Applesauce Muffins (with butternut squash puree)

This is a good way to hide your veggies in something sweet! The cookbook tells you how to make the purees and you just pull them out of the freezer, thaw them out, and cook away. My favorite (obviously) is the butternut squash puree, but there's also recipes for sweet potato, cauliflower, carrot, red pepper, broccoli, zucchini, mushroom, yellow squash...etc. It's also good to have the purees for baby food.

Topping
2/3 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons trans-fat-free soft tub margarine spread, melted

Batter
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup nonfat (skim) milk
1/2 cup butternut squash or carrot puree
1/2 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 large egg


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.
2. To make the topping, stir together the oats, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in the margarine
3. To make the batter, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl or zipperlock bag and stir or shake to mix. In a second bowl, mix the applesauce with the milk, vegetable puree, sugar, oil, and egg with a wooden spoon. Add the flour mixture slowly, stirring until just moistened. Do not overmix - the batter is supposed to be lumpy.
4. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle with the streusel topping. Bake until the topping is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the muffins, 18 to 20 minutes. Turn the muffins out onto a rack and serve warm or cold.

These are so good for breakfast and also great for a snack! Yum Yum.

Bryson could eat a whole one, no problem! For lunch were going to try the grilled cheese sandwiches with butternut squash puree.