AUTUMN POTPOURRI

Ingredients

The peel of one orange 
One cut up apple 
2 large cinnamon sticks 
1 tablespoon of cloves 
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract 
1 tablespoon of almond extract 
1.5 cups of water plus plenty more for refill 

Place all ingredients in a cooking pot and simmer throughout the day while adding a bit of water from time to time. You can reuse this mix for three days and store it in the fridge overnight.

BAKED APPLES

BAKED APPLES

Ingredients

1/4 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch ground nutmeg
6 Gala apples, rinsed
1/2 cup apple cider
3 tablespoons butter, cut into pats
1/2 cup maple syrup

Directions

In a large bowl, mix together cherries, sugar, pecans, cinnamon and nutmeg. Put aside.
With a melon scooper, core apples to hollow out the middle. Do not go all the way through. Fill each apple core with dry cherry mixture.
Pour apple cider into casserole dish and place apples right side up. Place a pat of butter on apple hole filled with mixture. Drizzle maple syrup on top of all the apples. Bake for 50 minutes.

Recipe from Food Network

HOMEMADE CARAMEL APPLES

HOMEMADE CARAMEL APPLES

yields five servings

Ingredients

Your favorite variety of apples, cleaned and dried

Bag of caramels

Popsicle sticks

Wax paper

Instructions

1. Stick a popsicle stick into the top of each apple

2. Place unwrapped caramels into pot with 2 tbsp water

3. Submerge apples (one at a time) in melted caramel

4. Place apples on wax paper until cool

BAKING: APPLE PIE TREATS

APPLE PIE TREATS

yields four apple pies

5-6 Granny Smith Apples (Make sure they can stand on their own)

1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon

1/4 Cup Sugar

1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar

Pie Crust

Pre-Heat oven to 375 Degrees F

Step 1: Cut off the top of 4 apples off and discard. Remove the inside of each apple with a spoon or melon baller very carefully, as to not puncture the peel.

If you’re a skilled interior apple excavator, salvage as much as you can so you can use it for Step 2.

Step 2: Remove skin from remaining apple(s) and slice very thinly. These apple pieces will give you the additional filling needed to fill the four apples you are baking.

Mix sliced apples with sugars and cinnamon in a bowl. If you prefer more or less cinnamon make adjustments as desired. Same goes for the sugar.

Scoop sliced apples into hollow apples.

Step 3: Roll out pie crust and slice into 1/4 inch strips.  You can also add a strip of pastry inside the top of the apple almost like a liner to add a little more texture/sweetness to the pie.

Cover the top of the apple in a lattice pattern with pie crust strips.

Step 4: Place apples in an 8×8 pan.  Add just enough water to the cover the bottom of the pan.

Cover with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and sliced apples are soft.

Serve with ice cream.

BAKING: SOFT ICED PUMPKIN SPICE COOKIES

Happy fall! These cookies are delicious and easy to make. They also make for a perfect fall breakfast. 

SOFT FROSTED PUMPKIN SPICE COOKIES

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• frosting:
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1/2 cup softened cream cheese
• 2-3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven.
For the Frosting:
4. Cream butter and cream cheese together. Slowly add powdered sugar and mix with an electric mixer until thick and creamy.
5. Add vanilla and cinnamon.
6. When cookies are cooled- spread frosting on top with an offset spatula.

Recipe from The Baker Chick

BAGUETTE FRENCH TOAST

BAGUETTE FRENCH TOAST

yields four servings

You can soak this overnight but the texture will be more like a soufflé. If you do it 30 minutes before baking, it's a bit crunchier. But both techniques work well. You want the baguette to be stale but not as hard a a rock. You could save scraps in the freezer for a few weeks until you have enough for this dish. 

Ingredients:

1 baguette, a bit stale

3 tablespoons butter

3 eggs
2 cups whole milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 teaspoon orange zest

pinch of kosher salt

3 tablespoons turbinado sugar

powdered sugar for the top

Ideas for toppings:

warm maple syrup
warm maple syrup mixed with warm honey

blackberry sauce (see recipe below)

Nutella
jam

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Trim 1/2 inch off of each end of the baguette and feed scraps to the dog. Slice baguette in half. Cut into serving-size pieces (4-5" long). Place bread cut-side up in an ovenproof dish and butter the top of each piece. Don't overlap the pieces.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the eggs. Add milk, vanilla extract, orange juice/zest, and salt. Whisk until foamy. Pour over bread. Flip the pieces around every 10 minutes or so to make sure both sides are soaking up the liquid . Leave in the liquid for about 30 minutes total. You want the bread to be wet but not soggy and falling apart. When you bake it, the bread should be resting in a small pool of the liquid but not drowning in it. You might need to pour off a few tablespoons of the liquid if the bread doesn't soak most of it up.

