Caramel Apple Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Salted Caramel Glaze

Ingredients

• 1/2 C. Sugar
• 2 T. Water
• 2 Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored, and diced(1/3" cubes)
• 2 1/2 T. Heavy Cream
• 1/2 C. Vegetable or Coconut Oil
• 1 C Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 1 t. Vanilla
• 2 1/2 C. Flour
• 1 1/2 t. Baking Powder
• 1 1/2 t. Baking Soda
• 1 1/2 t. Cinnamon
• 1/4 t. Cloves
• 1/4 t. Nutmeg
• 1/2 t. Salt
• 1 C. Pumpkin Puree
• 1 C. Coconut Milk
• Salted Caramel for glazing
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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line two muffin tins with 24 paper cupcake liners.
3. Place the 1/2 C. sugar and water in a medium sized saute pan and stir together. Bring to a boil over medium/high heat, brushing down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water to prevent sugar crystals from forming. When the sugar turns to a golden amber color, add in the diced apples and toss through the caramel with a silicone coated spatula or spoon. This will cause the caramel to harden in a few spots. Just continue cooking and the caramel will melt back down. Let cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until the apples have let off all of their liquid and are starting to caramelize. Add the heavy cream. Mixture will bubble up quite severely. Continue to cook until it settles down and mixture is smooth. Remove apples from heat and set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the oil, 1 C. Sugar, eggs and vanilla until well combined.
5. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.
6. Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing ONLY until combined. Add the pumpkin puree and half of the milk to the batter and mix until just combined. Finish by adding the other half of the coconut milk and mixing until the batter is JUST smooth.
7. Add the cooled caramel apple cubes to the batter and fold in until evenly distributed.
8. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin tins. You will use about 3-4 T. of batter per tin.
9. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven.
10. Cool on a wire rack.
11. When cool, drizzle a little salted caramel on top of each muffin.

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