Chicken Pot Pie with Crumble Topping

     Chicken breasts were on sale at the market a week ago so I bought two pounds of them. I had them defrosting in the refrigerator and was trying to figure out what in the world I was going to make with them. I needed half a pound for a new football appetizer I was trying, but that left me with a pound and a half of chicken.


     While I thought on it I rambled off what I thought I could make to my husband. I suggested chicken soup, Crockpot chicken, or stir fry chicken. In a moment of genius he reminded me that I had a new chicken pot pie recipe that I’d wanted to try. Let me preface this with the fact that I’ve never made a chicken pot pie in my life because I don’t really like them all that much. I think it’s the peas. I HATE peas, but I had printed out the recipe because my husband loves pot pies and I wanted to make one for him.

     It was cold and rainy outside so it was the perfect night for a pot pie. I started cooking at 6:15 figuring we would eat at 7:00. Boy was I wrong. I’m not sure if it was because a friend was over and I was distracted or if it just took a really long time, but we didn’t eat until 7:45. My husband loved the pot pie. He thought it was great, liked the flavors, but added that next time it needed more “gravy” or liquid in it.

     I thought the chicken pot pie was ok. I loved the crumbly topping and it had a nice flavor to it, but I couldn’t really get over the peas. Of course, my spoonful of pot pie was overflowing with peas. Other then the peas, it was actually a pretty tasty dish. Next time I think I may eliminate the peas and add in celery or something similar (and green).

     I will say that when we heated this dish up the next day I liked it a lot more then I did the first day. I think it had time to sit and the vegetables really absorbed the flavor of the “gravy”. The peas didn’t taste nearly as bad on day two because they had the richness of the milk with a hint of butter to them. While it isn’t my favorite dish, I’ll be making it again for my husband’s sake.


Chicken Pot Pie (adapted from Cooking with Christen )
Filling:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 ½ c. chicken broth
2 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 8-oz. package of mushrooms, washed and sliced
2 t. low sodium soy sauce
4 T. butter
1 ½ c. low fat milk
½ c. flour
1 T. fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 T. dried parsley (or 3 T. fresh chopped parsley)
1 c. frozen baby peas
Crumble Topping:
2 c. all purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
½ t. black pepper
½ t. red pepper
6 T. butter, cut into pieces, chilled
½ c. parmesan cheese
¾ c. low fat milk

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2. Cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces. In a skillet heat 1 cup of chicken broth. Put chicken into the broth and cook over medium heat 5-6 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the center. Transfer the chicken to a large bowl. Discard the chicken broth.

3. For the topping: Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and peppers in a large bowl. Toss in the butter pieces and mix with fingers until it is crumbly. Stir in cheese then add milk until just combined.

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread topping out on the baking sheet. Cook 12-14 minutes or until it begins browning. Take out and set aside. (At this point I crumbled the topping into pieces).

5. For the filling: Heat 1 T. oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, salt, and pepper. Stir well. Cook vegetables until tender. Transfer vegetables to the bowl with chicken and set aside.

6. Heat the remaining oil in the skillet and add the mushrooms. Cook five minutes. Stir in the soy sauce. Continue cooking until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are brown. Transfer mushrooms to the bowl with the chicken and veggies.

7. Heat butter in the skillet. Add flour. Stir and cook for one minute. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and milk. Bring to a simmer, scraping the bottom of the pan to get up the browned bits. Simmer another minute. Season with salt and pepper if needed. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and parsley. Stir in chicken and vegetables mixture and peas.

8. Pour the mixture into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the top. Bake at 450 until the filing is bubbling and the topping is browned, about 15 minutes.

**When reheating, heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cover the pot pie with foil and bake 10 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 5 minutes or until the filling is bubbly.**

This recipe is linked to:

Mommy's Kitchen-Potluck Sundays

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

     I am so into pumpkin right now. Fall is in the air, the leaves are changing, and I just keep buying cans of pumpkin at the market. I wanted to make a delicious pumpkin spice cookie. I took some ideas from sugar cookies and snicker doodles and tried to make a really yummy cookie. Well friends, I failed miserably. I made a cookie that had a great flavor, but that was thick and doughy. I tossed that batch and decided to start fresh with a few different ideas.


