Apple City

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.

Pumpkin and Apple Muffins (from Southern Living: Annual Recipes Cookbook, 20^th anniversary edition)

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!

Apple Crisp (adapted from Moosewood Restaurant: Cooking For Health)

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.