An Apple A Day... 7 Apple Recipes!

This post is All About Apples!  It is not a recap of any specific day on this recipe journey, just a collection of apple recipes for your convenience.  I've blogged quite a bit about apples in the past couple of weeks/months, so it seemed fitting to combine all of my apple recipes into one, easy-to-find apple post so that when you or I are in need of an autumn apple recipe, one click brings us right to it! :)  Here are 7 recipes for your drooling pleasure...

1. Apple Pecan Cake
From: "Entering Autumn" Posted September 25

2 cups sugar

3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup orange juice
3 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 TB cinnamon
1 TB vanilla
3 cups peeled and chopped apples
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Sauce:
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 325*.  Combine the sugar, eggs, oil, juice, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla and mix well.  Fold in the apples, coconut, and pecans.  Pour the batter into a grease tube or bunt pan and bake about 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Right before the cake is done, start the sauce.  In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat.  Add the sugar, baking soda, and buttermilk and then bring to boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
When the cake comes out of the oven, pour the hot sauce immediately over the hot cake. (You may want to prick some holes in the cake and have a baking sheet under the bunt pan to catch any drips.)  Let stand 1 hour then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

2. Apple Walnut Pancakes
(new recipe to this blog!)
I follow my very easy pancake recipe (which you can easily substitute buttermilk for regular milk to get those nice, fluffy, crave-worthy buttermilk pancakes they serve at restaurants):

1 egg, beaten
1 TB vegetable oil or melted butter
1 cup of milk
2 TB sugar
1 cup of flour
1 TB baking powder
1 tsp salt
To that, I add 1 apple, finely chopped, and about 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts.  Cook pancakes as usual: pour batter onto a hot griddle by the ladleful.

3. Apple Fritters
From: "Recent Catering Job..." Posted October 15
Like pancakes, with subtle differences...

1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 TB sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup apples, finely chopped

Cook bacon in a fry pan. Remove bacon and place on a plate with a paper towel. Leave the grease in the frying pan.
Sift dry ingredients together.  Combine the egg and milk and stir in with the dry ingredients.  Stir in apples.  Drop by the spoonful onto a hot griddle or fry pan greased with bacon fat.  Fry on both sides for about 2 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel-covered plate.  Roll in a mixture of 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon.  Serve.

4. Apple Turnovers
Another delicious apple breakfast, also new to this blog!

Yes, that's a scoop of vanilla ice cream next to the turnover--for breakfast!  They were so hot, fresh out of the oven, that we needed something to cool them down.  Don't judge.

I use about 3 apples, peeled and finely chopped.  Place the apples in a small bowl and mix with about 1/2 cup of raisins, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, 3 TB flour, 3 TB sugar, 3 TB of freshly squeezed orange juice, and a pinch of salt.  Unfold 2 sheets of puff pastry, and cut them each into 4 squares.  Fill with the apple filling and fold each square into a triangle.  Brush with an egg wash and sprinkle a sugar/cinnamon mixture on top.  Cut little "steam holes" in the pastries.  Bake in a 400* oven for 20 minutes.

5. Apple Oatmeal Cookies
From: "A Day in the Life of..." Posted September 29

2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsps cinnamon
1 cup oats
1 cup chopped apples

Cream together the sugars and butter.  Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.  Pour in the flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda and stir all ingredients together well.  Fold in the apples and and oats.  Bake at 350* for about 10 minutes.

6. Apple Pie
From: "Comfort Food" Posted October 2

Crust
2 sticks of butter, cold, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 3/4 cups flour
2 TB sugar
1 tsp salt
6-7 TB apple cider

Filling
6-8 apples (depending on their size--6 large apples is usually good)
1/3 cup sugar
1 TB cinnamon
1/2 stick of butter, sliced

I start by making the crust.  Using a food processor is literally the easiest way to make a crust or dough.  The machine does the work for you and it will come out perfect every time!  Place the flour, butter, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the butter is the size of peas.  Slowly add the apple cider and continue pulsing until the dough starts to come together.  Use your hands to press the dough together into a nice, sticky ball while still in the processor.  If it's not sticking, you may need to add more cider.  Once you have a ball of dough, divide it in half.  Form 2 round discs of dough and wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Peel and chop the apples.  Place the apple pieces in a colander over a small saucepan.  Sprinkle them with 1/3 cup of sugar and toss.  Cover the apples with a towel and let sit for at least an hour or more.  The juices from the apples will drain into the sauce pan.  This process helps release the juices now and not when their in the pie--so you won't get a super soggy pie.  Plus, you will use the juices on the crust of the pie, also. :)
You can let the apples sit all morning and the dough can hang out in the fridge for as long as you need.  When you're ready to assemble and bake the pie, preheat the oven to 425* and remove the dough from the fridge.  Let it sit out a few minutes to help it come to room temp and make it easier to roll out.  Start with one disc, roll out the dough and place it in the bottom of a pie plate.  Add the apples and toss them with 1 TB of cinnamon.  Place the slices of butter over the apples.  Roll out your second disc and cover the apples with it. Trim off any extra dough hanging from the side.  Pinch the dough together around the edges of the pie.
You should have a little apple "juice" in the bottom of your saucepan.  Turn the stove on high and boil the juice to reduce them.  Keep an eye on this because it will happen fast.  When the juices are reduced by half, turn off the heat.  You should have a sticky "syrup" at this point, which you can pour over your pie and spread it out with a pastry brush. Use a sharp nice to prick the top of the pie. Cover the edges of the pie with aluminum foil.  Bake on the very bottom rack of the oven for about 30 minutes (I place the pie plate on a baking sheet, also).  Then, remove the foil and place the pie on one of the top racks of the oven and bake for another 20 minutes.  When the pie is finished, let stand on a cooling rack for about an hour before serving.

7. Applesauce!
Another "new to this blog" recipe, this applesauce couldn't be easier to make!  Talk about "set it and forget it!"

I use 10 apples, any variety, and sometimes more than 1 variety in the same batch is best!

Peel and quarter the apples.  The best thing about this recipe is that you don't have to "chop" the apples!  Just the apple cheeks in the slow-cooker is fine!  Place the apples in the slow-cooker with 1 stick of butter, cinnamon (sprinkle it in as you wish) and a pinch of all-spice.  I also like to add the peel of 1 red apple--it will give the applesauce a deeper color!

Set it, and forget it!  With the slow-cooker on low, just let the apples cook all day!  You can adjust the temperature and time if needed, but you need at least 3-4 hours for the apples to soften enough to create sauce.  When they are soft, don't forget to remove the skin!

Mash the apples with a potato masher, or if they're soft enough, you just have to stir them. 

Serve alongside your favorite pork dish or as a snack for the kids!

Bonus Recipe: Apple Crisp

Apple crisp is kind of a no-brainer.  I wasn't even sure I'd include it in this post.  Then I figured, why not?  Almost everyone has their own version of this classic fall dessert.  Here's mine:

I use as many apples as will fill my 13 x 9 pan--peeled and sliced.  Then, in the bowl of a food processor, I combine 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of oats, 1 stick of butter that's been cut up, 1/3 cup of sugar, and 1/3 cup of brown sugar.  I add a pinch of salt for flavor, and a tiny bit of cinnamon.  I pulse the processor until the butter is the size of peas.  Then, I sprinkle this "crumble" on top of the apples and bake at 350* for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.