     The new batch had more pumpkin in it, less flour, and baking soda in addition to baking soda. I also added one more key ingredient: chocolate chips. Let me tell you, I believe those chocolate chips made all the difference in the world. These cookies are very good. They taste of pumpkin, spices, and melted chocolate. They are the perfect fall treat.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

½ c. butter (1 stick) softened
1 c. pumpkin (I used Libby’s canned pumpkin)
¾ c. brown sugar
½ c. sugar
1½ t. vanilla
1 egg
1 egg white
2 ½ c. flour
1 t. salt
1 t. pumpkin pie spice
1 t. cinnamon
½ t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 ½ c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a large bowl mix the butter, pumpkin, brown sugar, and sugar. Cream until smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Slowly mix in the egg and egg white.

3. In a medium bowl mix flour, salt, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda.

4. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix well.

5. Stir in the chocolate chips

6. Drop batter by 1 inch teaspoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 11-13 minutes or until the tops begin to brown.

7. Pull out the cookie sheet and let sit for 1 minute. Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack and cool for 10 minutes before eating.

4th of July by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro (Book Review)

     I really enjoy the Women’s Murder Club series that is written by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. I have read four of them so far, in no particular order, and I’ve really enjoyed each one. So when I arrived at the library and found that my copy of 4th of July had arrived I was very excited. I couldn’t wait to get home and start reading it.
     The book starts off with a bang. James Patterson wastes no time jumping into the story and within the first few chapters there is a car chase, a gun fight, one teenager dead, another severely injured, and two police officers shot at the scene. Then after getting out of the hospital, SFPD Lt. Lindsay Boxer is charged with a police brutality and wrongful death suite against her.

     Lindsay runs to her sisters’ house to hide out on the advice of her lawyer, Yuki. But her vacation in Half Moon Bay is cut short when someone starts killing the local residents in a brutal way. The deaths are reminiscent of a ten year old cold case from Lt. Boxer’s past. She’ll never forget the death of John Doe #24 and these eerily similar deaths cause Lindsay to begin investigating the murders even though she is on restricted duty.

     The Women’s Murder Club takes a backseat as Lindsay works to win her lawsuit in San Francisco and solve the murders in Half Moon Bay. As the trial comes to a close and Lindsay returns to Half Moon Bay she finds herself a target of the murders. She races against the clock to solve the murders before she ends up the next victim. The book comes to a close in a dramatic twist that I could not have imagined.

     I really enjoyed this book. It was a page turner that I did not want to put down. Lindsay Boxer is at the center of this installment of the Women’s Murder Club series and she really shines in this book. The introduction of Yuki as the newest member of the club is the perfect balance. I can’t wait to get the next book in the series and the newest one that just came out.


I give this book 4 ½ out of 5 stars.

Pasta Pizza Salad

     I’ve been craving pasta salad lately but I wanted something a little different. I remembered a woman at work making a pasta salad with lettuce and a yummy cheese. I went into work the next day and asked if she could bring the recipe in for me. Turns out she had a copy in her desk-SCORE!


     After looking at the recipe I was pleased to find I only needed to go buy the cheese as we had everything else at home. It was better then I remembered. It’s an interesting hybrid of a pasta salad and a tossed salad. The flavors are decidedly Italian and the vinegar adds the perfect amount of acid to balance out the creamy cheese.
Pasta Pizza Salad (a recipe from Kathy Z.)

12 oz. tri-colored pasta
2 chopped tomatoes
4 oz. gruyere cheese
½ chopped red onion
1 head of iceberg lettuce, chopped
1/3 c. Parmesan cheese
2 t. oregano
1 t. Italian seasoning
1 t. garlic salt
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
Dressing:
¼ c. olive oil
3 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. balsamic vinegar
1 t. oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Toss together all of the salad ingredients.

