Apple Crisp

With Thanksgiving around the corner this is a classic fall dessert and one you can make instead of an intimidating apple pie. I find fruit crisps are a lot easier to make than pies and are a great way to use fresh fruit that is in season. This one is for apples but I have made cranberry, blueberry and peach crisps as well. You get all of the flavors of apple pie filling but with the added bonus of a crunchy topping, which is the best part! Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

Apple Crisp
Source: Allrecipes
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

5 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1/2 cup white sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.

Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.

Combine the oats, 1/2 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 45 minutes.

Apple Coffee Cake

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day! While I couldn't spend it with my mom, I was able to celebrate with my mother-in-law for a relaxing brunch. I had pulled this recipe out and just needed an excuse to make it, so what better than Mother's Day brunch. I really liked that I only had to peel and cut 1 apple keeping this super easy. The best part is that we had all of these ingredients in the house already so it will make an great go to recipe for entertaining. It can be used for breakfast like we did for mother's day or as dessert. It is a soft cake with soft apples in the middle and cinnamon sugar on top, the best part!

Apple Coffee Cake
Serves 9
Slightly adapted from: Simply Recipes

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

10 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup reduced fat milk

1 medium Cortland or other baking apple, peeled and diced

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-inch square baking dish with or pie pan with a 4-cup capacity.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk vigorously together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a separate small bowl, mix 1/4 a cup of the sugar with the cinnamon, set aside.
4. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar. Beat in the egg until blended. Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk, beating after each addition until just combined.

5. Pour half of the batter in the bottom of the baking dish. Lay the apple slices on the batter so they just cover the batter (you may have to overlap some slices). Sprinkle the apples with the cinnamon-sugar mixture, reserving a teaspoon or two to sprinkle on top. Spread the rest of the batter over the apples. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon-sugar on top.
6. Bake the cake for 25 minutes or until it is golden brown and apples start to bubble at the edges. Let it cool before cutting.

Cranberry Apple Crisp

I hope everyone had a nice holiday! We spent ours with my in-laws and their family. They live nearby, which definitely makes it nice being able to avoid traveling around the holidays. I did of course do a lot of cooking this weekend which will be posted throughout the week. I tried out a new dessert for Christmas that was really easy to make and delicious. I like to have fruit desserts with turkey and pretend it is healthier. However, I am not a pro at making pie crusts so I was excited to come across this recipe with a crumble topping and no bottom! The tart cranberries are sweetened up by the apples and sugar but it is not an overly sweet dessert.

Cranberry Apple Crisp

Serves 6-8

Source: Taste of Home

Ingredients:
3 cups chopped peeled tart apples
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

Topping:
1 ½  cups quick-cooking oats
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup butter, melted
¼ cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Combine apples, cranberries, sugar and flour. Pour into a greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking dish. 

In a bowl, mix topping ingredients until crumbly; sprinkle over apple mixture. 

Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until bubbling and fruit is tender.

Apple Pie Muffins

We moved into our new house this weekend which was exciting and exhausting all at the same time. Our boxes are still not fully unpacked but most things are put away or the box is cut open on the floor.  I had pulled this recipe and bought the ingredients before moving but when I turned my back, everything was packed up. While my baking box is not unpacked yet, I was able to pull out my muffin tins and found some cute paper muffin liners on clearance at Target so I could whip up some muffins for breakfast.

As I have mentioned, I love apples and since you don't get a sense of fall down here this sounded like a great fall recipe that could also be used throughout the year. This might be one of the few recipes I have made that looked like the pictures and even like the muffins you buy at the bakery! I was really impressed with how they turned out with the crumble/streusel topping and soft chunks of apples and moist muffin. It was fun to be able to use our new oven and make the kitchen smell delicious. Now I just have to be careful not to eat them all!

Apple Pie Muffins

Source: My Baking Addiction

Makes 12-16 muffins

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2  Granny Smith Apples, peeled, chopped

Topping:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 Tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 12 cup muffin cups with paper liners. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 1/4 cups flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, 1/2 cup melted butter, vanilla and 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar. Stir until sugar has dissolved.

3. Pour butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold in apples. Use a large scoop to fill each muffin well, filling the cups to the top.

