Applesauce Muffins

These are probably my second most favorite muffins in the history of forever!  The basic recipe comes from With Heart & Soul:  Favorite Recipes from Our Family and Friends with recipes by Roxie Kelley and Friends and Illustrated by Shelly Reeves Smith.  I bought it on clearance at Borders a few years ago every bit as much for the illustrations as the recipes, both of which are fantastic.

Their recipe:

1 stick butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves (I skip this)
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup ground pecans (I also skip this quite often)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Put paper liners into 12 muffin baking pan.

Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.  Beat in the egg.  In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients then mix into the creamed butter and sugar.  Stir in applesauce and pecans.  Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins.  Bake 17-20 minutes or until lightly golden.

What I do differently (besides doubling the recipe) is add a little filling made from cream cheese and brown sugar.  Just mix up a bit until it's the level of sweetness that you like.  Fill the muffin cups about halfway with the batter, add a generous teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture and then the rest of the muffin batter.  Bake as directed.

Good eats!!