Baked Apples

Baked apples are a wonderful treat and they are so easy to make!

Ingredients:

apples

1/4 cup brown sugar per apple

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon per apple

1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts per apple

1/3 cup raisins or dried cranberries per apple

1 pad of butter per apple

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans and raisins and set aside.

Remove the core of the apple leaving the bottom area in tact. Using a melon baller scoop out an additional area inside of the apple.

Try to remove at least 1/2 cup of the apple interior. 

Pack the interior of the apple with the brown sugar mixture and press the mixture firmly inside of the apple.

Top each stuffed apple with a small pad of butter. Put some water on the bottom of the baking dish. The water should barely cover the entire area of the pan.

Bake for 30-45 minutes depending on the size of your apple. The apples should look wrinkled and soft.

For company you could garnish with a cinnamon stick, vanilla ice cream and carmel sauce. When you cut into the baked apple the inside falls out and makes such a wonderful treat.

Pecan Apple Caramel Bread

I can't stop making loaf breads! Especially loaf recipes made with apples and topped with a caramel sauce. I found this recipe on My Recipes. However, I have been researching some recipes made with pumpkin puree. Check back next week!

Ingredients:

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, divided

1 1/2 cups peeled and chopped apples - I used Granny Smith

Caramel Sauce:

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:

Grease and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In your stand mixer combine the sour cream, sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla.

In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix on low until everything is combined.

Add 3/4 cup of chopped pecan to the batter and the chopped apples. Stir until everything is combined. The batter will be really thick. Pour the batter into the prepared pan sand top with the remaining pecans.

Bake for approximately 1 hour. Make sure a toothpick inserted in the middle of the bread comes out clean

Cool the bread in the pan for 15 minutes. Then release the bread on a wire rack. Place a baking sheet under the wire rack.

Combine the butter and brown sugar in a heavy sauce pan. Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring constantly. Let the mixture cool and thicken for a minute or two and then pour it over the loaf.

Let the icing harden for an hour or two and then slice up the loaf into to serving size pieces.Yum!

While this loaf bread is baking your house will smell delightful! I think you could also substitute walnuts for the pecans.

I absolutely love the simple glaze on this bread - I can't wait to have a slice for breakfast tomorrow morning.

Carmel Apple Bread

I saw this recipe and knowing my love of Carmel Apples - I knew I would be making this! I found recipe on the the domestic rebel- this the second time I have made a recipe from this website. I changed the recipe a little because I am a recipe rebel!

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups of flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups coarsely chopped apples

1/4 cup Caramel  sundae sauce

For Crumb Mixture:

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons brown sugar

4 tablespoons cold butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 5 x 9" loaf pan with a non-stick baking spray.

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together. In a separate bowl dissolve the baking soda into the lemon juice.. The mixture will foam up! Add the foaming mixture, eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture and beat to combine.

Add the flour and salt to the butter mixture and mix until a thick batter forms. Stir in the chopped apples by hand.

Meanwhile in a small bowl combine the crumb ingredients and mix until the mixture forms coarse crumbs.

Add 1/2 of the apple batter to the prepared loaf pan. Drizzle with the carmel sauce and sprinkle with the crumb mixture. Top the crumb mixture with the rest of the apple batter.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Check to make sure that the bread is completely cooked by inserting a toothpick in the middle and making sure that it comes out clean. Cool bread in the pan on a wire rack for a half hour. Then remove from the pan and slice.

The bread can be stored up to 2 days at room temperature tightly wrapped. Yum!

The next time I make this recipe - I am thinking about maybe adding 3/4 cup of golden raisins. I will let you know if do and the outcome. The Fall season is my favorite baking season!

Homemade Carmel Apple Lollipops

 Every so often I substitute teach a Religion class. I always like to bring the kids a homemade treat and this week I made Carmel Apple Lollipops. These are so simple to make! And you just need a few simple ingredients that you can pick up at any grocery store or Target.

Ingredients/Supplies:

Two bags of Jolly Rancher Hard Candies

A bag of Caramels

lollipop sticks

medium sized plastic bags, buy the sandwich bags that flap over - not the ziplock type

coordinating ribbon

Directions:

Separate out the green and red Jolly Ranchers - put the rest of the Jolly Ranchers in your bowl for the Trick or Treaters.

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat pad. If you don't have a Silpat pad put it on your birthday or holiday wish list - they make baking and cleaning up super easy. They sell them at Bed Bath and Beyond - use your coupon!

On the Silpat pad line up three green or three red Jolly Ranchers.

Bake in the 275 degree oven for 4 to 5 minutes. They are done when they are melted into the lollipop shape. Take them out of the oven and gently twist in a lollipop stick. Careful - the melted Jolly Ranchers are really hot.

Let them sit for a minute - then using a metal spatula remove them to a piece of parchment paper and make a new batch. I make four lollipops at a time.

Let the lollipops cool. While they are cooling. Unwrap the caramels. It takes a while to unwrap each little caramel.

Melt the caramels in the microwave - about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir the caramels - be careful they are also very hot.

Using a spoon coat the top 2/3 of the lollipop with the melted caramel. Set them back on the parchment paper to dry for a few hours.

Once the caramel is hard - you can put the lollipops into the medium sized plastic bags and tie with a ribbon.

The kids really liked the lollipops! These would be cute to make for a Halloween party, the sports team, classroom or neighbors!

Carmel and Chocolate Apples