Apple Muffins

The title of this one should really be “What’s for Breakfast?”  This morning, I was feeling ambitious and made these amazing muffins for my girls.  I found them on another blog, but I changed a couple of things.  Feel free to check out her version as well!
adapted from The Crepes of Wrath

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup applesauce
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 stick butter
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
2 apples, peeled and chopped (as finely as you’d like.  I like chunks in my muffins, so I coarsely chop them)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (or you can use walnuts) (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Whisk together milk, applesauce, egg, vanilla extract, almond extract and melted butter in small bowl.  In a larger bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Add the brown sugar and oats, combining thoroughly.  Stir in the liquid ingredients, mix until combined, being careful not to over-stir. Gently fold in the apple, nuts and raisins.  Fill greased (or lined) muffin cups to level with the pan (about 2/3 c each).  Bake at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for about 5 minutes in pan before transferring to a cooling rack.  This recipe makes about 20 muffins, but I doubled the recipe and froze them for future use!