Apple Bread

It's Apple Season!!!! yay! This is by FAR my favorite time of year...crisp air, cornstalks, apple cider, pumpkins, red leaves...ahhh. I just love it.

Last weekend the husband and I went apple picking at the local orchard, and came home with three huge bags of apples, so of course I had to find a great new recipe to use with them! My husband has been requesting a nice bread, so I decided on apple bread.

And I'm very glad I did. This recipe went above and beyond my expectations. Seriously. It's spicy, sweet, moist, soft...it's just perfectly amazing and am already planning on making a second batch. I made a bunch of mini-loaves and individually wrapped them. I have to say, I think these would be perfect favors for any autumn party, shower, or wedding. I urge you to make this bread with your freshly picked apples - you'll be so glad you did!

Ingredients
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

3 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp. Allspice (I added this)
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Cup White Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar, packed (I added this)
2 Eggs, Beaten
1/2 Tsp. Vanilla
2 cups apples, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped (I used 2 Cortland Apples)
1 cup broken walnuts (I omitted)
2-3 tbsp apple cider (optional)



Directions
In bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, allspice, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside. In large mixing bowl, place oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and apples. Stir into flour mixture. Add walnuts and mix (if using). Here, my batter ended up being quite dry so I added in a few tablespoons of apple cider, but I suppose if your batter is at the right consistency, you could leave it out. Divide mixture between two greased 8-in. x 4-in. bread pans (I used mini loaf pans). Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes (mine were done in 25-30 minutes because I used the mini pans) or until bread test done. Cool for 10 minutes on wire rack before removing from pan.

Morning Glory Muffins

I've really been in the mood for a good muffin lately. A super healthy, packed with goodness muffin that I can have for a weekday breakfast on the go without feeling bad about questionable ingredients. So when I found this recipe I was anxious to try it out.

After I made a few modifications to bump up the health factor, I was SO pleased with how this muffin came out. Carrots, apples, golden raisins, and whole wheat flour are only a few of the healthful ingredients in this muffin. I actually feel good about eating it because not only is it just delicious tasting, I know that it's packed with goodness.

The muffin itself is perfectly sweet (using agave nectar, not white sugar) and very moist. The almonds add wonderful texture and the cinnamon is a great addition to the flavor of the muffin.

All in all, I absolutely loved this muffin, as did my co-workers...who could not believe it was actually healthy. Which is fine by me.

Ingredients
Adapted from Allrecipes.com

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup agave nectar
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups grated carrots
1 apple (I used granny smith), peeled, cored and diced
1 cup golden raisins
1 whole egg
2 egg whites
1 cup applesauce
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 small handfuls of Raw Almonds, chopped finely and divided
about 4+ tbsp. wheat germ, divided

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly oil a muffin tin with nonstick spray, or use paper cups.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, egg whites, applesauce, agave nectar, vanilla extract and almond extract. Set bowl aside.

In a large bowl, stir together whole wheat and all purpose flours, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt and about 2 tbsp. wheat germ. Stir in carrots, apples, 1 small handful of chopped almonds and raisins. Then stir in egg mixture until just moistened. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them about 3/4 full.

In a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, combine the rest of the chopped almonds and 2 tbsp wheat germ. Heat until wheat germ is very lightly toasted, and then top the muffins with the toasted wheat germ and almonds.

Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and spring back when lightly pressed.

I yielded 24 muffins that were on the smaller side.

Jimmy's Apple Pie

One of my coworkers looks forward to autumn all year. Why? A) because he's a hunter and B) Because he loves apple pie. He is an older bachelor, who has been divorced for a while. However, he says that no one can make apple pie as good as his ex wife.

Well, that was enough for me to start on the quest of making Jimmy's perfect apple pie. I wanted to make it perfect for him because he basically lives on frozen food and well, I'm a competitive cook. When I hear that someone makes the "best" of anything I have to try and make it better. It's just in my nature.

