Autumn Apples Week Recap

I just wanted to go over the week, fill you in on a few behind-the-scenes tidbits, and announce the giveaway winners! Did you enjoy Autumn Apples Week? Did you find a new apple recipe to try?

Day 1: 

• Shared links to apple recipes I already have {German Apple Cake is still my fave even with the yummy new recipes I posted.}.

 

• Great Apple Hill pic - me & dad in front of a pond and not an apple in sight. Kind of embarrassed that of all the times I've been to apple hill, I've never taken a pic of apples, apple orchards, cider presses, apple doughnuts, or basically anything having to do with apples. 
• The winner of the muffin mix and tea is...Ally!! Congrats!!

Day 2:

• Almond Apple Bars. Yum. Good thing I sent these to hubs' office. 

 

• Tried something new with my photos this week. I recently read a post that made a good argument for getting rid of the watermarks and titles, etc. on food photos. I do know why we put them there, but thought the author made some good points about it taking away from the beauty of photos. I decided that eliminating the extra stuff really appealed to my lazy artistic side. :) So I'm trying it for a while - what do you think about it?

Day 3:

• Pie Crust Chips & Apple Salsa. So fun and such a good snack! 

 

• Cheated and used a Pillsbury pie crust for the chips. I'm still traumatized since my last homemade crust fail. Someday I will try again...someday.

 

• Took me a while to figure out how to cut the crust into little wedges - LOL! Guess I needed more coffee that day! 
• There are some great apple recipes linked up on this day too, so be sure to check those out and add them to your collection!

Day 4:

• Apple Pie Ice Cream. Yesss. There is still some in our freezer. How can that be? Because *somebody* {son} forgot about the ice cream on the counter until it melted and then put it back in the freezer and then the next day got it out but put it in the refrigerator, where it melted again before being refrozen. It's just not quite the same - LOL!

 

• You have no idea how many times I've avoided donating the mini pie tins over the years and I finally used them for something - woo hoo! :)

Day 5:

• Loaded Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cake. So.good. The cake batter is not overly sweet so it is more like a coffee cake - giving you the perfect excuse to eat it for breakfast! :)

 

• Messed up on the amount of coconut oil that I added during recipe conversion, but since the oil had solidified and I realized my error while trying to get the oil to melt, I was able to remove what I needed! Too funny!
• If you use too much caramel and too small of a pan, your husband will eventually point out to you that the kitchen is very smoky. Oops! Caramel was oozing out the sides and dripping onto the bottom of the oven. Threw in a cookie sheet to catch the rest, but still had to air out the kitchen.
• The winner of a copy of Autumn Bliss is...Kassia B!! Congrats!!

I hope you had fun during the week - I know I did!

Reminder - my #31Days series starts tomorrow. Are you going to join me for Anything I Can Do, You Can Do Too? I'm looking forward to the challenge and hoping to spread some encouragement along the way. You can click here to subscribe by e-mail, click here to follow on Feedly, or click here to follow on Bloglovin' if you don't want to miss anything!
 
Have a blessed day friends!

Autumn Apples Week {Day 5 ~ Loaded Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cake}

Day 5 of Autumn Apples Week! I really hope you’ve enjoyed this week! 

 

In case you've missed anything this week:

 ~ Day 1: Giveaway

 ~ Day 2: Almond Apple Bars

 ~ Day 3: Pie Crust Chips & Apple Salsa + Link-up

 ~ Day 4: Apple Pie Ice Cream

I know it’s a week about apples, but I had to find a way to incorporate chocolate – one of my other favorite Fall foods! This cake recipe is a rich coffee cake and would be fantastic with your favorite Fall drink. And it’s been officially endorsed by the staff at my son’s school! I took the cake there since I was volunteering and it was completely gone before the end of the day and raved about by all.

 

Loaded Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cake

adapted from Cooking Light

½ cup + 2 tablespoons caramel sauce {I used homemade – y.u.m.}

1 Granny Smith apple, cored, peeled, and thinly sliced

1 ½ cups unbleached flour

2/3 cup brown sugar, packed

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup buttermilk

½ teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup coconut oil, melted {can use vegetable oil}

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon mini chocolate chips

¼ cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped

Chocolate drizzle {melted chocolate chips}

Preheat oven to 350. Spray cooking spray in 8-inch square or round pan. Pour caramel onto bottom of pan. Arrange apple slices over caramel, overlapping slightly as needed.

