apple recipe

Okay, so I really think this is the LAST apple recipe I post this fall. I had so much fun (and so much delicious food!) using up all our apple from our apple picking trip.
Any who, the final recipe is Apple Strudel Muffins. The original recipe can be found here, via Life Of Faith. As usual, I made a few tweaks.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour (I used half white and half wheat)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons wheat germ (optional)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped apples (for me, this was about 6 apples since all I had left were some teeny tiny Macoun apples)

I actually made the muffins identical to her recipe (even including the optional wheat germ). But the strudel topping was my own creation.

Topping Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter (for this I do use unsalted stick butter, not a spread or margarine)1 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup baking oats
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1/3 cup brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 350F.
Start by combining your flour, baking soda and powder, salt, and wheat germ. Mix thoroughly and set aside. (I forgot to photo that this time, but I’m pretty sure you can get by without it.)

Next, chop up your apples into teeny tiny cubes.

After the apples are all set, in a larger bowl cream your butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla together.

Pour in your dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Oops, I lied before – I did deviate slightly from the original muffin recipe. Once my wet and dry ingredients were combined, I added in some milk (I didn’t measure, but I’d say not more than 1/8 cup). I found the batter to be very dry and thick – the milk did the trick.

Then add in your chopped apples and combine thoroughly.

I dough scooped mine into my silicon cupcake holders (yay for no waste and money saving!) but you can just use a spoon too. Fill them 2/3 full. Then, it’s time to make your topping. Combine all the topping ingredients in a bowl and mash together by hand until crumbly. Once crumbly, sprinkle about a half tablespoon on top of each muffin.

Bake 20 – 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center. Let cool for 5-10 minutes and enjoy!

These are seriously SO DELICIOUS! I mean, I wasn’t expecting them to NOT be good, but I was blown away at the flavor they pack. It’s like apple pie in muffin form. A cup of tea and one of these makes me a happy gal!

And in case you missed them, here are my other apple recipes from this year:
Apple Crisp
Apple Fritters
Apple Butter

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Another apple recipe post! This time, some yummy apple butter.

When I was thinking about all the apple goodness I could make after apple picking, apple butter had never crossed my mind. But at the orchard they had samples of their own to try – and I would say it was one of the yummiest things I’ve eaten recently! Naturally, I wanted to try and make my own. I browsed some recipes online, which pretty much all consisted of the same four or five ingredients. So as usual, I tossed the recipes aside and made up my own! My recipe is below – definitely tweak it for your own tastes!

Ingredients:

Apples – enough to fill a crock pot 3/4 full once peeled and sliced. For me, this was 10 apples. (I used a mix of Macintosh, Macoun, and Cortland.)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp apple pie spice
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 – 3/4 cup apple cider

First, peel and slice your apples, and toss then in the crock pot.

Then add in your spices and sugar.

Pour in the apple cider, and stir everything together until the apples are fully coated.

Cover and cook on high for 1 – 2 hours, then turn down to low for 8 -10 hours. Stir periodically to keep things from sticking to the sides. After cooking in the crock pot you’ll end up with a brown mushy goo! Pour that into a blender and pulse a few times until it’s a nice creamy consistency. If you have an immersion blender, that would be MUCH easier – just blend it all right in the crock pot!

Then pour the butter into your jars (or whatever storage container you are using). I used mason jars, and canned them. Sealing the jars is really easy – just put the jars in a boiling water bath for about 10 – 15 minutes and you’re done! Now I have plenty to save to give as gifts – maybe with some zucchini or spice bread.

Lately, I’ve been enjoying some on an English Muffin for breakfast with a cup of tea. YUM! I think next time I’ll do a little less spice, and maybe a quarter cup more brown sugar – what can I say, I’ve got a sweet tooth!

Until next time,

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