Grandma's Apple Crisp Pie {CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE}

Welcome to the all NEW and IMPROVED - CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE
October Challenge - APPLE PIE

We are in our second month of our second year of the CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE, you can read all about it and join in next month (it may be too late to make an Apple Pie for today, but you never know, some people are crazy cooks like me and can whip one out in no time at all.) But, for those of you who read about the challenge last month and are prepared to share your Apple Pie with us today, we are SO excited to see what you made.

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For those of you who have already participated this past year, you know how this is done, check out the NEW & IMPROVED information here. If you are new here come on over and check out how to jump on board this wild and crazy, CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE. You can read all the details and get all the codes for you to link up, join in and get this great linky party added to your CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE post.

Last month we made Ranch Dressing and next month we will be doing Stuffing Recipes (like Turkey Stuffing or some call it Dressing), ya know that stuff we all have on Thanksgiving day. But today it's all about apples and Apple Pie.

So, after another great day of fresh Apple Picking with a couple of friends (actually one of them are my twins girl friends, but since their away at college, I just steal their friends and call them my own). Nikki, Kristina and I had an awesome day picking apples, raspberries and then came home to bake all day.

Everyone who wishes to join in on this challenge, all you need to do is add the CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE BUTTON (grab the code above) and make sure your Apple Pie includes the BLOG HOP Linky Party (code is below the linky party, click on BLOG HOP CODE) or you wont be able to link up. We hope you join us in this CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE....

Just an FYI - CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE is always on the 7th of every month and will post at MIDNIGHT. Here is a SNEAK PEAK for the next couple of months, so everyone can think ahead and be prepared for the themes.

November 7, 2012 - STUFFING Recipes (dressing)
December 7, 2012 - PERFECT SUGAR COOKIE
January 7, 2013 - FRENCH TOAST

I have been practicing all week with Apple Pies (the first one we made was this Dutch Apple Pie, it was SO GOOD I am not sure I can top it, but it was for the SRC and is already posted on my blog), so I keep trying to come up with an even bigger and better Apple Pie recipe. With one failed attempt, my husband suggested I call his mom (ya, don't ya love that). It's okay, I actually don't mind, she is a great cook and is more like a grandmother to me then my mother-in-law.

I called my mother-in-law and said her son said she made apple pie all the time when he was little and could I have her recipe. She had no idea what he was talking about (funny!). She is almost 80 years old but her memory is perfect and my husband is 51 years old, so between the both of them, who knows, she did say that she use to make apple crisp all the time. She found the recipe and now I've got it. YEAH for me, another family recipe passed down. The challenge though was for Apple Pie, so my brain went to work and the creation began, apple crisp turned into a beautiful Apple Crisp Pie.

Apple Crisp Pie
adapted by me, given to me by my mother-in-law Charlotte

Pastry Crust (from the Dutch Apple Pie)
1-1/4 cups plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp butter, chilled and diced
5 tbsp ice water
1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp sugar (mix together)

Apple Pie Filling & Crumb Topping
4 cups sliced apples
1/4 cup hot water (or fresh apple cider)
1/2 cup butter (extra butter for bottom of crust)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar

vanilla ice cream
caramel syrup, drizzle

For the crust, in a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the cold diced butter over the dry ingredients, mix with a pantry knife, working the butter into the mixture, until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add in 5 tbsp water (more if needed) using the pastry knife or a fork incorporate it until the dough will hold together, without being too sticky. Flatten the dough into a round disk, and sandwich in between two pieces of wax paper, roll out into the desired shape (round) that will fit into your baking pie dish. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Transfer the dough to the round pie dish and press into the base and over the top of the edges of the dish. Trim the edges to extend 1/2 an inch over the lip of the dish. Mix together the 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of sugar and then sprinkle on pie crust. Place the dish into the freezer for 30 minutes until very firm and cold. Place the oven rack on the lower middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Arrange the apple slices into the cinnamon pie crust. Pour water (or apple cider) over the apples.  Cream together with a pastry knife the butter, flour and sugar to form crumbs.

Bake in a hot oven at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes, then raise oven to 400 degrees and bake for an additional 25 minutes, until top is brown and apples begin to crisp. Serve with vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel syrup.

