Apple Banana Muffins with Brown Butter Cider Glaze

I’m not proud of what happened last week. Just a few short years ago, I was a poor post-college student with a TV that basically had no purpose. My roommate and I sometimes watched movies, but network television didn’t come in, and we were against (/couldn’t afford) getting cable or a new TV. Now that I’m in my mid twenties and [slightly] less poor, I’ve upgraded to fully-functioning TV with both cable AND Netflix (fancy, I know). After finishing up How I Met Your Mother (six seasons) and Keeping Up With The Kardashians (sorry, I know), I decided to give Revenge a try this past Tuesday. By Friday, I had surged through 13 episodes, by Saturday afternoon I had finished all 22 episodes of season 1. When 6:00 on Saturday night came around, I had my credit card out, ready to subscribe to Hulu so I could watch the first two episodes of the new season. I couldn’t stop.

In my defense, the boy and I had our first “hibernation day” of the season on Saturday. Even though it’s sad to watch the warmth drain away from Minnesota, the colder weather makes way for these perfectly lazy days: a Saturday or a Sunday where you do not leave the house, and instead stay holed up and hibernating. For instance, Saturday we slept until noon, and then I watched episode after episode of Revenge while he worked on the headboard for the bed he’s building us…we had different levels of productivity needs that day.

Although I’m in deep with my Revenge obsession, I realize it may have been a bad idea to start watching Revenge the same week that I finished reading Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I now look at everything with a suspicious eye, finding conspiracy everywhere. After a few hours of straight TV on Saturday, I decided I needed an activity to keep my hands busy while my mind was taking in all the murder and mayhem. The boy requested I bake “something fall-ish” for our first hibernation day. I grabbed the leftover apple cider from our fridge, a honeycrisp apple, and got baking…with the TV still on in the background, obviously.

Sweet, spiced muffins with a balance of apple and banana that’s just right. These are the perfect muffins for a cool fall day. Or a fall day where you don’t leave the house at all. Whichever.

Apple Spice Banana Muffins

• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 1 apple, grated
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt (I used nonfat vanilla)

Brown Butter Cider Glaze

Adapted from How Sweet It Is.

• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 tablespoons apple cider
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Process:

My true love, as you may have guessed, is the brown butter cider glaze. I could (and did) eat it straight. You’ll have some leftover glaze from the muffins, and I recommend you save it and put it on…everything. It definitely wouldn’t be terrible on top of ice cream, spread on toast, or licked right off of a dipped finger.

These were the ideal snack to munch on as I finished off all of the Revenge episodes Netflix and Hulu had to offer. They helped get me through the realization I no longer had new episodes at my fingertips. An addict needs something to ease the pain, you know? For trying times like these, I need these muffins. They’re soft, comforting and just sweet enough to keep me from getting too engrossed in the crazy lives of the Graysons. At least for about 5 minutes or so, until the muffin is gone, and I’m jonesing for more.