So after many attempts and many pie's in Jimmy's belly, I have finally perfected his apple pie. I got some critiques along the way and have now mastered his favorite apple pie (which is basically a dutch apple pie in case you're wondering) and am pleased to say that he has given it a score of 10/10.

Ingredients
Filling recipe adapted from a vague outline of ingredients by Jimmy's ex wife, and a little of my own tweaking. Topping recipe adapted from Ina Garten's apple crisp recipe.

1/2 recipe Pate Brisee for one pie

Filling
6-8 cups apples, peeled sliced and cored
1/2-3/4 cups sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
pinch allspice
2 tbsp. flour
juice of 1/2 lemon
Topping
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 pound cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 375. On a lightly floured surface, roll out pie dough and place in a pie dish. Trim edges if needed. Set aside. In a large bowl, toss together the apples, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and all spice. Spoon filling into crust lined pie dish and arrange apples so they fit neatly in the dish. It might seem like you have too many apples, but they will bake down.

To make the topping, combine the flour, sugars, salt, oatmeal, and cold butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Scatter evenly over the apples.

Around the edges of the pie, fit pieces of aluminum foil over exposed crust. This will prevent your crust from burning. Place pie on a large baking sheet (to catch any apple that might bubble over) and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until filling starts to bubble. During the last 20 minutes of cooking, remove foil from crust edges and discard. The crust should then turn a golden brown color at the end of cook time.

Apple Butter

One thing I wanted to do with my mass of apples was to make Apple Butter this year. I overcame my fear of canning when I made my homemade pickles over the summer, so I was excited to jar the apple butter as well.

I chose this recipe because it didn't require the use of a food mill since I don't have one, nor do I want to buy one. Looking back, I'm sure I could have used any Apple Butter recipe and just pressed the apple mixture through a sieve instead of running it through a food mill like I did for this one, but I liked that there was no mention of a food mill in the recipe itself!

This recipe was great. I used the stovetop directions because it was quicker, and it was really easy and fun to do. The only part that is tedious was peeling, coring and chopping the apples, but this little tool came in very handy for that and made the process much easier.

The apple butter itself is smooth and rich, with great subtle hints of fall flavors and spices. Spread this apple butter on toast, English muffins or even pork chops to bring the flavors of autumn to your meal. This recipe is certainly a keeper...I've already made it 3 times this year alone! Additionally, you don't need to jar the apple butter (although it makes great gifts)...you can also put it in a bowl and refrigerate for up to a week. Enjoy!

Recipe can be found at www.MyRecipes.com and is from Cooking Light.

Apple Crisp

It's apple season in my neck of the woods, and boy have I been going crazy with apples! My husband and I went picking 2 weekends ago and ended up with 48 lbs...yes you heard me...48 lbs. of apples! So I needed to think of something to do with them all! Apple crisp is one of the favorites of my coworkers, so I made some to bring in to work after our apple picking extravaganza!

This is a new recipe I tried this year, and turned out great. However, I had to double the crisp and lessen the apples. The flavor was great, but the proportions are off, so I noted what I did in the recipe. I had a recipe last year that I loved but lost the recipe. Then after I made this, I found my recipe from last year! So I'll be making the old one again as well and blogging about it in the next few weeks.

Overall, this was a simple and easy recipe that resulted in a deliciously fall flavored apple crisp that my co workers loved!

Ingredients
Adapted from a recipe by Rachel Ray's Sister

6 McIntosh apples, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch pieces (I used large apples, and this was too many. I'd use more like 4-5)
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I used about 2 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (I used more like 4-6 tbsp...2 was not nearly enough)
1/2 cup flour or fine graham cracker crumbs (I used flour, and doubled this)
1/2 cup brown sugar (I doubled this)
1/2 stick butter (I doubled this)

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a 9 by 12 baking dish, combine apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar. In a small bowl, mix flour or graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and butter together using the tines of a fork and your fingers, working until even, small crumbles form. Sprinkle topping evenly over apples and bake 15 to 20 minutes (I baked mine for about 30 minutes) until apples are just tender and topping is golden brown.