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Caramel Apple Dip - IMPROVED {THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS LINKY PARTY #100}

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS has changed, you can now link up ANY recipe you'd like. Come one, Come all. NO rules, NO requirements, just link up any recipe (or food related craft items) and hop around to visit all the great recipes.

I have always loved my apple dip that originally came from a Pampered Chef cookbook long long ago, but lately my friend has been making this great apple dip and so I thought I'd give it a try. It's actually almost exactly like mine, see original recipe here, but even better.

Caramel Apple Dip

idea from my friend Joleen, adapted by me, original idea from Pampered Chef

8 oz package cream cheese

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans (or use your favorite kind of nuts)
Caramel Ice Cream Topping
Heath Bar Crunch Topping (found in the baking isle)
Apple Slices (soak in Pineapple Juice)

In a small mixing bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla beat until smooth. Add in pecans and beat until combined. Transfer to a serving bowl and then cover the top with Heath Crunch Bar and drizzle with lots of caramel on top.

Core and cut apples slices into wedges and then soak in pineapple juice. You can remove apples and serve on a platter with the dip and the apples will not go brown.

Perfect dip for my fresh picked apples from Oak Glen, it's apple picking season and I LOVE IT!

THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS has changed, you can now link up ANY recipe you'd like. Come one, Come all. NO rules, NO requirements, just link up any recipes (or food related craft items) and hop around to visit all the great recipes.

If you are a regular to THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS Linky party, then link-up we're excited to see what you made this week. We are no longer sticking with ONE theme, so just link up any of your favorite recipes. 

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Your hostess for this linky arty are: Tina from MOMS CRAZY COOKING, Nicole from The Daily Dish and Kristi from Veggie Converter.

THE LINKY PARTY is opened ALL Week, come back and link up as many times as you wish, we can't wait to see all your fun and new recipes you made this week!

Dutch Apple Pie {SECRET RECIPE CLUB}

My first Apple Pie BAKED, BLOGGED and DEVOURED, my friends said "I don't even like apple pie and this was the best apple pie I've ever had". Yes, we all loved it. Good thing I had this practice run, because I am doing an Apple Pie Challenge next month with my group CRAZY COOKING CHALLENGE (come check it out, it's easy to join in). I was a little scared since I had never ever even attempted to make an apple pie and now that this one came out so delicious, I don't know if I can top it, but I've already got another recipe in the making as I write this post.

But today, I am sharing this Dutch Apple Pie for the SECRET RECIPE CLUB. The blog I was given is all the way from the East Coast of Australia. So, crazy to meet people all over the world from this little thing we do called blogging. It's an amazing experience and I loved reading all about her life on her little piece of the Internet she calls Lick the Spoon.

Here we go with my 17th post for the Secret Recipe Club; Group C .

I picked out a handful of recipes from her blog that I can't wait to try. I think I will be making these M&M brownies later this week and these Millionaires Nuggets are for sure at the top of my list, you can check out all the recipes I pinned from her blog here on my Pin Board.

What was the most fun about this recipe is that it's the middle of September, which is usually when it begins to cool down a bit. I've already been apple picking this season which is suppose to be our fall weather and well this week in Southern California we hit record highs of 104 degrees outside. Apple Pie, is probably not the first thing you'd pick in this hot weather, but I was determined. I had a few friends over to escpape the heat and swim in our pool. It was really funny that I served hot apple pie with vanilla ice cream pool sid, not something you see everyday, but they loved it.

Dutch Apple Pie

adapted by me, original recipe found at Lick The Spoon

Pastry
1-1/4 cups plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp butter, chilled and diced
5 tbsp ice water

Apple Filling
4 to 8 apples (4 large or 8 small; we used 2 Empire, 2 Glen, 2 Johnagold, 2 Gala) 
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Crumble
1-1/4 cups plain flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
6 tbsp butter, melted

Icing (we skipped the icing & topped with vanilla ice cream)
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp water

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the cold diced butter over the dry ingredients, mix with a pantry knife, working the butter into the mixture, until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add in 5 tbsp water (more if needed) using the pastry knife or a fork incorporate it until the dough will hold together, without being too sticky. Flatten the dough into a round disk, and sandwich in between two pieces of wax paper, roll out into the desired shape (round) that will fir into your baking pie dish. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Transfer the dough tto he round pie dish and press into the base and over the top of the edges of the dish. Trim the edges to extend 1/2 an inch over the lip of the dish. Place the dish into the freezer for 30 minutes until very firm and cold. Place the oven rack on the lower middle position and heat the oven to  350 degrees. Make sure to cut a piece of foil big enough to cover the pastry and then bake for 25 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove the pie dish from the oven. 

