Tempting Apple Muffins

Here we have Adam and Eve, doing a little nude produce shopping at the Eden Superette, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the grocery clerk is Satan, seen here in his guise of lizard/kangaroo hybrid with the face of Jack Nicholson. We all know how this story ends - expulsion from Paradise, bringing forth children in pain and sorrow, the whole "mortality" thing, blahblahblah - but I can't help thinking that if Eve had shown a little more creativity, things might have been very different. Instead of just eating the forbidden fruit right there on the spot, she could have whipped up a batch of these sweet, fluffy muffins. That way, when Jehovah dropped in (unannounced, as usual: SIGH), she could have offered Him a nice cup of tea and a snack. A cute apron would have counteracted any newfound nakedness=shame awkwardness, and with the first bite, all that righteous fury would have disappeared. The moral of this story? Not even a wrathful, Old Testament God can stay grouchy when presented with a plate of warm, freshly baked muffins!

Tempting Apple Muffins

Ingredients
~ 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose, if you prefer)
~ 1 tbsp. baking powder
~ 1/2 tsp. baking soda
~ 1 tsp. cinnamon
~ 1/2 tsp. each: salt, nutmeg
~ 2 apples, chopped into small dice
~ 1 over-ripe banana, mashed
~ 2 tbsp. canola oil
~ 2 tbsp. maple syrup
~ 2 tbsp. ground flax seed
~ 1 cup orange juice
~ 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions
~ Preheat the oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit and lightly coat a muffin tin with cooking spray.
~ In a large bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together. When well combined, add the diced apple and toss to coat with the flour mixture.
~ In a separate bowl or beaker, combine the mashed banana and all remaining ingredients.
~ Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the wet mixture, and mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula (don't overmix!).
~ Spoon the muffin batter evenly into the tins, and bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.