A few weeks ago Brendan and I went on
our annual apple-picking adventure. We picked about 10 pounds of apples (if not
more), ate a couple homemade apple-cider donuts, bought 2 gallons of freshly
pressed apple cider, and bought our Halloween pumpkins. A wonderful fall
excursion. However, the following week in our CSA (community supported
agriculture) share, we received an additional 20 apples. Two weeks later,
another 20+. We had a gigantic stash of apples just sitting in our house,
waiting to be eaten or cooked...an apple city, if you will. There was no way we
could simply eat all the apples raw--an apple a day, or two, or three, wouldn't
even make a dent in our pile. So, two weekends ago I went on a cooking rampage and
made as many apple recipes as possible. The following weekend we still had a huge pile of apples
remaining--so I continued to cook apple-inspired recipes. We are finally down to our last bowl of apples. I figured that there must be some other people out there who have
indulged (perhaps a bit too much) in the fabulous fall flavor of apples and
could likewise use some recipes to help decrease their stash. C'mon down to
apple city!
Good
Morning Muffins (from Flour
Bakery Cookbook)
Makes 16 muffins (or 12 muffins and 8
mini muffins)
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup wheat bran
-1/2 cup hot water
-1 small zucchini, grated
-1/2 cup raisins
-1/2 cup pecan halves
-1/2 cup coconut flakes
-1 apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
into small pieces
-2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
-3 eggs
-3/4 cup canola oil
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
-3/4 cup old-fashioned oats (not
instant!)
-2 teaspoons baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F and oil a
muffin tin with cooking spray
2. In a small bowl, combine the wheat
bran and hot water until the bran is completely moistened.
3. Add the zucchini, raisins, pecans,
coconut, and apple to the bowl and mix well.
4. In another bowl, combine all the dry
ingredients—oats, flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
5. In a separate bowl, use a mixer to
beat the sugar and eggs until the mixture has thickened (about 5-8 minutes). On
slow speed, gradually add the oil and vanilla into the bowl (should take about
1 minute to add it all).
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet
ingredients. Fold carefully until everything is just combined.
7. Add the bran, zucchini, etc.
mixture. Mix slowly, until just combined.
8. Spoon the mixture into the muffin
tins. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the tops are nicely browned and a toothpick
comes out clean when inserted into the middle.
9. Let cool about 20 minutes in the pan
before removing.
Butternut
Squash Soup with Apples (Fight
Back With Food)
Serves 3 (can easily be doubled to
serve more!)
Ingredients:
-2 teaspoons olive oil
-1 onion, chopped
-2 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
-1/2 medium-size butternut squash, peeled
and thinly sliced
-1 Yukon potato, peeled and thinly
sliced
-1 teaspoon curry powder
-1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/2 cup milk (1% is best)
-2 tablespoons cashews, chopped
Directions:
1. In a large soup pan, heat the oil
over medium heat. Cook the onion for about 5 minutes, until it is golden brown.
Be sure to stir frequently.
2. Add all the ingredients from apples
through cinnamon to the pot. Stir to combine well.
3. Add 1 ½ cups of water to the pot.
Cover the pot, bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Turn the stove off and remove the
pot. Using an immersion blender, food processor, or blender, process the soup
until well blended.
5. Return the soup to the pot, add the
milk, and then cook over low heat until the mixture is heated through.
6. Serve hot with cashews sprinkled on
top.
Makes 24 muffins or 12 muffins + 1 loaf
Ingredients:
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-2/3 cups whole-wheat flour
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1/4 teaspoon baking powder
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
-1 cup sugar
-1 cup canned pumpkin (I prefer Libby’s
brand)
-1/2 cup butter, melted
-2 large eggs
-1 apple, finely chopped
-3 tablespoons sugar
-1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Note: ½ cup of
chocolate chips are a great addition to these muffins! If using, add to the batter
when you add the apples.
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F and oil a
muffin tin with cooking spray. If you only have one muffin tin you will need to
cook the first batch of muffins and then reuse the pan for the second batch.
2. Combine dry ingredients (flours,
baking soda, baking powder, salt, spice, and sugar). Mix well.
3. In another bowl beat the eggs
lightly. Mix in the canned pumpkin and melted butter.
4. Add the wet ingredients (eggs,
pumpkin, butter) to the dry ingredients. Mix until batter is just combined and
you no longer see any dry ingredients.
5. Fold the apples into the batter.
6. Spoon the batter into the muffin
tin. Bake for 20 minutes.
7. Remove muffins from pan as soon as
you take them out of the oven. Cool on a rack.
Applesauce
I have continued to make a gigantic vat of homemade applesauce each week, since it uses between 10-15 apples per batch. It tastes great on top of oatmeal, as a snack with some sunflower seeds sprinkled on top, or with some vanilla ice cream, as an evening treat. See my recipe from a previous
blogpost on how to make homemade applesauce!
Filling Ingredients:
-6 apples, peeled and sliced
-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-1 tablespoon cornstarch
-1/3 cup pure maple syrup (or brown sugar)
Crumble Topping Ingredients:
-1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant)
-1/2 cup whole grain cornmeal
-1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
-1/4 cup brown sugar
-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1/4 cup vegetable oil
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F
2. In a bowl, stir together all the filling ingredients.
3. Spread mixture in an unoiled baking dish and bake for 30 minutes
4. Meanwhile, combine all the crumble topping ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.
5. After 30 minutes, evenly spread the crumble topping on the baked apples. Bake for another 15-20 minutes, until top is browned.
6. Serve warm with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream, frozen yogurt, or my personal favorite: whipped cream.
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