While crust is cooking you can prepare the apple filling. Peel the apples and core them (I love my handy dandy Pampered Chef apple peeler and corer, It's AWESOME!), then cut each apple into thin slices (if you don't have this slicer) and add them to the lemon juice as you are cutting them so they do not brown. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt to the apples and set aside.

Heat the 2 tbsp of butter in a large saucepan until bubbling. Add the apples and cook at medium high heat for about 10 minutes until they begin to soften (yet still hold some shape). Using a colander over a bowl and drain all of the butter juice from the apples, transfer the apples and shake to drain the excess juices into the bowl.

Transfer the juices back into the sauce pan and add the heavy whipping cream. Cook this mixture, stirring occasionally until it thickens, about 6 - 10 minutes. 

While cream sauce is cooking add in the apples to the pie shell, when the sauce is finished pour hot syrup over the apples.

Lastly, combine the crumble ingredients, the flour and both sugars. Drizzle the melted butter into the mixture and crumble with a fork until it's well combined and the mixture resembles crumbs. Sprinkle this crumble over the apple mixture.

Up the heat in the oven to 375 degrees and return the pie to the oven to finish cooking. My oven took about 40 minutes. You want the apple pie to be hot and bubbly and the crumble mixture to be crispy on top. I covered the outer edges of the pie (the crust) with foil so that the crust did not burn.

Remove from the oven and cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. It will still be pipping hot. We (forgot) the icing, but didn't even miss it with the delicious vanilla ice cream on top.

If you wish to make the icing, combine the powered sugar and water together until you make a paste. You can drizzle this on with a fork or put into a ziploc bag and cut the corner off to drizzle.

Here is a list of my past Secret Recipe Club recipes:

• Blueberry Muffins (Gluten-Free)
• Bean Roll-Up (extra post)
• Cucumber Salad
• Raspberry & Nutella Pizza (extra post)
• Pioneer Woman's Chicken Pot Pie 
• Frozen Breakfast Burritos
• Pink Pearl Applesauce (crock-pot)
• Peanut Butter Marshmallow Cake (extra post)
• Cake Mix Cinnamon Chip Brownies
• Sweet and Smokey Roasted Cauliflower
• Cheesy Bacon Ranch Dip
• Trail Mix Cookies
• Creamy Noodles
• German Chocolate Cracker Candy
• Brownie Trifle
• Raspberry Greek Breakfast Parfait

Apple Cake & Happy Birthday Grandma Fay {my Angel in Heaven}

It would be my Grandma Fay's 100th birthday today. It's so hard to imagine and I still sometimes can't believe she is gone. I believe she is my Angel in Heaven watching down on me, some say I was her favorite grandchild and that I am just like her and ya know I am perfectly okay with that. She was funny and quirky and she had her little things about her that we all can laugh SO hard at, including all our thift-store Christmas gifts. But I love'd her very much and I would take her quirky style anyday.

We were having a BBQ for my twin daughters at my Uncle Mike's house (who is my Dad's twin brother, and her sons's) and I was suppose to bring dessert. I thought of all the apples I had that needed used up and this cake came to mind. I began making it and then it hit me, I think it's my grandma's birthday this month and yep (a little check in my scrapbook to confirm that date) and yep it would be her 100th birthday today. She was born August 11, 1912. I can't imagine her being here today, but I also know she is in heaven and watching down on my family each and every day.

This recipe is a re-post, but the first time I posted I didn't have any photo creating the cake, so here ya go. Also I decided to make this version Gluten-Free for one of my daughters and guess what it worked out perfectly. SO EXCITED I have another dessert I can make her.

