me as I pretty this place up a bit, but in the meantime, you can enjoy the recipes along the way :-)

Now, onto the Challenge.

When I read that the theme this month would be Apple Pie, my first thought was an unwritten recipe that my husband actually created a year or so ago...we haven't had a ton of time to share in the kitchen lately so that recipe will come another time-I can't wait to share it with you!...I'll just say apples and blueberries are involved.

Then a couple weeks ago I kept envisioning a muffin recipe. I created it, and now I have it to share with you...These are portable-apple-pie-goodness! Enjoy!

Spiced Apple Pie Muffins (Gluten Free*)
Yield: 12 muffins

Muffins:
3/4 cup all-purpose gluten free flour
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 apple, peeled, cored, and shredded (I used Gala)
1 cup shredded carrots (~2 med/large carrots)

Filling:
1 1/2 apples, peeled, cored, and finely diced (I used Gala)
1/2 cup shredded carrots (~1 med/large carrot)
1 T unsalted butter
1/4 cup + 2T brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 oz cream cheese, cubed

* You can omit the xanthan gum and substitute 3/4 cup all-purpose flour and 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (or just use 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour) for the all-purpose gluten free flour and the brown rice flour, if you are not needing to make the muffins gluten free.

To Prepare the Filling:
Melt the butter in a medium skillet over low-medium heat. Add the diced apples and shredded carrots and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Meanwhile, begin preparing muffin batter.) Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Continue cooking for 10-15 minutes until apples are completely soft, browned, and mixture is thick. Add cream cheese and stir until melted. Set aside.

To Prepare the Muffins:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a muffin tin with cooking spray. Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, xanthan gum, cinnamon and cloves together in a bowl until well mixed.

In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt, applesauce, sugars, vanilla, apples, and carrots; mix well.

Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture, and gently stir until well combined.

Fill each muffin tin well about 1/2 way full of batter. Top each with a generous teaspoonful of the filling, then top with the remaining batter - not quite to the top of the wells.

Bake for 20-22 minutes, until browned on top. Let sit for a few minutes, and then move to a cooling rack.

Best enjoyed when eaten warm and fresh...I won't admit how many I ate warm and fresh ;-) Refrigerate any leftovers. Can be eaten cold, but I preferred to warm mine in the microwave for about 35-45 seconds. Just be careful, as the filling may be a bit hot at first, depending on your microwave.

Be sure to check out all of the other yummy Crazy Cooking Challenge Apple Pie recipes below!