Apple Upside Down Muffins

With a reprieve from the summer heat, I welcome the fall season with open arms. It’s apple picking season! For some reason, I never get tired of walking through the apple orchards with my kids, finding trees chock-full apples is like looking for the next clue in a scavenger hunt. Once you get there, the reward is great and you just want to keep going, not stopping until both bags are full and almost too heavy to carry. The kids have grown, refining their apple-picking styles, as they now like to throw them at each other.

We’re not finished with our picking until the weight of the apples start to rip the bag. It’s only then that we begin to make our way down through the orchard and back to the car. It’s always a race to see if we can get to the car before the bag breaks entirely and we lose our freshly-picked lot. (I should mention that I’m always the one carrying the full bags even though the kids each start out with the empty ones.)

Of course the fun only continues as my mind starts to picture all the ways I’ll use the apples when we get back home. It was always applesauce when the kids were little but now it’s muffins, breads and even apple empanadas. This recipe for apple upside down muffins is the perfect way to capture the exquisite taste of apples mixed with cinnamon and sugar in one scrumptious bite. What is your favorite apple recipe? Please share!