A little slice of heaven.

Since the Wee Ski's birth, I've been balancing losing the baby weight + lowering my blood pressure + eating enough (good) calories in me for nursing. I've done well with the baby weight (all gone, and then some) and relatively well with the good calories.

At times (especially after a marathon nursing night like Sunday night), I wake up and feel like I never went to bed. It's those times that it's hardest to make good food decisions.

So when I find something that's as ridiculously easy as it is good, and good for our family...I'm all over it.

With that, I give you apple muffins.

I made a dozen of these tonight and threw half in the freezer. Little chunkies of apples with applesauce and a little canola oil makes them moist and seriously yummy. And because the best recipes should be shared...

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 teaspoon + 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup bread flour
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup natural applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
• 1 Golden Delicious apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch pieces

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-capacity muffin pan with cooking spray.
• In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar, the pecans and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the bread flour and whole-wheat flour, baking soda and salt.
• In a large bowl, whisk the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and oil until combined. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in the applesauce, vanilla, and cinnamon.
• Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined. Gently stir in the apple chunks.
• Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with the pecan mixture. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean.
• Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen them and unmold. Cool completely on the rack.

And for a glimpse of the little apple chunkies...