Thursday Treat: Easy Cinnamon Swirl Apple Muffins

Delicious crispy cinnamon glaze layer on top!

Earlier this week, I needed an easy treat to take to a Halloween Party.  We also had a bunch of apples that needed to be used ASAP.  We'd already made Apple Crisp and I didn't have any other ideas for foods with apples in it so I found a few recipes that would taste yummy and be healthy...since it has apples in it! ;)  I found a few different apple bread recipes and tweaked them a little to work for what we needed.  We made a loaf of bread and then decided to make some muffins!  The muffins and bread turned out so great!  Here are the directions for the muffins.

What you need:1 cup packed brown sugar3 teaspoons ground cinnamon1 1/3 cup white sugar1 cup butter, softened4 eggs4 teaspoons vanilla extract3 cups all-purpose flour3 teaspoons baking powder1 cup milk4 small to medium size apples-peel and chop into small pieces

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Grease and flour muffin tins. (This recipe makes approximately 2 dozen muffins)Mix together brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.In a separate bowl, mix together white sugar and butter until it is smooth.Mix in eggs and vanilla.Next add in flour, baking powder, and milk.Pour the batter into greased muffin tins.Cover each muffin with a layer of chopped apples.Pat the apples pieces into the batter with a spatula, spoon, etc.Sprinkle the top of the muffin with the cinnamon and sugar mixture.Bake for 25-35 minutes.

Note:  To make bread loaves just add one or two layers of the batter, apples, and cinnamon mix.

These muffins make great snacks or even a quick breakfast on the go!  Enjoy!

We're back!!!

Do you ever have those months where you look at the calendar and wonder how you are going to get everything done?  Well, that's how September and the first part of October were.  School started and we were off and running!  Shelby's classes have been keeping him busy with...busy work-which is not his favorite but he is surviving. :)  I am still working and going to school online-I have been doing a Nursing Research class-and I had to write a 25ish page paper on a subject of my choice.  2 months and 36 pages later I am finished with the assignment and even better I passed!!! So now I can move on to more interesting classes and not spend all of my computer time reading and writing about how to improve nurse's hand hygiene compliance! :)  So that explains the lack of activity on our blog...  In between school, work, and church responsibilities we have still found time to play!  

^^ This school year I am teaching clogging classes one afternoon a week.  It has been so much^^

 fun and I am even teaching two competition teams!  I love it and the little girls that I get to teach.  So much fun and we can't wait until competition season!

^^ Mid-September we ran the Harvest Classic 6K!  Shelby did awesome as always and I did ^^

 better than expected.  Now on to training for a 10K next May, and a Half-Marathon next August! 

^^ I spent some time in September gathering items and assisting with St. Luke's United ^^

Way campaign.  Our floor put together a Movie Night basket which was a success!  I'm so grateful that the health system I work for not only works at serving our patients but also the surrounding community.

^^ And of course we soak in and love the time that we get to spend together. :) ^^

^^ We watched Cameron run at one of his cross country meets.  Go Vikes! ^^

^^ I was able to go to the General Women's Meeting with Lila and my mom.  ^^

^^ Shelby played intramural flag football at BSU this fall.  If you look super close ^^

 you can see him chasing after another player. :)

^^ We rode our bikes around BSU and stopped at the Anne Frank memorial-lots of ^^

 inspiration is written on the walls of this memorial.

^^ Cameron celebrated his 18th birthday!  I can't believe that my youngest brother is 18! ^^

^^ Last weekend I was able to go to Time Out for Women with my sister in laws ^^ 

and my mom and grandma.  It was so fun and we came away uplifted and inspired!  We even met US Olympian Noelle Pikus-Pace.

All in all, our fall has been great.  We are excited for Halloween and all the other festivities that are to come!!!  Happy Sunday!!!