The Muffin Cupcakes: A combination of multiple recipes into one!
Prep:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease muffin tins. Recipe makes about 20 muffins. Prepare two bowls, one large bowl for dry ingredients and one for the wet stuff.
Dry Ingredients:
3 Cups Flour
3/4 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup coca
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Nutmeg
Wet Stuff:
1/4 Cup + 2tbsp Melted Butter
4 Eggs
1/2 tsp Vanilla
The Good Stuff:
4 Apples, peeled and chopped into fine chunks
1/2 cup Cranberries (dried are better)
Putting it All Together:
1. Sift the dry ingredients in a bowl until evenly combined.
2. Blend the wet stuff together well.
3. Add the wet stuff to the dry ingredients, stir with a spoon until just combined.
4. Fold in apple bits and cranberries.
5. Fill muffin cups (greased or lined with cups) 3/4 full.
6. Bake for about 18-20 minutes.
Topping Them Off:
Stir a little bit of milk (about a tbsp) into about a half a cup of powdered sugar, fluffing as you stir. You will end up with a drizzly frosting. Drip over slightly warm muffin cupcakes.
Mmm.....
The Thinking:
How much of my life I have spent worrying!
And with good reason, according to the wisdom of this world. There are a lot of
things to worry about. From making enough money for survival to being a friend
that actually cares, I have frequently told myself that it is righteous to
worry about, well, being right before God. Recently the Lord has been working
in me to teach me a little about worry.
A conversation with my husband the other
day was particularly used in my heart to convict me about my anxieties. Matt
told me that he thinks sin is often trying to do what it is that God does. He
talked about our desire to see things work out in certain ways and how, when
these things we desire seem Godly, we seize control and attempt to work them
out ourselves. In doing so, we step in front of God on his throne and start
parsing out directions, assuming his approval. Satan, I've noticed, certainly
encourages this.
That pesky evil one has often convinced us
that if we don't worry, no one else will and nothing will happen. He has told
us that to wait is to be lazy or timid. He has convinced us that it honors God
to take action and to stash away back-plans, emergency funds, and all sorts of
connections...just in case. Because being wise pleases the Lord.
Isn't it sneaky how he sprinkles lies into
truth, altering the taste of what we think just enough to create something new?
Using the wisdom of the Lord pleases the Lord. Wisdom from me sidesteps the
Lord.
When it comes to worrying, I am forgetting
that the Lord remembers even more than I do -and that is a lot! His promises
are true and He is always faithful. If my heart belongs to the Lord and I am
seeking him, then I should not be worrying about what God thinks of me. The
Savior stands before me in my failings and weaknesses, making my love for
Christ (and through him the Father) absolutely enough.
Earning money, looking into future
opportunities, and seeking relationships with others is not wrong. But, if I am
doing these things in case God falls through, I am sinfully making myself into
much more than I am!
