Our oldest recently turned six years old. Where on earth does the time go? Was it really six years ago that the doctor (1) told me “it’s a boy” and (2) said he’s big, as in 10 pounds 3.9 ounces?! So anyway, for his birthday we enjoyed a four day weekend in the mountains. The weather was wonderful and on his actual birthday we went apple picking. We went to Skytop Orchard and had so much fun. We picked over 30 pounds of apples!

Needless to say my three sons did some damage to the apple stash. They could each eat five a day if you let them! Once we got home a few days later I had to come up with ways to use up the rest of the apples. My first thought was muffins. Apple cinnamon is indeed tasty, but I wanted something different. We all love peanut butter with apples, and of course a caramel apple is the best fall treat. So peanut butter caramel apple muffins it would be!

My boys can really go through peanut butter and apples. It is one of their favorite snacks. Add some caramel and put it all in the form of a muffin, what could go wrong? Nothing, it turned out as planned!

The peanut butter flavor isn’t too strong. Just a hint to let you know it is indeed in there! The apple chunks are so tasty and the caramel spread throughout adds to both the flavor and texture. I used Mutsu apples, also know as Crispin. Use a crispy apple, whatever you prefer most. I hope you enjoy these muffins as much as we did.

Peanut Butter Caramel Apple Muffins
2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. butter, softened
1/4 c. peanut butter
3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. milk
2 c. apples, peeled, cored and diced small (about 2 medium apples)
1 c. caramel bits (Kraft product)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease or line muffin pans. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.

In another bowl cream together the butter, peanut butter and sugar. Add the eggs and mix well. Stir in the vanilla and milk and combine thoroughly. Add the creamed mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, being careful not to over mix. Fold in the apples and caramel bits. Place in muffin cups and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Yields 15 muffins