2. Whisk together dressing ingredients. Pour over salad right before serving.

This recipe linked to:

Meatless Mondays

Crock-Pot Chili

    I woke up this morning and was freezing. I checked the temperature and it was only 42 degrees outside and 57 degrees inside. BRRR! Way too cold for October, but I refuse to turn my heat on full blast this early in the year. We have an oil heated furnace and oil is NOT cheap. So I decided that since my husband has been asking for chili for the past two weeks this would be the perfect day to make it.


     I’ve worked hard over the past few years to perfect my chili recipe. I’ve often just used what has been in the refrigerator or in the cupboard and liked it so much that I’ve added it to my chili recipe. I think that I’ve probably revised the recipe 6 or 7 times over the years. The one I have now is great, but I still substitute ingredients in and out depending on what I have in the house.

     I checked out my supplies to see what I had. I didn’t have a packet of chili seasoning, but I had taco seasoning so I substituted that in instead. I had fresh peppers, tomatoes, and onions in the crisper so I was good on vegetables. I made the chili before work and put it in the crock-pot on low for the day. When I got home from work the smell of spicy tomatoes filled the air.

     The chili was perfect for this cold October day. It was warm, spicy, and filling. We ate it with salads and bread. I had butter on my bread but my husband swears by bread with peanut butter on it when eating chili. The best part? We have enough left over for dinner tomorrow!
Crock-Pot Chili

1 pound lean ground beef (I use Laura's Lean)
2 cans of diced tomatoes with jalapenos
2 cans red kidney beans, drained
2 c. water
1 packet of chili seasoning (or 3 T. ground cumin, 1 t. red pepper, 1 t. chili powder)
2 tomatoes, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, diced
2 t. black pepper
3 T. cumin

1. Put the crock-pot on low heat. Add the canned tomatoes, kidney beans, water, and chili seasoning and mix well. Add in the diced tomatoes, green pepper, onion, and garlic. Cover.

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat the ground beef, 3 T. of cumin, and black pepper. Cook until the beef is heated through. Drain the grease and add to crock-pot. Cover crock-pot and cook on low for 8 hours.

**There are many things you can do with leftover chili. It freezes well for up to 3 months in a freezer bag.  I like to make a taco salad the next day from leftover chili and my husband likes to make chili dogs the day after. **

Witches Hats (cookies)

  When my friend Mandy Lokar posted a picture of these on her FB page I had to have the recipe!  They are so cute and, as I later found out, super easy to make!   I have not yet made them, but Mandy is allowing me to use a picture of hers.  They are so simple to make, that I may make them to take in to the kids at school tomorrow:-)

Witches Hats (cookies) (idea from Mandy Lokar)

1 package of Keebler Fudge Stripe cookies
1 bag Hershey Kisses
1 container of white icing
orange icing tint
powdered sugar

1.  Remove 30 cookies from the bag and turn upside down on a shet of waxed paper.  Unwrap 30 Hershey Kisses and set aside.

2.  In a medium bowl tint the icing orange with icing tint.  Put about half the icing in a pastry bag or a zip top baggie with the end cut off.  Pipe a small amount of icing onto the middle of each upside down cookie.  Immediately set a Hershey Kiss on the icing, pressing down to make the band of the witches hat.

3.  Mix 1/2 c. to 1 c. of powered sugar into the remaining orange icing until it thickens.  Put into a pastry bag with a small tip or into a zip top baggie with the end cut off and pipe the icing on the hat in the shape of a bow.

Halloween Cake Pops!

     Recently there has been a lot of talk about cake pops. I was unsure what actually made up the cake pop, but after looking at a few recipes, it seems as though it’s nothing more then a combination of cake, icing, and chocolate. While it didn’t exactly sound fantastic, I thought it would be something that kids would probably enjoy.


     When I found out one of our friends was coming into town from North Carolina and was bringing his 8 year old son with him I knew this was the perfect time to try out the cake pops. Even better was the fact that he was having a Halloween birthday party. I had just bought chocolate melts in Halloween colors so this was a great time to use them.

