Apple crisp

Covered in apple crisp.

It's fall, even in Florida, and the apples on sale at the grocery store. I had the urge to make something fall-ish this weekend, and I've already made and frozen several pumpkin goodies, so my next thought was an apple dish. I made this one a few weeks ago and we gobbled it up, but I decided Elle needed to experience the joy that is apple crisp ... but little did I know what a hit it would be with my husband, too. He was upset when I gave the last of it to the baby, haha. I've made two batches in four days and I don't see any end to that pattern in sight :)

Delicious, easy and not the most unhealthy thing in the world - this is a keeper.

Ingredients:

Filling
5 medium apples, peeled and diced
1.5 oz raisins (small box)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 lemon, juiced
3 tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup agave nectar (or honey)

Topping
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar (not packed)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup (half stick) butter, melted

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine apples, raisins, cinnamon, agave nectar and lemon juice in large bowl. (After reading the comments on Gina's post, I found out that you can substitute honey for the agave nectar, but it's recommended to add some extra sugar to compensate for the lost sweetness without the nectar. I added about 1/8 cup granulated sugar.)

Sprinkle with cornstarch. Toss until fruit is coated. Place fruit in an ungreased baking dish.

Mix remaining ingredients. Sprinkle over fruit.

Bake about 40 minutes or until topping is golden brown and fruit is tender.

Serving suggestion: Serve with a scoop of low fat ice cream or fat free frozen yogurt.

Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 8 • Serving Size: 7/8 cup • Calories: 222 • Points: 4.5 pts

Source: Skinny Taste

Apple Spice Cookie Bars

I know we've been putting quite a spotlight on pumpkin recipes. I don't apologize for this, because I love me some pumpkin, and I know Meg does, too. And if there was ever a time to make pumpkin stuff, it's fall :)

But as I grocery shopped a few weeks ago, I realized it's also apple time! (In Florida, the seasons aren't very obvious, and I have to closely monitor the shifts in produce. Don't hate!) My husband and I got a few pounds of apples, and I looked for some new apple recipes. I found this one and LOVED it. From the cinnamon to the butter taste, they are very fall-like, soft and delicious. I'm hoping there will be several more apple recipes in my future :)

Ingredients:
2 c. plus 2 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
small pinch ground cloves
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 apples, cored and diced (a little less than 2 c.)
cinnamon sugar for sprinkling


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 9x13 pan with foil and baking spray.

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves.

Whisk to combine well and set aside.

In bowl of stand mixer, combine sugars and butter and beat on medium high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well to combine.

Add vanilla extract and beat to combine.

Turn mixer on slow and fold in flour mixture a little at a time until just combined.

Fold in apples.


Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan and sprinkle top generously with cinnamon sugar.

Place in oven and bake until cooked through, when top slightly bounces back to the touch, about 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool completely before removing from pan, cutting and serving. (bars will be very soft)


Source: Good Things Catered

Grandma's apple sauce

You can take the girl out of Cleveland, but you can't take Cleveland out of the girl.

That's what my mom always says. And she's right -- particularly when it comes to food.

Each time I trek from Phoenix back to Cleveland, I crave certain things. A turkey sandwich from Penn Station. Custard pie from Amish country. And an apple crunch bagel from Panera (how is Panera *still* not in AZ??). I also drink a LOT of soda (or "pop," I should say) while I'm there.

I moved to Arizona five years ago and quickly found myself in a position that I was not accustomed to: celebrating a holiday away from family. It's not easy, and I don't like it. But I'm used to it now, and I have learned that spending holidays with good friends and establishing your own traditions can be very fulfilling. At our Phoenix Thanksgiving, everyone makes their finest family recipes, passed from generation to generation, because we all want to replicate the feeling of being around our loved ones during the holidays. The result is a potluck of some really amazing food. My contribution is always my Grandma's apple sauce.

I called my Grandma during my first fall in Arizona to ask her how to make her infamous apple sauce. It is a dish she made for dinner for all the major holidays. A staple. Something I associated with family and celebration. So if I couldn't go home to share it with my family, I would bring it to my new home, and my new family.

