banana apple cider muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• ½ tsp. salt

• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

• ½ tsp. ground nutmeg

• 1/4 tsp ground clove

• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom

• ½ cup coconut sugar

• ⅓ cup granulated sugar

• ½ cup butter, melted and cooled

• 1 large egg, at room temperature

• 2 large, very ripe mashed bananas

• ½ cup apple cider, boiled and reduced to ⅓ cup

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• ¾ cup freeze-dried apple chunks - I think the smaller the better so you may have to cut them up a bit

• 1 cup butterscotch chips [ I sometimes do less of these, they are the burst of sweet you get, but I don’t love too sweet, so I just play with it / use what I have! ]

Instructions:

1. Pour apple cider into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and let it simmer until it has thickened and reduced to about ⅓ cup, set aside to cool.

2. In a small bowl, combine the freeze-dried apple pieces with the reduced apple cider. Stir gently and let stand for 10 mins for the apples to soften.

3. Preheat your oven to 350°F - line a muffin tin with paper liners.

4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and nutmeg.

5. In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter, coconut sugar, and granulated sugar. Beat until smooth. Add the egg, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract, mixing until just combined.

6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Combine the ingredients until just blended, try not to over mix.

7. Fold in the apples [ discard any extra cider ] and butterscotch chips.

8. Divide the batter into muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full. Bake for 25ish minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

9. Let the muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes - they are pretty moist with all the fruit so this ensures they are baked through. Enjoy! I freeze mine to always have on hand!