4. In a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, rolled oats, and cinnamon. Drizzle in 3 tablespoons of melted butter, mixing until well blended. Sprinkle this over the tops of the muffins.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly pressed.

6. Cool on wire rack. Store at room temperature or freeze.

Notes:
- If you choose to finely dice your apples, take not that they will disappear into the muffin. I left my pieces a little bigger to ensure nice bites of soft apple goodness.

Perfect Fall Lunch

Growing up in new england in the fall meant apples, apples and more apples. One thing that goes well with apples is sharp Vermont cheddar cheese. I could eat it on sliced up apples as a snack or you find it on a lot of sandwiches. Today I tried to replicate one of my favorite fall sandwiches. It doesn't even require a lot of ingredients. You need a crunchy granny smith or your favorite type of apple, slices of sharp cheddar cheese, roasted turkey and hearty, nutty bread. All my store had was multi-grain Italian but any type will do. 

Thinly slice the apple for the sandwich. You can have the remainder on the side or as a snack later.

Layer the turkey then apples with cheese on top. For extra flavor add apple butter if you have or any other vegetables you like. 

Put the top slice of bread on and put in the toaster or panini press if you have one to brown up the outside and melt the cheese. The apple will be slightly warm but still provide a nice crunch. While the weather may not feel like fall here in Florida, this sandwich reminds me of fall at home.

Holiday Dinner

This was the first year I was not near any of my family for the holidays. While that can be difficult it was an opportunity for Jason and I to celebrate on our own. We did things a little bit different by having our big dinner the second night of the holiday since we went to the earlier services session. I was pleasantly surprised that the services reminded me of home despite some of the songs having different melodies. The best part was that the rabbi was actually funny and didn't have a boring sermon that left you checking your watch. Afterwards, it was back into the kitchen to start our feast. I tried to keep our dinner close to the traditions that I am used to with my family. This meant lots of phone calls home for recipes and advice/help along the way. All in all, it turned out pretty well and we were able to use some of the beautiful china, silver and crystal we received for our wedding! Below is the recipe for the apple cake that my mom usually makes for the holiday to incorporate the apples for a sweet new year.

This was an easy recipe with lots of flavor from the apples and cinnamon. The middle apple layer keeps the cake nice and moist lasting for a few days or until it is all gone!

Apple Cake

9x12 pan or tube pan

Ingredients:

4-5 apples peeled and sliced

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup Sugar

3 cups Flour

1 1/2 cups Sugar

1 cup vegetable or canola oil

4 Eggs

3 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

7 Tbsp. Orange Juice

2 1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mix apples with cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.

3. Mix all other ingredients together on low speed of mixer or by hand.

4. Pour 1/2 of batter into a greased and floured  tube or 9x12 pan.

5. Cover with 1/2 of apple mixture. Repeat with rest of the batter and then finish with apple mixture.

6. Bake at 350 for an hour until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.

A complete dinner without going to the store

As it is officially hurricane season people have said it is a good idea to start using up what is in your freezer just in case there are any bad storms or god forbid an actual hurricane. I have finally started to take their advice and can finally see some space in our freezer. Don't get me wrong, I am leaving those left over frozen cookies because you would NEED those if you lose power. However, for tonight's meal I didn't have to buy a single ingredient and got to use up some pork from the freezer so I consider it a success.

We had 2 pork chops in the freezer which I decided to grill inside due to the dark clouds. I took them out and let them defrost in the refrigerator overnight. I lightly seasoned them on both sides with kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Put them on the grill or grill pan for about 5-6 minutes per side or until done. They turned out crispy on the outside but still nice and tender and juicy on the inside.

To me nothing goes better with pork than apples, usually in the form of applesauce. Tonight I made it a little fancier. We had 2 apples in the fruit bin that I sliced thinly and sauteed in a pan with 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter until transparent and tender. This takes about 5-7 minutes depending on how thinly you slice them. You can add a little bit of brown sugar to this if you want to make them a little bit sweeter, but I enjoyed the natural flavor of the apples.

Lastly, I made some couscous from the pantry that is ready in 5 minutes! Boil the water or chicken stock and add in your couscous. Then take it off the heat and cover for 5 minutes. Take the lid off and fluff it up with a fork and you are done. Definitely my go to side dish. Just add some freshly ground pepper and a pinch of salt for flavor.