Pining for home and apples

shirt from WisconDiego.com

It's family reunion weekend in WI, and where am I?  In CA.  Making apple muffins.  Because that's what I do when I miss WI - I make apple products.  How often does that happen?  Not much.  Not since I moved out here in the Fall of 2007.  That was my handmade caramel apple phase.  Apples abound in WI, especially in my parents' backyard orchard, so I have a strong association with apples and WI.  Every year our family creates an apple pie assembly production and churns out dozens of pies for freezing and baking.  So now that everyone is playing in WI except me, I decided to make apple muffins using the bucket of apples my neighbor had set out with a "FREE" sign.  The 2 cups of applesauce and the 12 muffins that resulted from that bucket turned out fantastically.  Too bad I still miss WI.

Vegan Apple Muffins (courtesy of the Happy Herbivore)
-1.5 c flour
-.5 c oats
-2 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp baking soda
-2 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp apple mix spice (or ginger and nutmeg separately)
-.25 tsp salt
-.5 c sugar
-.25 c brown sugar
-.25 c maple syrup
-1 c unsweetened apple sauce
-1 c diced apple

Oven 350 degrees. Thoroughly mix dry ingredients, then add sugars and wet ingredients. Plop in greased muffin sheet. Sprinkle top with brown sugar.  Cook for 15 min.