Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease muffin pans with soft margarine or cooking spray. She mentioned that even non-stick pans need this because they stick big time. Trust me. Use the cooking spray. For the sake of the muffins. We don’t want to lose one.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, the baking powder, the cinnamon and the salt. Make sure if you’re making it with someone else that you don’t miss them adding an ingredient and add it again. {see cinnamon in ingredient list}. On second thought, if it’s cinnamon, you’re probably okay because these were AMAZING. Set aside the bowl.
In your stand mixer (or a medium bowl) whisk together the eggs, the brown sugar and the granulated sugar until smooth. Add the oil and vanilla and whisk. Set this aside.
Peel and cut the apples into large chunks. Coarsely grate apple chunks, using a food processor or the large holes on a hand grater. You’re looking for shreds, not mush. I’m assuming mush isn’t necessarily bad, but there is something pretty about the texture with the shreds. Stick with shreds. Set aside.
Stir the oil mixture into the flour mixture until its just combined.
Gently fold in the apples. I love how it all looked when it was folded in.
Spoon the batter into your prepared muffin pans ¾ full.
Bake until golden, about 15-20 minutes.
Let cool about 10 minutes, then turn out the Apple Muffins onto cooling racks to cool completely.
Unwrap your caramels and put them into a small microwaveable bowl and add the milk. Microwave them for 1 minute at medium power then stir together. Repeat every 30 second until melted and smooth.
Place a cooling rack over a baking sheet (to catch drips). Because I made muffins, I allowed the caramel to get a little thicker before I spooned it over the muffins allowing it to slowly drip down the sides. I went slow since I didn’t do donuts and I wanted it not to pool around the bottom of the muffin.
Serve them immediately, or store them covered, at room temperature. Dena said that after a day, the caramel was absorbed by the donuts. I’m pretty sure that would happen with the muffins too, though I can’t say as my kids devoured them all in just a few hours. They were amazing!