Delicious Apple Crisp with Local Apples

Baking in the fall is just amazing.  The warm house with the wonderful smells of cinnamon, fresh baked bread, cookies, pumpkin muffins and pumpkin pie.  When I baked this apple crisp is was a wonderfully cool (60degree) summer/fall evening.  They boys came in from outside and smelled the crisp baking in the oven and couldn't wait to try a bowl full.

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My neighbors went to a local farm and picked some apples last week. I have never picked apples. I have picked cherries before which seem easier than apples, at least lighter. So I turned the healthy snack of an apple in to a not so healthy treat of an apple crisp. I used my favorite go to cook book and didn't really follow the recipe. I added way more apples, because they cook down and I sliced them thin. I also added a good amount of cinnamon and didn't measure the lemon juice just drizzled some on the apples.

Apple Crisp
recipe from Pillsbury, The Complete Book of Baking

Fruit Mixture
6 cups sliced peeled apples
1 teaspoon cinnamon, if desired
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Topping
1 cup rolled oats (I used quick oats because that's all that I had - if I didn't have them I would have bought rolled oats)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened

Heat oven to 375F. Place apples in ungreased 2-quart casserole or 8-inch square (1 1/2-quart) baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon, water and lemon juice. In large bowl, combine all topping ingredients; mix until crumbly. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over apples. Bake at 375F for 25 to 35 minutes or until fruit is tender and topping is golden brown.

We really enjoyed the apple crisp and I told my neighbor send over any fruit that she picks and I will turn it into a delicious dessert. :)

~Michelle

Apple Caramel Cupcakes

I baked some cupcakes for the return of a co-worker to work after a long 5 month absence. I probably should have made him some carrots and hummus or something like that. But everyone knows I like to bake so what else could I do? except bake. right?

The recipe is from A Bakers Field Guide to Cupcakes

Ingredients

Streusel:

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

2/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Cupcakes:

18 paper liners

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temp.

cut into small pieces

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

2 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

2/3 cup peeled and diced Granny Smith apples

18 caramels

Directions

1. To make the streusel, in a large bowl, stir together melted butter, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt until well combined. Stir in flour until smooth. Mixture should clump and form "crumbs" when squeezed between fingertips. Set aside.


2. To make the cupcakes, preheat oven to 350 F. Place paper liners in all wells of one 12-cup and one 6-cup cupcake tin.


3. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl to aerate and combine; set aside.


4. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scrapping down the bowl once or twice. Beat in extracts. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down after each addition, allowing each egg to be absorbed before continuing. Add the flour mixture in 4 additions, alternating with the sour cream. Begin and end with the flour mixture, stopping when there are still a few streaks of flour.


5. Fold the chopped apples into the plain cupcake batter. Fill each paper liner about one-quarter of the way full with batter. Top with a bit of streusel, then fill with remaining batter. Top with remaining streusel. Bake for about 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center shows a few moist crumbs. Cool pans on racks for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes to cooling racks to cool completely.


6. Melt caramels in top of double boiler or in microwave. Drizzle over the cooled cupcakes. I added some milk to make a little smoother.

These turned out really good. I should have put a few more apples in them. The texture was kind of a crumb/coffee cake, which I love.

~Michelle