Apple Cake (gluten-free version)
recipe from Grandma Fay

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 cups flour (or all-purpose gluten free flour)
2 eggs
4 cups apples (peeled and diced)
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup walnuts, crushed

Mix all together and pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1-1/2 cups powder sugar
8 oz cream cheese
4 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp vanilla

Mix all together in an electric mixer until smooth. Spread on top of cake after it has cooled down.
Store the cake in the refrigerator, but serve at room temperature.

I would say we pretty much devoured this cake. And yep it was delicious.

Caramel Apple Cider Cookies

Just a little apple treat... to make on this wonderful day for your friends and family!

Caramel Apple Cider Cookies
adapted by me: Tina Hudgens
but found at Scrambled Hen Fruit, originally created by The Cooking Photographer

1 cup softened butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 box = 10 pkgs (7.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink mix (not sugar free)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3 cups all purpose flour

2 firm apples, peeled and diced

1 bag Kraft Caramels (14 oz)

Preheat oven to 350. Line cookie sheets with parchment. In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. With your mixer cream together butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packages of apple cider drink mix powder, until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well. Gradually add flour mixture to butter/egg mixture. Add in diced apples and mix until just combined. Refrigerate for about an hour.

When set, scoop out cookie dough ball about a tablespoonful. I use a cookie scoop. Flatten the ball of dough slightly in the palm of your hand. Press the unwrapped caramel into the center of your dough and seal the dough around it, covering it completely. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets 2 inches apart.

Bake 12-14 minutes, or until very lightly browned around the edges. Please don't over-bake! Once the cookies are done, slide the parchment off of the baking sheet right out onto the counter. Allow cookies to partially cool on the parchment. When cookies are cool enough to be firm but still slightly warm, carefully twist off of parchment and allow to finish cooling upside down (either on the parchment or on a rack.)

Red Hot Apple Pie in a Mug

This is the easiest, fastest, apple pie tasting treat ever! And it's low calorie and taste delish!

Red Hot Apple Pie in a Mug
from Hungry Girl Show

1 medium Fuji apple, cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
12 - 15 pieces Red Hots Cinnamon Flavored Candy
1/2 sheet (2 crackers) low-fat cinnamon graham crackers
2 tbsp Fat Free Reddi-wip (or more!)
Dash cinnamon

Put apple cubes in a microwavable cup or mug. Top with Red Hots -- the more you use, the hotter your pie in a mug will be! Cover and microwave for 2 minutes. Stir well. Re-cover and microwave for an additional 1 - 2 minutes, until apple cubes are soft.

Meanwhile, place graham crackers in a plastic bag and thoroughly crush through the bag; set aside.

Once cup or mug is cool enough to handle, mix contents well. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

Top with most of the crushed graham crackers followed by the whipped topping. (Use a double serving, if you like!)

Sprinkle with cinnamon and remaining crushed grahams. Voila!

Caramel Apples

I LOVE CARAMEL APPLES! If I could eat apples like this everyday, I would for sure eat my share. It's healthy, right? This was my first attempt at homemade Caramel Apples. I am not sure why I waited so long to try my hand at this, they are my number one favorite treat of all time! I buy them almost anywhere I go, the best place is the chocolate store right by our movie theatre, I always get a hot caramel apple at Disneyland at my little hidden secret ice cream store (LOVE IT!) and no matter where I am or what time of year it is, I am always up for a Caramel Apple. And now I can make them myself and they are EASY and just as good.

I read about the wax that is put on apples, so it's very important that you take a brand new scrub sponge and clean all your apples first. This will help the hot caramel stick.

Caramel Apples

Melting Caramel (I used two different kinds, one purchased in Oak Glen Apple Country and another in a block sold at my local cake store) or you can use 1 bag of Kraft caramels

4-6 large, tart and/or firm apples (usually Granny Smith works best for caramel apples)

1 bag white melting chips or milk chocolate melting chips (or a little of both)

Wash, scrub (with a brand new yellow sponge), and dry apples. This is important or your caramel won't stick because of the wax coating stores put on apples.

In a medium saucepan, melt caramel according to package directions. (this is sometimes down in the microwave too) Put popsicle stick/apple stick in the apple. Dip in melted caramel making sure to fully coat it. Place on parchment or wax paper that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cool in the refrigerator (or on the counter top if you have tons of time) until caramel is set up, about 15 minutes. Trim off the excess caramel puddle (this can be remelted). 

