vegan mofo: apple butter and salsa

a couple of years ago for christmas, i canned some organic homemade apple butter and salsa.  supplied were limited, so only my near and dear friends got a jar. 

status: good eating! (i hope!)

why i'm including it: i took pictures with the intent of posting the recipes.  however, i never got around to it.  plus i don't have any pictures of the 'making' of it - just the dolled up christmas jars.

would i make it again:  i'm thinking about making the apple butter again this year.  i'll be checking my list if you've been naughty or nice.

apple butter muffin cakes

is it is a muffin or is it a cupcake? this hybrid treat has the whole wheat texture of a morning muffin with sweet cupcake icing to top it off. this came about when i was making treats for work and realized some folks may not share my love of under-sweetened treats. so i piped vanilla-cinnamon florets on my apple butter muffins and - voilà - miss v muffin cakes!

• 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup turbinado sugar + 2 tablespoons
• 1 cup apple butter (recipe here)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup soy margarine (smart balance light)
• 1/4 cup flax seed oil
• 1/4 cup water

in two bowls, separately mix up all wet and all dry ingredients. make a well in dry ingredients, and fold in the mixed wet ingredients. mix thoroughly by hand for about 1 minute, until all the dry clumps have been broken down. lightly coat muffin pan with non-stick spray, and fill each cup about 2/3 full. bake at 350°f for approximately 20 minutes. stick a toothpick or knife in the middle and make sure it comes out clean.

you can use any frosting you would like... i used the standard butter cream frosting recipe in vegan cupcakes take over the world, and added about 1/8 cup cinnamon and 1-2 teaspoons vanilla powder.

chef's note: these will not rise a lot, so if you want larger muffin cakes, you'll have to fill the tin fuller. :)

roasted apple butter

i used up the last of our apple bounty to make apple butter. i found a roasted applesauce recipe in vegan with a vengeance, but (of course) wasn't cool with all the sugar involved. i'm sure the original recipe is tasty, but i think apples are already sweet, so i opted for the less caloric approach and pretty much modified the whole thing. also, this turned out decidedly more apple butter than applesauce, because it was thick and could be spread on toast (which i did a lot of).

• about 10-12 small golden delicious apples
• 1-2 tablespoons agave nectar
• cinnamon to taste

preheat oven to 350f°. peel, core and chop the apples into medium size chunks. spread apple chunks in single layer in 9x12 baking/casserole dishes (i used two for 12 apples). drizzle with agave and sprinkle with cinnamon, then gently toss so apples are evenly coated. bake the apples for about 15 minutes, turn once, and bake for 10-15 minutes more. pull out the dishes and let cool. i used a potato masher for one of the dishes, but then my arm got tired. so i used a magic bullet for the other half. makes about 2 pints.