Confessions

So the little man and I took a day trip to Louisburg over two weeks ago to buy a great big bag of apples.  The plan....to make a great big apple pie.  Two weeks later....still no pie.... I guess I have been knee deep in cookie baking....and I can not believe October is almost half-way through and I must admit, that I still have not baked my annual apple pie. I guess I need to watch my favorite movie..."The Waitress" to get me in the pie baking frame of mind!!!  My goal is to make it before the end of this month....

But for now... I have put some of those apples to good use in these....

These maple-drizzled apple muffins from www.RecipeGirl.com were easy peasy to make.....and I thought the frosting on top might just be the trick to tempt my little S into eating her apples in the morning... so far...no such luck....but J ( my fruit lover) can eat one in no time flat!!!  Here is the recipe:

MUFFINS:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 TBLSP baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup maple syrup ( I had to send the hubby to the store late one night for this...thanks B!)
1 large egg, slightly beaten
2 cups chopped peeled apples ( I used a mix of granny smith and jonathon's)

GLAZE:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 TBLSP maple syrup

1.  Preheat oven to 400 F.  Grease 12- cup muffin tin or line with paper liners.

2.  In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (through cinnamon).

3.  In a small bowl, mix milk, butter, syrup and egg; stir into dry ingredients and mix just until moistened.  Fold in apples.

4.  Fill prepared muffin cups 3/4-full.  Bake 18-20 minutes or until muffins test done.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

5.  For glaze, mix sugar and syrup; drizzle over cooled muffins.

Yield:  1 dozen

Since I didn't take pictures of our trip to the cider mill... I am posting some pictures from our trip to the pumpkin patch last weekend.  These special people are the reason my cookies posts are sometimes few and far between...  They keep me pretty busy:)

The little J man....

My pretty princess....

The whole gang (minus me, of course,)....but can't leave out the hubby who is my best kept secret behind my cookies.... he is my late night grocery store runner, my taste-tester, and even my cookie cutter maker, at times!!!

That's all for tonight....but I've been having some fun with some fall cookies and other designs...so stay tuned!