Monkey Business

Recently, a friend at work has been using the term "monkey business" and every time he says it, I get a small smile on my face because I just think it is such a fun way to express a situation. I mean, why say crap or stuff when you can say monkey business? "Oh ya I forgot about that monkey business. Let's tackle that after lunch." Well ok then! It takes the bad attitude tone out of your sentence immediately and is frankly a great addition to our work conversations.

So in honor of this forgotten catch phrase, I made some apple spice muffins with an apple filling in none other than monkey cupcake liners. Yes, these were probably meant for a child's birthday party but I am a child at heart so it counts.

These were a breeze to make and just came out of a box. It was a mix from Pilsbury for a bundt cake but because there is no way I own one of those pans, I improvised and made them into cupcakes. Well muffins because they had a much more breakfast vibe to them. Plus cutting out the frosting means cutting out the calories so I can eat two right? Right.  

Mix up the batter, pour about a 1/3 of the cupcake liner, drop in a dollop of the fruit, then cover another 1/3 of the way with some more batter and presto! You have some fancy filled cupcakes or muffins.

The great thing is, you can do this with any cake or muffin mix and get creative and add in your own special middles. For next time, I am thinking yellow cake with Nutella in the center or white cake with a little pumpkin filling for the fall season or red velvet with a sweet cream cheese middle. The possibilities are endless and as quickly as these get eaten up, you will be able to try a bunch of varieties.