     I used a Pillsbury cake mix and Pillsbury cream cheese frosting in my recipe. Of course you could make the cake and icing from scratch, but I think it’s really just the combination of the cake, icing, and chocolate that makes the cake pops so good.

     The pops were very messy to make but turned out so cute after I finished decorating them. My husband and his friend both tried them and gave them their approval. I sent home a bag of the pops with our friend to take to his son. I later got a message telling me that the cake pops were gone in under 2 minutes. These would be great to make ahead of time and then have kids decorate them with icing as a project that they can eat.

Cake Pops  (adapted from Bakerella)

1 box cake mix (I used Pillsbury butter yellow)
1 container of cream cheese frosting
Chocolate melts in the colors you want to use as decoration (I had brown, white, and orange for Halloween)
35-40 Lollipop sticks

1. Bake the cake in a 13 x 9 baking pan according to package directions. Cool on a wire rack.

2. In a large bowl place half of the cooled cake. Mash it with a fork until it is crumbly. Add in the other half of the cake and crumble with a fork.

3. Add half the container of frosting (about 1 cup) and stir. Slowly incorporate the rest of the can into the mixture.

4. Line two baking sheets with wax paper. Mold the cake mixture into 1 inch balls and set on the waxed paper.

5. Meanwhile, melt a small amount (1/3 cup) of brown chocolate melts in a double broiler or in the microwave. Dip 1-2 inches of a lollipop stick into the chocolate and then into the cake ball. Repeat for all of the cake balls. Put the cake balls in the refrigerator/freezer for 30 minutes to set. (You can skip this step, but it makes it much easier to cover in chocolate when the pops are frozen and not falling off the sticks.)

6. Take the cake pops out of the freezer. Melt colored chocolate melts for your cake pop coating. I choose white for skeleton and ghost pops, and orange for jack-o-lantern pops. Hold each cake pop by the stick and dip into the chocolate making sure to coat all sides. Place back on wax paper to harden.

7. After coating each cake pop, place chocolate melts you will be using to decorate with in a zip top baggie and microwave in 30 second intervals. Zip close the top of the baggie when melted, cut off the tip, and pipe the decorations onto the cake pops. If chocolate begins to harden put back in the microwave for 15 seconds. Let the cake pops harden for 15 minutes and then enjoy.

Coolest House on the Block sponsered by Snickers!

     Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I like to dress up, I like handing out candy, and I love seeing the kids all dressed up and excited for the holiday. As an elementary school teacher, I’ve had to hear for the last 20-something days how Halloween is this month and listen to 100 different costume changes.

     So when I received an e-mail from SheSpeaks telling me that I would be getting a package to make my house the “Coolest House on the Block” for Halloween I was super excited! I couldn’t wait for my package to arrive. I tracked it online and it finally came on Friday. The box was huge and was so heavy I had to have my husband help me carry it.

     I could barely get it on the table before I started tearing it open. Imagine my surprise when I found over 20 bags of fun sized Snickers bars! It turns out that Snickers is sponsoring the Coolest House on the Block and because of that I received many fun size bags of NEW Snickers Peanut Butter Squares! They won’t be available in stores until winter of 2010 but a select numbers of people have been chosen to hand them out ahead of time for Halloween! I am so excited to be one of these people!

     In addition to all the bags of Snickers (both the peanut butter and the original) SheSpeaks and Snickers hooked me up with door decals, caution tape, a fog machine, mix for the fog machine, a strobe light, and a HUGE sign telling everyone that I’m handing out the new Snickers candy! It’s everything I need in order to decorate both my house and my classroom for Halloween.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes with Caramel Icing

     This was the first challenge for the What’s Baking? baker’s challenge. The challenge put forth was to create a fall themed cupcake. I immediately thought of either apple or pumpkin. After thinking on it, I decided to expand upon the apple cupcakes I made last week and make them into caramel apple cupcakes. I figured I could then do a caramel butter cream frosting for on top.