Make sure all pieces are cut-side up. Sprinkle turbinado sugar all over the top. Bake until the bread is puffed up and golden (30-40 minutes). You might need to throw it under the broiler for optimum crispy crunchy caramelized beauty. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and eat right away (but it does reheat nicely). Serve with optional toppings listed above.

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BLACKBERRY SAUCE

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon water

3 cups blackberries
pinch of salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Place sugar and water in a medium-sized saucepan. Cook over medium heat. Swirl it around by the pot handle to keep it cooking evenly. When it starts to smoke and turn light brown, toss in the blackberries. Careful. It might spatter a bit. Stir until blackberries have released their juices (2-3 minutes). Take off the heat and stir in the salt and lemon juice. Let cool for 10 minutes. Serve over ice cream. Or cool completely and drizzle over yoghurt. It keeps in the fridge for a week. It will keep for a few months in the freezer.

Recipes from Dash and Bella.

BAKING: PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

What better way is there to welcome Fall into the world? This recipe makes some of the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had. It works best if you let the dough rise overnight instead of just a couple of hours. Also, take them out of the oven a little before the timer is up. Serve warm. Happy Fall!

PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Yield: about 15 Cinnamon Rolls

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup warm milk
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp melted butter
• 3-4 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• FILLING 
• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 3/4 to 1 cup brown sugar
• cinnamon
• pumpkin pie spice
• CREAM CHEESE FROSTING 
• 4 oz. cream cheese
• 4 Tbsp. butter softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2-3 cups powdered sugar
• milk if needed to thin to desired consistency

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Comine warm water and yeast packet and let sit for about 5 minutes until yeast activates and gets happy.
2. In a large bowl, combine activated yeast, warm milk, pumpkin puree, beaten egg, melted butter, about 1 1/2 cups of flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and ginger. Beat for about 2 minutes.
3. Slowly add remaining flour, a little at a time, until dough becomes stiff enough to knead. Knead, adding flour as necessary until dough becomes smooth and stretchy.
4. Place dough in a greased bowl and turn ball of dough so all sides are lightly coated in grease. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for about an hour until doubled in size.
5. Roll dough out into a large rectangle, approximately 18-20 inches long. Smear entire top surface with softened butter. Next, sprinkle the brown sugar over the top of the butter and rub it until entire top surface is evenly coated. Next, sprinkle on cinnamon, as much or as little as desired. Lastly, sprinkle on a little pumpkin spice over the top, you don't need to much of it.
6. Roll the dough into a log the long way. Using a very sharp knife or a piece of string, slice the log into about 15 slices.
7. Place slices in a greased 9x13 inch baking pan (or in two 8 or 9 inch round cake or pie pans). Cover with a towel and let rise until almost doubled in size, it will take about 45 minutes.
8. Bake at 375°F. Bake the rolls till they're brown around the edges and beginning to turn golden brown across the center, about 20-30 minutes.
9. While rolls are baking, prepare Cream Cheese Frosting. Beat softened cream cheese and butter together until well combined. Add vanilla and powdered sugar and beat until combined. Add milk as needed to reach desired consistency.
10. Frost cinnamon rolls while warm and serve warm.

Recipe from Chef-in-training

BAKING: NO BAKE COOKIES

I recently discovered how to make No Bakes. It is so easy, and I feel like they are kind of healthy because the cookies are made up almost entirely of oatmeal. I made my first batch on a Friday night a couple of weeks ago, and they have been in high demand around here ever since.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER NO BAKE COOKIES

Ingredients
2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups oatmeal
Waxed paper

Directions
In a heavy saucepan bring to a boil, the sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. Let boil for 1 minute then add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. On a sheet of waxed paper, drop mixture by the teaspoonfuls, until cooled and hardened.

Recipe from Food Network

CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRIES

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Ingredients: 

Carton of strawberries

Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Squares

Baker's White Chocolate Squares for decoration

Wax paper

Directions:

1. Wash strawberries 

2. Heat Semi-Sweet chocolate in microwave (keep in white carton)

3. Dip Strawberries in chocolate. Cover completely.

4. Place berries on wax paper and wait until cool.

5. Heat white chocolate bars. Use a spoon to drizzle designs over the berries.