Cinnamon Spice Muffins with Apple Pie Filling

You all know I love to cook and bake, and with fall in full force around here, I wanted to make something festive. I came up with this recipe and it turned out SO yummy!  Eat them for breakfast, a snack, or dessert. Either way they are the perfect fall treat! And as a bonus, while they are baking your house will smell amazing!

So grab a cute little baking assistant and get started!

Muffins

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

Filling

6 medium apples cored, peeled and chopped (a slightly tart apples works best)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup water

2 teaspoons cinnamon

dash cloves

dash nutmeg

1 Tbs cornstarch

Cook over medium heat until everything caramelizes and thickens, and apples are cooked. About 7 - 10 minutes.  Cool.

It's fun too, see?? :)

Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

splash of water

Add a spoonful of muffin batter into 16 lined muffin tins. Then add a spoonful of the cooled apple filling. Top with another spoonful of muffin batter until the tins are 3/4 full. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Let cool most of the way on wire racks before adding glaze.

Time in The NICU

 Our boys spent three weeks in the NICU. I realize that for babies born at 32 weeks, a 3 week stay is excellent. But at the time it felt like forever. It's just not right to have just given birth and have to go home without your babies. As much as we ached for them to be home with us, we felt so incredibly thankful that they were alive and healthy. They needed this time in the hospital to make up for the time I couldn't give them inside.

They had excellent nurses and doctors. We felt so blessed that we could be confident in the care they were receiving in the hospital. 

 What a happy day this was, when we got to hold both of our babies together! It was so incredible having them in my arms. Even today, I can hardly believe this is really happening. These boys are truly miracles, and we are so blessed to call them ours!

(This was actually on daddy's birthday - what a sweet gift!)

This was a special moment right here. My grandpa holding his great grandson who we named after him. He is one of my favorite men in the world - such a great guy.

See these faces? Each time we went to see the boys in the NICU, they pretty much slept the whole time. When it was time for us to go, they almost always woke up and looked at us with their big sweet eyes, as if begging us to stay. My heart broke every time we walked out the door. It was nearly impossible to leave.

 This was another happy day. The day their feeding tubes came out! One step closer to coming home!

Finally, the big day was here. Our tiny babies were exactly three weeks old - I should have been 35 weeks pregnant - but instead we were bringing out little miracles HOME!!!

 I was giddy, I'm not gonna lie :)

 At last, Isabella could hold her baby brothers! She is in love with them.

Home never felt so good! Our prayers were answered. Our baby's were home. Our family was all together. Happy. And so thankful. This is BLISS.

Now the adventure of raising three kids under 3 begins :)