Apple Muffins

I believe Baking Rule 1 is to always follow the directions. And if you want to deviate from the recipe, try it as written first. Sometimes I can be fantastic with following directions to the letter. Other times, I realize I already changed the rules, so to heck with it: let’s make a lot of substitutions!

I had Gluten-Free Pantry’s Muffin and Scone Mix. I had a few apples. There was apple juice in the fridge. See where I’m going? The muffins call for butter, eggs, vanilla and milk. The box is smart enough to realize that there are a growing number of people who are also lactose free, so they suggest vegetable oil and fruit juice. I’m still remaining faithful to Crystal Farm’s Dairy Free 70% Vegetable Spread. It is an easy one-for-one substitution, even though I’m horrible at letting my butter soften enough before using. I substituted apple juice for the milk (a trick I will be using again in the future, I’m sure!) and stirred. Then the fun part: I diced an apple and added that to the mixture. The recipe suggests dried fruit, nuts, chocolate chips or other ingredients. How does this fresh fruit change things?

It makes one delicious muffin! The apples only had the slightest crunch; overall they were very tender and the muffin was very moist. Should I have played by the rules and learned how a gluten free muffin is supposed to taste first? Probably. But it is autumn and I have apples in the house that are begging to be eaten! It is a rather silly observation, but I think these muffins taste like fall.