     I was watching Sandra Lee on TV the other day and she did a cupcake where she put most of the batter in the cups, then poured in the sweeter batter and did a swirl with it to incorporate it into the cupcake. I decided to do this with my apple cupcakes. I made them with a caramel swirl in them and then topped them off with the caramel buttercream frosting. The frosting is to die for. It is sweet, thick, and oh so full of caramel. I think it’s what makes the cupcake.

     To top it off I made marshmallow fondant apples to put on each one. The end result was a cute cupcake that tastes good and reminds me of fall.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

2 c. flour
2 t. cinnamon

1 t. baking soda

½ t. baking powder
½ t. salt
1 egg
1 egg white
½ c. brown sugar
½ c. sugar
½ c. butter
½ c. applesauce
1 t. vanilla
2 large apples-peeled, cored, and chopped
2 T. milk
1/3 c. caramel sauce (I used Hershey’s caramel syrup)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl mix the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl cream the butter, sugars, and applesauce. Add in the egg and egg white. Mix well. Add in the vanilla. Carefully stir in the dry ingredients and mix well. Add in the milk to make the mixture a little easier to stir.

4. Take 2/3 cup of the batter and put it in a small bowl. Mix in the caramel sauce. Meanwhile, add in the apples to the large bowl of batter and mix until combined.

5. Fill 18 muffin cups ½ full with the apple batter. Put a spoonful of the caramel batter on top of each. Take a knife and pulling from the bottom, swirl the two batters together.

6. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until the tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Caramel Buttercream Frosting

¼ c. butter
¼ c. caramel sauce
1 t. vanilla
1 ½-2 c. powdered sugar

1. In a medium bowl mix the butter, caramel, and vanilla until well blended. Slowly stir in the powdered sugar until the frosting is thick and holds it’s shape. Spread onto the cupcakes.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Blondies

     I get on these kicks where I am in the mood for a certain ingredient and then for the next week or two I make a bunch of recipes using that ingredient. So when I went to Martin’s this weekend to grocery shop and saw that they had the big cans of pumpkin, I was excited. Nothing says October and fall more then pumpkin and I’ve been collecting a ton of pumpkin recipes over the past month. I bought two large cans of pumpkin thinking that this would allow me to make 3 of the recipes I’ve been dying to try and also allow me to try a few of my own.
     The first one I wanted to make was the White Chocolate Pumpkin Blondies. I am a huge fan of Blondies. I like the fact that they have the texture similar to a brownie, but none of the chocolate flavor (I’m not big on chocolate cake). When I told my husband what I was making he wanted to know exactly what a blondie was. I explained it to him but he still didn’t get it. However, that didn’t deter him from asking all night when I was going to be making the blondies.

     I checked out the recipe and made some adjustments to it before I began. The recipe was fairly simple to make though it didn’t look every appetizing while I was mixing it together. Once I poured it in the pan and popped it into the oven our mouths started watering. The cooking blondies smelled like butter and spices. When I took them out of the oven I set the entire pan on two wire racks to let them cool.

     After about 15 minutes I transferred the semi-cooled blondies onto a cutting board using the foil. I had a little trouble peeling off the foil. The one side of the blondies crumbled apart but the rest looked good. I let them cool for another 5 minutes after taking off the foil before I cut them. When I brought one out on a plate for my husband to try he looked at it and said, “Oh! It’s like a brownie!” Yep, that’s right, it’s a blond brownie looking treat.

     The blondies were out of this world. They had a cake like texture and an amazing flavor. I could really taste the butter, pumpkin, spices, and the white chocolate. In fact, some of the white chocolate chips had burst on top and made a thin white chocolate glaze on the tops. They were amazing. I took half of them to work so that Frank and I wouldn’t eat them all. They were gone before lunch. The half we kept at home were gone the next day. This recipe is a clear winner that I’ll be making again before the end of October.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Blondies (adapted from Erin's Food Files  )

2 ¼ c. all purpose flour
1 T. pumpkin pie spice
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
½ c. butter (1 stick) at room temperature
½ c. applesauce
¾ c. sugar
½ c. light brown sugar
1 egg
2 t. vanilla
¾ c. pumpkin puree
1 c. white chocolate chips


1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 baking dish with foil, leaving an overhang on all sides.