In large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Stir with whisk until well-combined. In medium bowl, combine buttermilk and baking soda. Stir with whisk. Stir in oil, vanilla, and eggs. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture. Stir together just until blended. Pour batter over apple slices in pan.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until pick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on wire rack. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Put an upside down plate on top of cake pan. Carefully invert cake onto plate. Sprinkle mini chocolate chips over top of cake. Sprinkle chopped pecans evenly over top. Drizzle melted chocolate as desired. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of caramel sauce on top. Serve warm or at room temp.

Notes:

• If you use a square pan, this recipe should work fine. If you use a round cake pan like me, then be warned of oozing caramel that smokes on the bottom of your oven! Either use a little less caramel {but who would want that??} when using a round pan or put a cookie sheet or foil on the rack below and expect a little smoke.
• I didn’t use all the apple slices from 1 apple – just fit what you can. 
• I use the kind of coconut oil that does not have a coconut flavor {from Tropical Traditions – not an affiliate}, but I think that the kind with a coconut flavor would be delicious in this cake too.
• For the chocolate drizzle, I melted a small handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave 1 minute, stirred until smooth, filled a small plastic baggie, snipped off a corner, and then drizzled.

 

I do wish I could hand you a piece of cake right now! But how about a giveaway instead? We've been celebrating Autumn all week, so I'd love for one of you to win a copy of this lovely Kindle book: Autumn Bliss. {Did you know that you don't need a Kindle for Kindle books? You can download a free app to your computer or phone.}It's a wonderful book filled with Scriptures, ideas for celebrating Autumn with your kids, party ideas, and lots of cozy recipes {including a muffin recipe from me!}.

**Giveaway Closed.** To enter, just leave a comment telling me about one of your favorite Autumn activities! That's it! Giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents 18 and older. One winner will be chosen randomly from comments and notified by e-mail. Giveaway is open through end of day on Sunday 9/29.

Thanks so much for joining me for Autumn Apples Week! I really hope you had fun and found a new recipe to try!

This post linked to:
 ~ Chic & Crafty Party at The Frugal Girls
 ~ I'm Lovin' It at TidyMom 

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Have a blessed day friends!

Autumn Apples Week {Day 4 ~ Apple Pie Ice Cream}

Welcome to Day 4 of Autumn Apples Week! Don't forget to enter the giveaway {Day 1} for tea & muffins and link up your apple recipes or posts {Day 3} if you have some! Hope you're having fun celebrating Autumn this week!

 
Apple Pie. Still one of the top pies in America. Most people would agree that the best way to eat apple pie is "a la mode." And it is delicious. So I thought to myself...why not just combine the apple pie and the "a la mode" into one dessert? Mmmmm...and so I bring you Apple Pie Ice Cream.

Apple Pie Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup Apple Salsa
1/3 - 1/2 cup crumbled Pie Crust Chips
1/3 cup Buttery Cinnamon Sauce

In bowl, whisk together milk and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add heavy cream, vanilla, and cinnamon. Whisk until combined. Turn on ice cream maker and pour mixture into freezer bowl through spout. After 18-20 minutes {mixture should be fairly thick}, add Apple Salsa and crumbled Pie Crust Chips through spout. After additional 3-5 minutes, turn off ice cream maker. Transfer ice cream to another bowl and gently swirl the Buttery Cinnamon Sauce into the mixture. Can be served immediately or frozen to harden more for a couple of hours. This recipe is for a 1 1/2 quart ice cream maker.

I highly recommend serving this with pie crust chips on the side - such a delicious combo. My family agreed that this ice cream is best right after it's made. We prefer it with the soft and creamy consistency. But it's still yummy after it freezes solid!

Bonus - awesome use for the mini pie tins that have been in my cupboard forever!

If you didn't have time to whip up all the ingredients, but you just happen to have some apple pie - I say chop up a slice and throw it in the ice cream! That would be an awesome shortcut!

Come on back tomorrow for Day 5 of Autumn Apples Week and another giveaway!!

What's your favorite kind of pie? Favorite kind of ice cream?

This post linked to:
 ~ Chic & Crafty Party at The Frugal Girls
 ~ I'm Lovin' It at TidyMom

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Have a blessed day friends!

Autumn Apples Week {Day 3 ~ Pie Crust Chips & Apple Salsa + Link-up}

Well that's quite a long title, isn't it?! Are you enjoying Autumn Apples Week so far? Do go back to Day 1 and enter the giveaway for some lovely apple tea and a muffin mix!

