Walk out your front door on any given day this week and what do you see? Withered leaves scattered everywhere. Portly pumpkins plunked on stairways. Colorful mums planted here and there. On the sidewalks people stroll by in coats and scarves, warming their bare hands with take-away coffee cups. For me, these sights can only mean one thing. Apple-picking time is here.

Whether you raid your old neighbors’ orchard as I brazenly do or come by your apples honestly, you may soon find yourself glutted with this pome fruit. What to do with that extra pound, peck or bushel is an age-old quandary. When you’re tired of baking apple pies and tarts and boiling down applesauce and apple butter, I’d suggest moving on to moist cakes, breads and muffins.

Back in March I shared an apple cake recipe inspired by a winter trip to Switzerland. As its name suggested, apple-almond kuchen was packed with tart apples and sweetly savory almonds. Want to reduce your apple supply by a few pounds and enjoy a deliciously fruity sweet? Bake this Swiss cake.

Eight months and another trip later I’ve come up with a second travel-inspired, apple treat, double apple muffins. Very loosely based on the no-bake, Danish dessert aebelkage, these muffins give you a double dose of fruit with the inclusion of diced apples and applesauce.

DOUBLE APPLE MUFFINS
Makes 12 muffins

1 cup applesauce
1 1/3 cups peeled and diced Granny Smith apples
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin and set aside.

In a small bowl mix together the applesauce, apples, sugars, butter and vanilla.

In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the apple mixture. Stir together until just combined. Spoon equal amounts of batter into the muffin cups.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown on top and the muffins have separated from the sides of the cups. Remove the muffins from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.