Apple Walnut Muffins

I’ve been looking for ways to bulk up my baking. Baking is one of the easiest ways to batch make food and freeze it. When you’re trying to meal plan and make freezer meals, it’s easy to end up with soggy and just gross food. Not all food can be frozen, reheated, and still taste good. But these Apple Walnut Muffins… oh they are simply divine and can be frozen in batter form so you still have fresh muffins when it comes time to use them.

I particularly love this recipe because it doesn’t require fresh apples. We live in the beautiful state of Maine, giving us access to an abundance of fresh apples most years. Last year, because of the drought in the summer and previous winter, the crops weren’t as good. And, since it’s not harvest time yet, there are no real fresh, local apples available. I did however, have a jar of applesauce that had been sitting in my fridge for a while that acted as a great substitute.

I don’t know why, but I continue to get applesauce even though Eli will not eat it. Imagine that. Kid loves bananas, apples, any kind of fruit, but you try to give him applesauce and you would think I’m trying to feed him liver. What kind of 2 year old doesn’t like apple sauce!?

Freezing Muffins

Freezing muffins isn’t rocket science – though it does take a bit of trial and error. What I have found that works best for us is to make a double or triple batch. If I have the ingredients, I might as well make a bunch of them and only clean my dishes once from that particular recipe. I make the recipe and put them in these cute muffin wrappers as pictured above. Then I’ll place the whole tray into the freezer for just a few hours. Once they’re frozen, I pop them out of the tin and put them in a freezer safe Ziploc bag. Into the chest freezer they go. I can easily keep these in the freezer for about 3 months, though they don’t typically last that long. The night before, I’ll pull the number of them I need out of the bag and put them on back in the tray, and the tray in the fridge. Then in the morning, they’re all thawed and ready to bake. Voila! Ten minutes, no mess, and fresh muffins!

What if I don’t have cupcake liners?

If you don’t have cupcake liners for your Apple and Walnut Muffins, it may prove to be a little more difficult to freeze them, but should still work. You could use parchment paper as show here on The Kithcn, or could simply spray some PAM, or grease the pan before filling with batter and freeze that way. Greasing the pan prior to adding the batter should still help to pop them right out. If you happen to have a silicon muffin pan, it will be even easier!

Apple and Walnut Muffins

Fresh baked muffins for days without the dishes? Yes please! Super easy, super delicious, and batch made! I love when a recipe is so simple to batch make and freeze. I’m not a morning person. If freezer muffins can make my life easier in any way – bring it on!

I would love if after you try this recipe, because I know you will, go ahead and rate the recipe with 5 stars! Leave me any comments or questions below and I’ll be happy to answer them. Then head over to Instagram and tag me in your stories @theKatieMChase and show me how you’ve made the recipe.