Apple Toffee Blondes

Truthfully, I have never really been a "fall person." While it certainly brings good things like football, it always hinted at the horrible, un-named season that follows. One of the reasons that we live in Arizona is that neither of us does cold well. 

Nonetheless, fall is a little different down here. The color of the leaves on the trees don't ever change (at least seasonally). I still wear shorts whenever I am not at work, and our weather change means we may not quite hit 100 degrees everyday (for a couple months anyway). While I really don't mind the heat, I am ready for the change. October weather here is beautiful, and I am looking forward to doing a little fall baking once my darn test is over!

I actually made these bars with my mother back in March when I was visiting. I've been saving the recipe/pictures since then because apple baking always reminds me of fall. The recipe comes from Shelly at Cookies & Cups. I haven't done any "official" fall baking yet this year, and in re-looking at these pictures, I am thinking I may have to make these again.

When we made these, Mom and I added 2 apples to use up the ones she had in the fridge. I wouldn't recommend this as there were just too many pieces of apple in the bars. The other thing that we did that I wouldn't recommend is that we prepared the frosting ahead of time. The brown sugar frosting sets quickly, and it is much easier to spread (and looks much nicer) if the bars are cool and ready to frost when you make it. 

Despite the scrappy looking frosting, the bars were really good. If you hadn't guessed from the toffee and the frosting, these bars are definitely really rich! Nonetheless, they are a fun and delicious introduction to fall as we change seasons in just a few days. Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Apple Toffee Blondes
From Cookies & Cups

Ingredients:
2/3 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup peeled, chopped Granny Smith apple (1 medium)
1/2 cup toffee bits

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup milk
2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch pan with non-stick spray.

Cream 2/3 cup butter and 2 cups brown sugar together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Mix in vanilla. Mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stirring until just combined. Fold in the apple pieces and toffee bits until well distributed. Spread in the baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the center appears set. Cool completely before frosting.

Once the bars are cool, melt 1/2 cup butter in a medium saucepan. Add the brown sugar and milk. Bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for approximately 5 minutes. Stir in powdered sugar with a whisk. Frost the bars immediately. Let the frosting set completely before cutting into bars.

Mom's Banana Apple Bread

Continuing on with my topic of types of food we have way too much of... browned bananas. At last count, the number of too brown bananas hanging out in my freezer was north of 15, and I haven't counted recently :)

In all seriousness, bananas are something we almost always keep in the house as I'll eat them everyday for breakfast when we have them. My problem? I like them green. As long as I can get the peel off, I'll eat them. One spot and they're sitting on the shelf waiting for banana bread, and one thing that I have learned since moving is that bananas ripen much faster here!

I have had my eye on this banana bread in The Sweet Melissa Baking Book since before I joined the baking group. The group made it before I was a member, and I remember thinking that this was a recipe that I definitely needed to make to "catch up." The opportunity presented itself to make this bread over the holidays while my in-laws were here, so I finally got to using up (at least a couple) of those bananas.

This banana bread recipe takes the twist of first caramelizing a couple chopped apples in brown sugar and butter before mixing them into the batter. I feel like we didn't necessary taste the apples themselves in the finished loaf, but they definitely helped keep the loaf really moist, even for a couple of days. Banana bread is one of those things where I can't seem to commit to a recipe, making a different one almost every time, but this is a recipe I'm sure we'll make again. Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Mom's Apple Banana Bread
From The Sweet Melissa Baking Book

Ingredients:
For the apples:
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
3 Tbsp. firmly packed brown sugar
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the banana bread:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups ripe mashed bananas (2 to 3)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 1-1/2 quart loaf pan. Set aside.

To make the apples, preheat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter and brown sugar and heat until bubbling. Add the apples and cinnamon and saute until golden and tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the vanilla. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

For the banana bread, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 

In a small bowl, combine the orange juice and vanilla. 