2. In a medium bowl mix the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl cream the butter, applesauce, and sugars. Beat until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined. Mix in the pumpkin puree (the mixture may look curdled).

4. Slowly mix the dry ingredient into the wet ingredients until just combined. Fold in the white chocolate chips.

5. Spread the batter evenly into prepared pan. Bake 35-40 minutes or until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick comes out clean. Take out of the oven and cool completely in the pan.

6. Lift the cake from the pan using the foil. Peel off the foil and use a serrated knife to cut into squares.

First Attempt with Royal Icing-Halloween Sugar Cookies!

     I’ve been busy making Halloween treat bags for my students. While I was making them I decided to make one for each of my three little cousins. After I made the treat bags I decided to go ahead and make them each a Halloween box to send in the mail. While Johnna and Peyton enjoy Halloween, Greggy takes after me and LOVES Halloween. I was excited to pick up little treats from Wal-Mart to include in the packages but wanted to send something homemade as well.

     Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of cookies decorated with royal icing. I’ve never used royal icing before but I was anxious to try it out. I decided to make the kids Halloween sugar cookies and decorate them with the royal icing. I had cookie cutters in the shapes of a black cat, a ghost, a pumpkin, and a gingerbread man. I know what you are thinking. Who makes a gingerbread man on Halloween? I knew that with icing I could make it look like a skeleton so I went with it.

     Sugar cookies are something I make often, so they were super easy to make. I had just picked up some icing dye in Halloween colors and was excited to use it. I made a batch of royal icing and divided it into 4 small bowls. I left one white and colored the others black, orange, and green.

     The icing was a little runny so I added more powdered sugar then was called for. I put half of each bowl of icing into zip top bags and piped it onto the cookies. I had so much fun doing it and the results were awesome! The icing hardened and looked great on the cookies. I hope my cousins enjoy the cookies as much as I enjoyed making them.

Simple Sugar Cookies

2 ½ c. flour
¼ t. salt
¾ c. butter at room temperature
¾ c. sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla

1. In a medium bowl mix together the flour and salt.

2. In another bowl beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Slowly add in the flour mixture.

3. Shape into a ball. Divide in half, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

4. Heat the over to 350 degrees. Roll out one dough half on a floured surface to around ¼” thick. Cut out shapes with cookie cuts. Reserve scraps and roll out dough again.

5. Place cookies on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until brown at the edges. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Royal Icing  (from Joy of Baking)

3-4 c. powdered sugar

2 egg whites

2 t. lemon juice (about half a lemon)

1 t. extract (almond, vanilla, etc.) optional

1. In a bowl beat egg whites until frothy. Add in the lemon juice and extract (if desired) and mix well. Slowly add in the powdered sugar until mixture is thick. Tint icing and put in a piping bag to ice cookies.

Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Glaze

     So yesterday I used some more of my six pounds of apples to make apple muffins. They were perfect for breakfast but now that it’s the weekend I’m looking for something sweeter. Immediately cupcakes come to mind. I wanted to make an apple cinnamon cupcake with a sweet frosting on top. Looking through some recipes online I came across a brown sugar glaze that sounded like it would be perfect to go on top of my cupcakes.
     The recipe for the cupcakes is similar to the muffins but there are differences. For starters there is more sugar in the cupcakes and more flour. I baked them up and they smelled divine. While they were in the oven I mixed up the brown sugar glaze. Even after sitting it was still runny so I added some powdered sugar to it which made it the perfect consistency.

     I’d like to say that I could have eaten the entire pan of glaze. I’m not kidding it was like a warm, sweet caramel. The sweetness of this glaze was perfect with the sourness of the granny smith apples in the cupcakes. I ate two as soon as I glazed them and I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop myself from eating them all by the end of the weekend. Of course, I think I could dump this glaze on just about anything and I’d eat it.