Melt chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals. Coat the apple with the chocolate. Let it set up a little bit before sprinkling it with topping of your choice. Cool completely in the fridge. Cut into slices and serve.

And using this APPLE cutter in my new favorite way to serve up my caramel apple! YAH!

TOPPINGS

Cinnamon SugarPie: White Chocolate and Cinnamon Sugar (make cinnamon sugar with 1 cup of sugar and 1 tbsp of cinnamon)

Apple Pie: White Chocolate with mixture of 1-1/2 tbsp of brown sugar and 3 dashes of cinnamon (makes one apple)

Rocky Road: Milk Chocolate with a sprinkle of nuts and marshmallows

Apple Pizza

This was one of those OH MY! desserts, a MUST keep recipe and one that will forsure make it into my next family cookbook/scrapbook. I started the recipe with a little help from another recipe and then I wanted to incorporate the awesome product I received from Ducan Hines and Comstock Fruit Fillings and the recipe just came to me, just like that (as I was baking/making it). I served it too all my girlfriends and they loved it too.

Apple Pizza
original idea came from a Pampered Chef recipe; all ideas below are mine

1 pkg refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup peanut butter (we use chunky, cuz it's what we like)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 can apple pie filling

for crumb topping
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup peanuts, chopped

Vanilla Glaze Topping, made by Ducan Hines

Preheat oven to 350. Shape cookie dough into a ball and then roll out into a circle on a pizza pan. Bake 16-18 minutes of until light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes.

Combine cream cheese, brown sugar, peanut butter and vanilla in a small bowl. Spread mixture over pizza. Open can of Comstock Wilderness Apple Pie filling and spread ontop of the peanut butter mixture and then top with the crumb topping. To make the crumb topping mix flour, sugar, butter and peanuts with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle this on top and then return to oven and bake until apples are bubbly about 15 minutes.

Cool for a few minutes before adding the vanilla glaze topping. Cut into wedges & Serve warm!

"As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received certificates for free Duncan Hines and Comstock Wilderness Fruit Fillings, but all reviews and opinions on the product are my own"

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS GOODIES (Day 5): Apple Pie Cupcakes

Day 5 of 12 Days of Christmas Goodies

Apple Pie Cupcakes

An Apple Pie Cupcake. Fresh Apples, Moist Cake and Creamy Frosting the perfect combination and taste of an apple pie. (I don't like pie, so this is even better). And we love cupcakes in our house, so these didn't last long at all.

Grab Our Button & the Blog Hop Code if you wish to display the Linky on your own Blog. Or just link up and play along with us as we gather a ton of THEME recipes for the next 12 days.

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Apple Pie Cupcakes
recipe found at The Tale of Two Kitchens

3 cups sifted cake flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup milk

for the apple filling

2 tbsp. butter

2 tsp. cinnamon

2-3 tbsp sugar

3 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced 

In a medium bowl, sift cake flour, baking powder and salt. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping down the sides of bowl after each addition. Add vanilla extract; mix well to combine. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among cupcake liners, filling about 2/3-3/4 full. Bake until golden; about 18 to 22 minutes. Remove from oven; cool for 5 minutes in pans. Transfer to wire racks; cool completely.

Apple filling: heat butter in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add cinnamon and sugar; cook for a minute, until mixture begins to bubble. Lower heat to medium; stir in the apples. Mix well. Cook until apples are somewhat tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

While apple mixture cools, use cone method to remove a chunk from center of each cupcake, leave a rim around the top of cupcake. Fill holes with cooled apple mixture.

Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting

adapted from Your Homebased Mom

3 sticks butter, softened

2 lbs. powdered sugar (approx. 7 cups)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp cinnamon

whipping cream or 1/2 and 1/2 – enough to thin frosting to desired consistency

Beat butter in mixer on medium high for 2-3 minutes or until pale and creamy. Reduce speed to medium and add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time. Beat well after each addition increasing speed to high after all sugar is added. Add vanilla and food coloring if desired. Beat until buttercream is smooth. Can be refrigerated for several days if covered. If refrigerating, bring to room temperature before using and beat on low until smooth.