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three batches, alternating with the orange juice mixture, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Stir in the mashed bananas until combined. Then stir in the reserved apples.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes before removing from the pan to cool on the rack further.

Cinnamon-Apple Chex Mix

I realize that I am suppose to be studying right now, but there is only so long that one can read legal statues without a break. One down and one to go. I am wishing that the test was sooner and that I had more time to study at the same time. During my break, I thought I post a quick recipe that would be great for a snack, potluck, or basically any gathering to which you would bring food along. I know I would certainly welcome some right now as I sit here amongst my mountains of papers and highlighters :)

In reality we made this recipe for no reason at all (other than to have at home) because my husband found Chex on sale at the grocery store. It probably cannot be classified into the "healthiest" snack in the world, but it is fun to have around as a sweeter snack every once and awhile. We've made it a couple of times now, and it is definitely something that is a hit here. Enjoy!

(Printable Recipe)

Cinnamon-Apple Chex Mix
Found on allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
5 cups wheat Chex
1 cup lightly salted almonds
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup dried apples, cut in halves or thirds
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt-covered raisins

In a large microwavable bowl, mix the cereal and almonds. Set aside.

In a 2-cup microwavable measuring cup, melt the butter in the microwave (cover the cup with a paper towel to avoid any explosions). Add brown sugar, corn syrup, and cinnamon and microwave uncovered on high about 2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute, until the mixture is boiling; stir. Pour over the cereal mixture, stirring until evenly coated. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Stir in apples; microwave on high for 2 minutes or until apples just begin to brown on the edges.

Spread on waxed paper or foil to cool, about 15 minutes. Place in a serving bowl, stir in yogurt-covered raisins. Store in an airtight container.

Slow Cooker Chunky Cinnamon Applesauce

Well, as much as I would like to protest it, I think fall is officially here. It's not the idea of fall so much that I don't like, but the eminent progress to winter that makes it rather detestable. Nonetheless, fall does bring some of my favorite things with it - football, apples, and cinnamon (in no particular order). My husband can attest to my love of cinnamon. I buy it in the big container that probably has over a cup of cinnamon and still go through a couple of those bottles a year...

It has actually been almost a year since I saw this on Maria's blog, Two Peas and Their Pod. She adapted it from a recipe from the Cookin' Canuck which has a little bit more sugar. Between combining a couple of my favorite ingredients and being extremely easy, I knew it would be good. I also mix some applesauce into my oatmeal almost every morning, so I knew that it would go to good use. 

While Maria used a combination of different apples in her applesauce, I'm not exactly sure what type my apples were since we had gotten them from a local farm - and I forgot to ask. I do know that they tended to be more on the tart side and seemed destined for some form of baking. =) 

I can't tell you that this was the best thing I've ever eaten since it was just applesauce, but as far as applesauce goes, it was pretty good. It's definitely a great way to use up some apples if you have a few too many around, and besides, sometimes it's just nice to know exactly what went into what you are eating. Enjoy and please excuse the pictures. Turns out applesauce is not the easiest thing to photograph =)

(Printable Recipe) 

Slow Cooker Chunky Cinnamon Applesauce
Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod and Cookin' Canuck

Ingredients:
7 medium apples, variety of your choice, peeled, cored, quartered, and sliced
fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/3 c. water

Place all of the apple pieces in a large bowl. Squeeze the fresh lemon juice over the apples and stir. Add the sugar and cinnamon. Mix well.

Pour the water into the bottom of a large crockpot and add the apples. Cover with the lid and turn the slow cooker on. Cook for about 8 hours on low or on high for 5 hours, stirring occasionally. If you want smoother applesauce, puree in a food processor or blender. An immersion blender would also work well. The applesauce will keep well in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Alternatively, it can be frozen.

Yield: approximately 4 cups of applesauce

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies and My 50th Post

It seems like I have been about all things apple this fall. We did buy a 36 lb. box of apples recently, but I can't completely blame my tendencies on that since we bought a large box of apples last year as well. Nonetheless, apples make WONDERFUL desserts in my opinion, so I'm not complaining.