She described, over the phone, how to make it. She doesn't have a recipe. It's not written down. She just sort of talked me through it. I hung on her every word. And for five years, I have tried to replicate her success.

I can't say my apple sauce is as good as hers. But I like to think that each year, it gets a little closer. I recently submitted this recipe to the school district I work for, as part of a school fundraiser. I'm on the United Way committee, and we're compiling a cookbook of staff recipes to raise money for charity. I hope that Grandma's apple sauce will create memories for other families and bring them together for special meals the way I remember my family coming together.

Here is my interpretation of Grandma's apple sauce, as she described it to me:

Ingredients

8-10 red apples
Cinnamon
Sugar

Directions
1. Peel, seed, and cut into eighths. Place cut up apples into a large pot with 1/2 to 3/4 cup water, to prevent the apples from burning. Cook on medium heat.

2. As they start to get mushy, mash with a potato masher to apple sauce consistency (about 10-15 minutes). Sprinkle cinnamon over surface and add 1/4 cup sugar. Stir with the masher. Cook a little longer, testing for taste. Add more sugar or cinnamon if necessary.

3. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate.

I don't have any photos of the finished product, but I'll be making it again this Thanksgiving and I will be sure to post photos then!

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

I felt like baking over the weekend, and I'm sort of on a breakfast baking kick lately (i.e., buttermilk pancakes, biscotti and zucchini bread). So I decided to stick with that theme and whip up some muffins.

I'm also at that point during the summer where I am simply tired of the heat. Every time I go outside, I think, "Ugh. STILL hot." This happens toward the end of August each year.

For those who live back East, the best time of year is about to arrive -- fall. The air gets crisper, the leaves start to change, and pumpkin spice cappuccino hits the gas stations. But in Phoenix, it will still be hot into October.

So, I chose a muffin recipe that is reminiscent of fall. I'm hoping it will bring me a miracle: a cool September. I even used muffin wrappers with fall leaves all over them. That should do the trick, don't you think?

These are pretty tasty. They are light and fluffy, and the chunks of apples are refreshing and give the muffins a nice bite.


Ingredients
1 package white cake mix
1 cup quick-cooking oats
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1-3/4 cups peeled and chopped apples (2 large apples)
1-1/3 cups milk
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions
1. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, oats, cinnamon and baking powder. Stir to blend. In another large bowl, whisk together eggs, apples, milk and melted butter.

2. Add dry ingredients, stirring with a wooden spoon just until blended. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.


3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until set and golden.

Source: Duncan Hines' Cake Mix Magic

For the record, it is still hot. Record high temperatures and record low monsoon rainfall, in fact. Maybe it's time to bake a pumpkin pie?

My friends are awesome bakers, part deux

I must be drawn to people who love to bake and/or eat sweet things as much as I do. Look at what my friend Katie recently made:

Those are apple-pumpkin crunch muffins. And they have me wishing for a crisp October Saturday morning in Ohio, when the leaves are changing into brilliant colors and pumpkins start appearing on front porches.

Instead, it will be 100 degrees in Phoenix today, and it is only May. But really, it's much too early in the summer to be complaining about that.

Katie is a great cook, a great baker and a thoughtful friend. She once lugged an assortment of cupcakes to a restaurant for my birthday, stuck candles in them and made everyone sing to me.

Not only was that a really nice thing to do, but the cupcakes were delicious. So I'm betting these muffins are every bit as good as they look.

Ingredients

1-2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs

1 Granny Smith/Fuji apple, chopped.

Topping

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Handful walnuts, almonds, peanuts.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (or 325° F if you are using a dark nonstick pan).

2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, spice, and sugar in a large bowl.

3. Mix pumpkin, butter and eggs separately. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring with a spatula just until moistened, about 15 turns. Fold in chopped apple, and scoop into greased muffin pan, filling each cup about 2/3 full.

4. In the small bowl, whisk together the topping ingredients and sprinkle evenly over the batter. 5. Bake for 20 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks for a few minutes before serving.

Source: Adapted from andreasrecipes.com.