     Sadly, I used the end of my six pounds of apples on this recipe. It’s been a good apple baking week in our household and the next time I’m down near the Fruit Bowl, I’ll make sure to pick up another large load of apples. Next time I’ll switch up the types of apples, as I’d like to try a few different ones in some recipes I have sitting on my dresser just waiting to be made.

Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Glaze

2 c. all purpose flour
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
½ t. baking powder
½ t. salt
1 large egg
½ c. brown sugar
½ c. white sugar
½ c. low fat sour cream
6 T. butter
1 t. vanilla
½ c. sweetened applesauce
3 apples peeled and cored: 1 diced and 2 grated
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

3. In a large bowl cream the butter, sour cream, and sugars. Add in the applesauce and egg and beat well. Stir in the vanilla.

4. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Stir until well combined. Add the diced and grated apples and stir well.

5. Pour mixture into muffin tins about ¾ full. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until tops are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes then glaze.

Brown Sugar Glaze (from Vintage Victuals)

½ stick butter
½ c. packed light brown sugar
1 T. milk
2 T. powdered sugar

    1. Put the butter, brown sugar, and milk into a small saucepan. Stir until melted. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat. Allow to boil for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar. All to cool for 20 minutes to thicken. Pour onto apple cupcakes.

Apple Nut Muffins

    I’m still working on the six pounds of apples that I bought at the Fruit Bowl this past week. The applesauce was scrumptious, but now I was in the mood for something more substantial. I’m a teacher so I normally work 8-3:30 everyday, but today is parent-teacher conference day so my schedule is 11-7. This worked out well for me because it gave me some time to come up with a breakfast recipe that included apples.


    When I think breakfast and apples I immediately think muffins. They are easy to make and really good in the mornings or for a snack. I decided to make a simple apple cinnamon muffin with sour cream to make it moister. I chopped one apple and grated another to give the muffins a few chunks but to also add apple flavor to the muffins.

    The muffins turned out well. They were not too sweet (which is perfect for breakfast), and they had a great apple flavor to them. After making them I realized I had some dried cranberries in the cupboard. I think adding a half a cup of cranberries to the muffins would have made a nice harvest muffin for fall. I’m thinking I might make another batch using the cranberries.

Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Muffins

1 ¾ c. flour
1 t. cinnamon
½ t. nutmeg
1 t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 egg
½ c. firmly packed brown sugar
¼ c. white sugar
1/3 c. low fat sour cream
½ c. applesauce
¼ c. butter
1 t. vanilla
2 medium apples (I used Gala) peeled and cored: 1 diced, 1 grated
½ c. coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a large bowl cream the butter, sour cream, and sugars. Add the applesauce and vanilla and stir until it’s well combined. Mix in the egg.

4. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients a little at a time until well combined. Stir in the apples and nuts.

5. Divide the batter into 12 muffin cups. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Warm Apple Crisp

     There is nothing better on a chilly fall night then a warm bowl of apple crisp. Since I happen to have around 4 ½ pounds of apples left I figured I’d make this treat for my husband and I. I have tried many versions of apple crisp over the years. Some of them have been dry, others have had a topping that wasn’t the greatest, and some have been pretty yummy. I hoped that having made so many different versions of the crisp that I could use what I’ve learned and make the best apple crisp yet.


     I started with two different types of apples. I used Granny Smith apples which are tart and Gala apples which are sweeter. I cut, peeled, and sliced the apples. Then I placed one Granny Smith apple on the bottom and layer one Gala apple on top of it. I then put on a layer of sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. I thought this might help to make the apple crisp moist and more flavorful. Then I layered the other two apples on top. I finished off with a very simple crumb topping.

     The result was amazing! The apples had softened and combined with the spices and lemon juice to make a moist apple bottom on top of which was a buttery crisp topping. It tasted and smelled like fall. My husband asked if we could just eat apple crisp for dinner. Of course I agreed! The only thing that could have made it better would have been a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Apple Crisp (by me!)

