Apple Palooza

Yesterday we went apple picking in Warwick, NY at Maskers Apple Farm with friends from church. 

The free-all-you-can-eat-apples-while-you-pick policy meant that I went home not wanting to ever really see an apple again. But at least 25 lbs of them are sitting in our fridge, so I have been unearthing my favorite apple recipes. To share the apple/fall love, they are discussed below. Oh, and if you are serious about apples, save yourself the agony of mass-peeling and buy yourself an Apple-Peeler-Corer-Slicer. It will be the best $40 you ever spend, believe me.

Well, maybe not the best you EVER spend. But it will be pretty high up there.

Grandma Mooney's Apple Pie

I am starting with the best, first. This recipe was handed down by my grandmother, and has created probably hundreds of delicious pies over the decades. The beauty is the simplicity. Don’t be tempted to add cornstarch, or lemon zest, or anything else that those fancy-Dan TV people tell you to add. Stick to the simple recipe below, and let the apples speak for themselves.

Ingredients:

·         4-6 cups cored, peeled, thinly chopped apples (the more tart, the better. If you’re going store-bought on the apples, I like Granny Smith)

·         1 Cup white sugar

·         3 Tablespoons flour

·         1/8 teaspoon cinnamon  (I usually bump up to ¼ teasp)

·         Dash salt

·         2 Tablespoons cold butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix apples and sugar/flour/cinnamon/salt. Prepare bottom crust of pie crust (8 or 9 inch pan), place in apple mixture, and dot the top with small pieces of butter. Put on top crust, cut slits for steam, and cover the crust (only the crust, not the whole pie!) with strips of aluminum foil. Bake for 25 mins, remove foil, then bake for an additional 15 mins. Pie is done when crust is golden brown and pie juice is bubbling through the slits.

Now – for those who want a quick (yet still delicious pie), go to the refrigerated section of your grocery store and buy a pre-made Pillsbury pie crust. There is no shame in this, and I will not judge you.  My grandmother converted to Pillsbury crusts at some point, and what’s good enough for Grandma’s standards should be good enough for you! But, if you are feeling truly masochistic (which I occasionally am), my homemade crust recipe can be found at the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie post.

On to the next apple adventure - apple butter! For those who don't know what this is (cough, friends born north of the Mason-Dixon line, cough) its a spicy spread that's sort of a thick applesauce. But better. And excellent on turkey sandwiches, biscuits, toast, pretty much anything. Yum. (And no, there is no actual butter in it).

Apple Butter

• ~10 lbs of apples (15 to 20-ish small/ medium apples, different varieties are ok. If you use a really sweet apple, use less sugar)
• 2-3 cinnamon sticks (or 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon)
• 1 t freshly grated nutmeg (I am supremely lazy when it comes to spices, so “fresh grated” for me means “use spice drawer from our wedding 4 years ago that I’m still working through." But this is probably not an ideal habit, so go for it on the fresh grating if you like!)
• 1 t ground cloves
• ¾ cup orange juice
• ½ cup water water
• sugar to taste (optional, and depending on the type of apples you used, but perhaps 1-2 cups. Or for a slightly healthier version, use 1 cup honey. Or no sugar at all. It's always easier to add more sugar later rather than ending up with butter that seems more like an apple lollipop)

Directions:

Peel, core, and finely chop apples. Put into crock pot with orange juice and water. Mix all dry ingredients separately, then add to apple mix. (If all your apples don’t fit into the crock pot at first, no worries – it will cook down significantly over the first hour and you can add more as there is room in the crock pot). 

This is a set-it-and-forget-it (well, don’t totally forget it) recipe… it needs AT LEAST 12 hours, and depending on the heat of your crock pot, maybe more like 18 hours. More time won’t make the butter burn, it will just make it thicker, so you can let it go until you get to the consistency you like. Once you are towards the end of 12 hours, if you want a smoother consistency, use an immersion blender to blend the mix in the crock pot. Or leave as is for a thicker/chunkier spread.

To make sure that the butter is at least minimally done, take a spoonful and put it on a saucer to cool. If water begins to separate away from the butter, keep cooking the mixture.

Add more spices to taste if you like, and enjoy! I recommend canning… properly canned apple butter can last for a year or more. Recommended eating suggestions: on a hot, fresh buttermilk biscuit… or on a cracker with brie cheese. Yum!

Apple Nut Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

Cake:

2 cups flour

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup butter, softened

 1/4 cup milk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups apples, peeled/cored/chopped

 Topping:

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

2 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions: Combine all cake ingredients except apples in large bowl. Beat on medium speed with mixer, scraping bowl often, until smooth. Gently stir in apples. Spread batter into greased 9x13-inch baking pan. Combine all topping ingredients in a small bowl; mix and sprinkle over batter. Bake for 30-35 mins or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out cleanly.

Apple Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 cups peeled, diced apples
• ½ cup chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon flour

Directions:

1. Mix flour, cinnamon, soda, salt and baking powder together.
2. Beat eggs and add sugar and oil.
3. Add vanilla and dry ingredients.
4. Stir in apples.
5. Mix walnuts in a tsp of flour and add to batter.
6. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour

 That's it! My loaf pans are fairly large (and my oven is a bit unpredictable in heating), so I ended up baking for ~70 minutes. Just bake until a toothpick comes out fairly clean (at least not gooey).

There you have it - an apple feast!