Being able to make these cookies was a great surprise. I saw this recipe a couple of weeks ago here on Two Peas and Their Pod and had been on a hunt for the elusive Hershey's cinnamon chips ever since. I even had called my mother to see if she could find any back in my home town. No cinnamon chips. Well, the other day I stopped by a grocery store that I don't usually go to because I needed to make apple bars for my husband to take on his "man trip" but had no eggs at home.  I decided to swing down the baking isle to check for the chips, "just in case." Sure enough, there they were. Three bags later I had supplies to make my cookies (don't worry - only 1 bag was used in the cookies).  In addition to finding the cinnamon chips, this is my 50th blog post (woohoo!), so this is just a good post overall!!

Look at all the chunks of apple in the dough! Yummy!

I did use quick cooking oats in the cookies. It's all I had in the house.  They worked fine, but I did need to add maybe another 1/2 c. to make the dough a little less sticky. This is definately not dough that you can roll into balls in your hands. Use a spoon or a scoop and don't worry. The cookies will turn out fine!

The chips weren't much by themselves (yes, I did eat a few out of the bag), but they were amazing in the cookeis! My husband is on rotation out of town for the next 2 weeks still, so I brough these to school the next day to share with my classmates. If nothing else, I thought I could bring the rest to work for them to enjoy there. Unfortunately, my co-workers didn't get to try any because my classmates ate them all. Oh well, just an excuse to make them again =-) Now that I have the chips, I'm going to have to make all the other recipes I have been filing... cinnamon chip snickerdoodle bars here I come!

(Printable Version)

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies- adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

2-1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
8 Tbsp. butter, at room temperature
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. unsweetened applesauce
2 tart apples, diced and unpeeled
2-1/2 c. oats (add 1/2 c. if using quick cooking)
1 bag Hershey's cinnamon chips


Preheat the oven 350 degrees. In a large bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Whisk until combined. Set aside.

 
In the bowl of a mixer, combine the butters and sugar until smooth. Add in the egg and vanilla. Mix until combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Slowly add the flour mixture and stir by hand until just combined. Do not over mix. Stir in oats and cinnamon chips.
 
Drop rounded tablespoons of cookie dough onto the cookie sheet. Place the cookies 2-inches apart. Bake for 10-12 mintues. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes. When set, transfer them to a cooling rack.

Apple Spice Bars

My husband and I really love all things apple. We almost always have fresh apples in the house and have even put them as a topping on pizza! As the season has been shifting to fall, I saw these bars floating around the blog world and knew that we had to try them.  Not only did these bars sound amazing, but I have a 35 lb. box of apples sitting in my pantry from one of the local markets.

These bars didn't disappoint. The pieces in the picture are actually quite small because that is all that was left to photograph. My husband raided the bars to take some into work this past weekend, and they certainly didn't last long even with a smaller weekend crew.

The bars are very soft lending themselves to almost more of a cake than a cookie. You can't carry one around very well, but that's part of what makes them so good. I already have another request to make them again for a group of my husband's friends that are heading out for a "guys weekend" this upcoming weekend. Enjoy!

(Printable Version)

Apple Spice Bars - adapted from Good Things Catered

2 c. plus 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 c. butter, melted

1 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. white sugar

2 eggs

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

2 apples skin on, cored and diced (a little less than 2 c.)

cinnamon-sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk to combine and set aside.

In a bowl of a stand mixer, combine butters and sugars and beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well to combine. Add vanilla extract and beat to combine. Turn mixer on slow and fold in flour mixture a little at a time until just combined. Fold in apples.

Spread mixture evenly in prepared pan. Sprinkle top generously with cinnamon-sugar. Place in oven and bake until cooked through, when top slightly bounces back to the touch, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before removing from pan, cutting, and serving (bars will be soft).