Today, after my rather long recipe post, you'll be able to link up your favorite apple recipes! Feel free to share old or new ones from your blog. I'll be pinning your links to my Autumn Apples Pinterest board. And if you don't blog, you can always share your recipe in the comments.

So, here's my latest apple snack/dessert idea - Pie Crust Chips and Apple Salsa! Yesss.

First, you're gonna need a batch of Buttery Cinnamon Sauce.

Then you'll need to cook up a batch of Slow Cooker Cinnamon Apples {don't worry, it's not that hard} so you can make some Apple Salsa. While the apples are cooking, you can make some Pie Crust Chips. Oh yes! :)

Slow Cooker Cinnamon Apples

5-8 apples {I used Fuji for 1 batch and Granny Smith for another}, cored, peeled, and sliced
1/2 - 1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 to 3/4 batch of Buttery Cinnamon Sauce
Ground cinnamon to taste

Prepare apple slices and place in slow cooker. Toss apple slices with lemon juice. Pour in Buttery Cinnamon Sauce and stir to coat well. Cook on high for about an hour or so. Stir apples and generously sprinkle cinnamon over apple slices. Cook for another 30-60 minutes until slices are fork-tender.

Apple Salsa

Finely dice cooked Cinnamon Apples. Best served either at room temp or heated slightly.

Pie Crust Chips

Rolled out pie crust {homemade or purchased}
1 egg white
Cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 450. Place rolled out pie crust onto wax paper. Whisk egg white until foamy. Brush over top of crust. Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon sugar. Place another piece of wax paper over top and flip crust. Peel back wax paper, brush with egg white, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Cut crust into wedge shapes {I used a pizza cutter}. Poke crust all over one side with fork. Place onto parchment-covered baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until light brown. Remove from oven and cool.

Put it all together and serve it at your next Fall party! It's such a yummy snack! My son loved it all and even liked the pie crust chips just plain. You could also serve the chips with Slow Cooker Pear Sauce, Pumpkin Dip, or Sugar-Free Lemon Blueberry Sauce. So many great possibilities!

Isn't that fun?! I hope you get a chance to try it! But...don't eat it all! I need you to set aside about 1/3 cup of Buttery Cinnamon Sauce, 1/3 cup Apple Salsa, and a handful of Pie Crust Chips. We're gonna need them tomorrow!

Now it's your turn - bring some apple recipes or posts over here to link up! They can be old or new apple posts, but no more than 3 of them from one blog, please. And do visit some of the other apple posts! I plan on pinning your posts to my Autumn Apples board.

Thanks for stopping by Autumn Apples Week! Be sure to come on back tomorrow for another yummy apple recipe!

This post linked to:
 ~ Chic & Crafty Party at The Frugal Girls
 ~ I'm Lovin' It at TidyMom 

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Have a blessed day friends!

Autumn Apples Week {Day 2 ~ Almond Apple Bars}

Welcome back! It's Day 2 of Autumn Apples Week! Don't forget to enter yesterday's giveaway!

Did you know that apples were brought to the U.S. by colonists in the 17th Century? There you go - your apple trivia for the day. You're welcome. :)

The flavors of apples and almonds go so nicely together. These bars are a delicious treat to take to your next gathering or potluck. And they look pretty with all the sliced apples.

Almond Apple Bars

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup almond meal
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 green apples, cored, peeled, and thinly sliced
3 eggs
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In mixer, combine flour, powdered sugar, butter, and salt. Mix well. Press evenly onto bottom of greased 9x13 baking dish. Top with apple slices. In small bowl, beat together eggs, brown sugar, almond extract, and cinnamon until well blended. Pour over apples. Sprinkle sliced almonds evenly over the top. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over all. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until middle is set. Cool completely before cutting.

Actually, I think apples are delicious combined with almost any type of nut. What kind of nut do you prefer to have in an apple recipe?

Be sure to come on by tomorrow and link up your apple recipes {or share in the comments}!

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Thanks for stopping by Autumn Apples Week! Have a blessed day friends!

Autumn Apples Week {Day 1}

It's here! It's officially Autumn now and we'll celebrate with a week of apples! Do apples make you think of Autumn? Let's try a little word association.

Apple...Jacks. Oops - no,no! Try again.

Apple...Cinnamon...Cozy...Autumn. Yes, yes, there we go. :)

Around here, Autumn means trips to Apple Hill. I do like to buy apples when I'm there {and sometimes I do crazy things like buy 50 pounds of pears}. We enjoy things like free apple cider samples while we watch the cider press, feeding ducks by the pond, and eating apple doughnuts!

