Sugar and spice and everything nice….that’s what this crew is made of.
I first met Kelly and her precious littles six years ago. Six. I can’t even believe that now. Let me just pause for a completely ahhhhhhhhh moment.
Look at their little faces. I can’t even….. Ok. So, we met over six years ago. Our oldest, Olivia and Logan, were walking that fine line between toddler and preschooler as they sauntered into preschool. L, with the October birthday, was in the older 3’s class but that didn’t stop these two from forming an instant bond. Was it their shared height? Her ‘yellow’ hair as L so affectionately calls it? Her ability to keep up with the boys no problem? Who knows. But they met, instantly played, and happily never looked back.
I’ll never forget meeting Kelly. She is the tiniest thing you’ll ever meet. I know, with Olivia’s height it just doesn’t add up but she’s tiny. And kind, so kind. One of those instantly warm people. So warm to the point of you start to believe something is wrong with you. Most the time at drop off and pick up she would be wrestling her small but mighty baby, Lukey, up and down and in and out of her arms. All with his blankie AKA a legitimate fraying QUILT draped around him and/or her regardless of the temperature outside. Your heart would be drawn to her and you’d want to take that cute baby right out of her arms to cuddle. Sometimes it was a success, other times not, so goes the up an down life of an eleven month old.
These early years are where you make the bond though, right? We were all young, naive, moms walking into a preschool with our oldest not exactly knowing what was around the corner. And we slowly figured it out together via play dates and occasionally dinners out and, let’s be honest, a glass of wine. We were in the thick of it. Nightmares, awful viruses, happy reports at school, first hits at t-ball, do you nap them do you skip it, first dance recitals, literally learning to share, together, one play date at a time. It’s her turn, Logan. Include Lukey, always include Lukey, he looks up to you. And he still does.
Off to elementary school they went to tackle first grade together. Different teachers in second grade but back together now in third. Over the years the whole boy girl thing has never really phased them. Occasionally teasing here and there, ahem Mike, but L has remained consistent through it all: Olivia is my friend. (Shy smile on the side).
They are for sure in different worlds now. L is all baseball, football, boys boys boys while Olivia dances her way through. Different schedules can make it difficult to do what these kids still love best: just, play. Run in and out and up and down and be silly and hide and laugh. A break from school. A break from homework. A break from sports. Because as big as these two third graders are getting they are still eight and nine at the heart of it all. And running around with plastic swords on a random Monday was just the thing that was needed. Well, that and apple cinnamon spiced muffins.
See, if there is a perfect post school homemade snack to sum up this crew it would be these muffins. A hint of spice, lots of sweet, and a whole lot of goodness. I’m talking minimal white sugar, whole wheat flour, coconut oil, finely chopped crisp apples. All good things.
So grab some dear friends, get these in your oven, and see what happens. I’m guessing it’s going to be your favorite part of the week. It sure was ours.
- 1½ cups finely chopped apples (I used Pink Lady // with peel is great!)
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- ⅓ cup coconut oil
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1½ cups whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 6 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk the coconut oil, buttermilk, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Add the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and allspice. Stir until just combined. Fold in the apples. Scoop the mixture into a greased or lined muffin tin - mini, regular, or jumbo sizes will all work.
- For the topping: Melt the butter for the topping. Add the sugar and cinnamon; spoon over the tops of the muffins.
- Bake the muffins for 15 minutes, more or less by a few minutes depending on size. The muffins should be golden brown with big round tops that spring back when you press them.
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Courtney
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Aw, look at how big they look now! And I love B’s face! 😀
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says:
I want to get these crunchy apple muffins. cinnamon, vanilla and other lots of things gonna make it tastier, I want them. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
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