4 medium apples-peeled, cored, and sliced thin (I used Granny Smith and Gala)
2 t. cinnamon
2 t. nutmeg
1 lemon
2 T. sugar

Topping:
½ c. brown sugar
½ c. flour
½ c. oats
4 T. butter, chilled

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 11 x 7 baking pan (or 9 x 9) with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Layer two of the apples in the pan. Cut the lemon in half and use the juice of ½ of the lemon to cover the apples in the baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 t. cinnamon, 1 t. nutmeg, and 1 T. sugar.

3. Layer the remaining two apples on top of the sugar. Sprinkle the remaining ½ of the lemon’s juice on top of the apples and sprinkle the remaining cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar on top.

4. In a small bowl combine the brown sugar, flour, and oats. Blend the butter with a pastry blender or 2 forks until it is crumbly. Sprinkle on top of the apples to cover the entire top. Bake 20-25 minutes or until the top begins to brown.

Crock-Pot Applesauce

     This week all of my recipes have apples in them.  When I think fall I think of apples and pumpkins and have been on a huge fall kick.  I just bought a ton of apples and will be using them throughout the week.

     I was out yard sailing on Saturday as I do most Saturday mornings. I hadn’t had a lot of luck and was tiring quickly. I was in Cumberland, which is about 20 minutes from my house, when I passed the Fruit Bowl. The Fruit Bowl is our local fruit and vegetable market. I don’t get down there to often because it’s in an inconvenient location but the fruits and veggies are great and the price is usually better then at the market.


     When I walked in the door the first thing that greeted me was a huge display of apples. I’ve been in a fall mood for the past two weeks so I went to see what the price was. Turns out they were baking apples and were on sale for 59 cents a pound! I promptly chose three pounds of Gala apples and three pounds of Granny Smiths. I had no clue what I was going to do with them, but I figured I think about that later.

     After asking some of the ladies on the What’s Cooking? board on The Nest for some apple recipe suggestions, I came out with three recipes I couldn’t wait to try. The one I was most excited to try was the crock-pot applesauce. I love applesauce, especially when it’s warm and has a hint of cinnamon to it.

     I got home from Zumba around 8:00 and after taking a shower I had a craving for applesauce. It was pouring down rain and cold outside, so I thought the hot applesauce would be perfect for breakfast. I peeled the apples then used my apple slicer to slice and core the apples. This made it so much easier and faster then doing it by hand.

     I got it all together and in the crock-pot at 10:00pm. The mouth-watering aroma of apples and cinnamon woke me up at 4:30 am. My alarm was set for 6:00am so I just got up and checked on the applesauce.

     It looked so good! It smelled heavenly. Seriously-it smelled like warm apple pie in my kitchen. I couldn’t wait to try it so I had a bowl at 5 o’clock! It tasted as good as it looked. The applesauce was warm with a light sweetness and had undertones of cinnamon. It’s the perfect breakfast dish for a cold, rainy morning. My husband was talking about adding it to his oatmeal when I was walking out the door for work, and he doesn't even like applesauce.  He did however, eat a bowl of this homemade applesauce this morning and really enjoyed it.


Crock-Pot Applesauce (adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking)

6 large apples, skinned, cored, and cut into 8 pieces (I used 3 Granny Smiths and 3 Galas)
Juice of 2 lemons (I used about 1 ½ lemons because they were juicy)
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. vanilla
3T. brown sugar
¾ c. water

1. Skin, core, and cut the apples into eighths. Put the pieces into the crock-pot. Add the juice of the lemons and the water. Pour in the vanilla. Add the cinnamon and sprinkle the brown sugar on top.

2. Stir just to combine the ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. When the apples are super tender, mash with a potato masher or a large fork.

**Note: I cooked the apples for 6 hours on low then mashed them. I then sprinkled another tablespoon of brown sugar and a pinch of cinnamon on top of the applesauce and cooked for an additional hour. It was fabulous!