This Post is linked to some of these FABULOUS Linky Parties!

We will be having a linky party for the first 12 days in Decmeber. It's a BLOG HOP Party, so if you wish you can grab the blog hop code below or just link up some of your recipes with our THEME.

Here is a SNEAK PEAK of what's coming up and what's been happening.....

All the Blog Hops will be OPEN until Christmas Day (so there is plenty of time to link up)!

Day 1 - Candy Bark "Pretzel Bark"
Day 2 - Christmas Cookies "S'more Chocolate Chip Cookies"
Day 3 - Bread & Muffins "Reese's Peanut Butter Banana Bread"
Day 4 - Truffles "Egg Nog Truffles"
Day 5 - Cupcakes "Apple Pie Cupcakes"

Day 6 - Snowman "Anything SNOWMAN"

Day 7 - Fudge "Butterfinger Fudge"

Day 8 - Cake Pops or Cake Balls "Red Velvet Cake Balls - Reindeer"

Day 9 - Gifts in a Jar "Peppermint Hot Chocolate in a Jar"

Day 10 - Sugar Cookies "Swirl Sugar Cookies"

Day 11 - Homemade Candy "Peanut Butter Cups"

Day 12 - Anything Candy Cane "White Chocolate Candy Cane Pudding Cookies"

Today's Theme is CUPCAKES!

We'd love to see some fun Holiday Cupcakes linked up!

Pink Pearl Applesauce (crock-pot): SECRET RECIPE CLUB

SECRET RECIPE CLUB

Pink Pearl Applesauce

Today is Group B: Secret Recipe Club reveal. And I am the fearless-host of Group B and YES I LOVE IT!!! Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I hope that we see lots of ideas that we can use for this upcoming feast, I made this scrumptious applesauce that is PERFECT for Thanksgiving. If you haven't heard of the Secret Recipe Club or you'd like more information click on over and read all about it, there may be a little waiting list, but feel free to sign up anyway.

When I found out who my assigned blog was, I clicked right on over. (I don't assign the blogs, so my new blog each month is still a secret to me). I was assigned Fifteen Spatulas and I just have to say her blog is A-MAZ-ING and everything, I mean everything looks so SCRUMPTIOUS! You should see all the recipes I've pinned on Pinterest, I hope to make ALL OF THEM, sooner rather then later. But first, it will be the Caprese Pasta Salad, followed by Ooey Gooey Rocky Road Cookies. (maybe even both the same night)

The recipe that made the post today is Pink Lady Applesauce (I had a handful of Pink Pearl apples from apple picking and I knew they would make great applesauce)! This recipe was perfect. I changed the recipe from Pink Lady to Pink Pearl and from stove-top to crock-pot plus took out the cardamon (only because I didn't have any on hand). This is the second applesauce crock-pot recipe I've made (click here to see the first) and I like BOTH! Yes, both of them are equally delicious and both of them are very different too. One sweet, one more tart. One cinnamon'y and one not so much! So, you can bet in the near future I will be making BOTH of my applesauce crock-pot recipes I've discovered.

Yes, Pink Pearl Apples REALLY are pink inside (see photo)! This apple cutter makes cutting all these apples so easy!
And yes you are seeing a BAG in my crock-pot, they sell them at Target or local grocery store and I LOVE THEM!

Pink Pearl Applesauce (crock-pot)
adapted from Fifteen Spatulas

We also freeze individual servings for later.
They go great in the kids lunches frozen and then by lunch
time they are ready to eat cold Homemade Applesauce

6 or more Pink Pearl Apples
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
dash of ginger
dash of cloves

Peel your apples, core them, and cut them in into small chunks. I love using my slicer and then just peeling them. Place the apple chunks into crock-pot with the water, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Cook on low for 4 to 6 hours. When the apples are soft enough to mash, mash to your liking. Chunky or Silky Smooth. That's it! Transfer to individual servings or to a big bowl and cool in the refrigerator.

Here are a list of my past Secret Recipe Club recipes:

• Raspberry & Nutella Pizza
• Cucumber Salad
• Bean Roll-Up
• Blueberry Muffins (Gluten-Free)
• Pioneer Woman's Chicken Pot Pie 
• Frozen Breakfast Burritos

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