Here's my dad and me at Apple Hill a couple years ago.

After today I'll be sharing some new apple recipes with you and on Wednesday you can link up your own apple recipes right here! I'll be pinning the apple recipes to my Autumn Apples board on Pinterest.

I do have a few yummy apple recipes on my blog already...

Puffy Apple French Toast Bake

Winter Salad with Walnuts and Apples

Pantry Cranberry-Applesauce

German Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Sour Cream-Apple Pie

Now how about a little giveaway to help put you in an Autumn Apple mood?

Some lovely baked cinnamon apple tea and apple streusel muffin mix should start your Autumn day off right! *apples in the pic not included - LOL

**Giveaway Closed.** One of you lovely readers will win this giveaway and all you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite apple recipe is {or if you don't even like apples!}. You can earn one bonus entry {and one only, so two entries max} by sharing about Autumn Apples Week and coming back to leave me a comment telling me how you shared!

Fine print stuff: Giveaway open to U.S. residents 18 years of age and older. Giveaway ends at end-of-day on Sunday 9/29. One winner will be chosen from comments using random number generator and notified by e-mail. If winner doesn't respond within a week, new winner will be chosen.

Happy Autumn Apples Week! See you tomorrow with a yummy apple recipe!

Check out the rest of the week:
Day 2: Almond Apple Bars
Day 3: Pie Crust Chips & Apple Salsa {+ Link-up}
Day 4: Apple Pie Ice Cream
Day 5: Loaded Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cake

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Have a blessed Autumn day friends!

Coming Soon ~ Autumn Apples Week

The official start of Autumn is this Sunday 9/22, so I thought we'd celebrate with a week that's all about Apples!

Join me all next week {9/23 - 9/27} for some apple fun with great new recipes and a chance to link up your own favorite apple posts! Yay for Autumn! Raise your hand if you love Autumn *and* apples! :)

What's your favorite kind of apple?

P.S. Congratulations to the winners of chocolate aprons from my 1000th post giveaway: Barbie and Lisa!

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Have a blessed almost-officially-Autumn day, friends! :)

Puffy Apple French Toast Bake

Sometimes you need an extra special breakfast - and one that doesn't require a lot of work is a bonus! This is an overnight recipe, and then baked in the oven so you don't stand at the stove cooking the whole time! And it's DElish! 

Gotta have maple syrup drizzled over - that's what makes it perfect! :)

I was trying to use up some bread, so let it overlap and it turned out great.

The apple topping looks yummy all on its own!

Ready for the oven...

Now that's why I call it Puffy!! The puff does go down as it cools though.

Puffy Apple French Toast Bake

1 loaf French bread {or similar}, cut into 1 inch slices
2 cups half & half
2 cups milk
7 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 large apples, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick spray. Place 3 rows of bread in baking dish lengthwise, overlapping the slices slightly to fit. {Or just cram it in however you like!}

In a bowl, combine half & half, milk, eggs, vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon, and nutmeg. Beat with whisk until thoroughly blended. Pour egg mixture evenly over the bread. Push bread gently down into liquid. Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight {or 8 hours}.

In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degress F. Remove baking dish from refrigerator. Uncover baking dish. With the back of a spoon, lightly press bread into egg mixture. Let sit at room temp while you prepare the apples.

Combine chopped apples, brown sugar, melted butter, and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon in a medium bowl. Top bread mixture evenly with apple mixture. Bake until puffed and golden and a knife inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve with maple syrup drizzled over top.

Rather than a typical French toast texture, this is more custard-like. I actually liked it better the second day when it was a little firmer, but my son loved it the first day! Also, because I didn't add any sugar to the milk & egg mixture, the only sweetness comes from the apples on top and the syrup you drizzle over. Once you have the syrup on, it's perfect! But if you desire more sweetness in the French toast, you could add some sugar or honey to the milk mixture.

Do you like overnight recipes? Are you a French Toast fan?

This post linked to:
 ~ Chic & Crafty Party at The Frugal Girls 
 ~ I'm Lovin' It at TidyMom

Have a blessed day friends!

You Know You Want Some ~ Carmelized Apples With Nut Topping

This is an easy recipe that you can do on your stovetop.  So deliciously Fall - you must give it a try!  It's scrumptious.  :)  Come on over to Pennies and Blessings to get my recipe.  See you there! 

Have a great Fall day friends!