Apple Crumb Pie

This season of apple picking was the best yet! The Stayman Winesaps were the darkest shade of maroon I have seen in three years. My first batch of apple butter is on the shelves, and my appled brandy and apple-spiced whiskey are busy getting sweeter and spicier for the holidays. With Thanksgiving around the corner and fall color at its peak, it felt like an apple pie kind of weekend. Feeling the need for something new, I made an easy change to my Classic Apple Pie recipe.

The result resembles the so-called "Dutch Apple Pie" with a streusel topping: flour, butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Using oats and nuts in this crumb topping resulted in a crumb slightly less sweet than usual. "Less sweet?!" Don't worry, with this pie less sweet is better. It's like the most delicious apple cinnamon oatmeal ever made. In other words, eat this pie for breakfast.

Apple Crumb Pie
Makes one 9 inch pie

Follow the pie recipe here, using only a bottom crust.

Crumb Topping
for one 9 inch pie

3/4 c. flour (white or whole wheat)
3/4 c. oats (barley, wheat, or rye)
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)
1 t. cinnamon
pinch of salt
6 T. cold butter

Stir together flour, oats, sugar, nuts, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Cut in cold butter with fingers until butter is pea-sized. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the pie. Bake as directed.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

As soon as autumn arrives, everything is pumpkin; pumpkin soup, pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin coffee, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin butter, pumpkin pie. Pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin. Imagine my surprise then, when I realized I have only posted one other pumpkin recipe in two years (this vegan banana pumpkin walnut bread last October)! So here we go...

For several years, I've made the classic PB and chocolate combo for my dad's birthday. Take a peak at these cupcakes and you will see why. This year we broke tradition and decided on pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I was paging through the latest Food Network magazine not long after and found a recipe for pumpkin cupcakes in their "50 Things to Make with Canned Pumpkin" article.

The recipe starts as a spice cake and FN suggests doubling it to make cupcakes. I used Trader Joe's organic canned pumpkin, grown and processed in Oregon, which sells for $1.99 a can. Any pumpkin puree will do, just be sure not to use pumpkin pie mix which comes pre-spiced. Speaking of spices, FN calls for pumpkin pie spice which I substituted with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. The picky side of me prefers to add them individually. My only gripe with the recipe is the TWO sticks of butter in the cake. I didn't have time to experiment with the fats/oils this time around but I'm determined to lower the saturated fat in the future. Top these spicy cakes off with a sweet frosting like the cream cheese frosting you have already seen me pair with carrot, banana, and more.

Banana Pumpkin Walnut Bread

Here's an easy vegan quick bread, perfect for autumn. This bread combines two favorites - banana bread and pumpkin bread. The addition of oats and walnuts give the bread a nice texture.

Banana Pumpkin Walnut Bread
Makes one loaf

1/2 c. oats
2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. ground gloves
1/2 c. pumpkin puree
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c. maple syrup
1/4 c. soy milk (or other nondairy milk)
1 t. vanilla
1/3 c. walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease an 8 in. by 5 in. bread pan.

Combine oats, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and spices in a large bowl.

Mash bananas in a separate bowl. Whisk in maple syrup, soy milk and vanilla, and mix until smooth.

Combine dry and wet ingredients and stir just until incorporated. Fold in walnuts. Transfer batter to your bread pan and bake for approximately 45 minutes.

Classic Apple Pie

There's something about autumn that gets me every year. The colors. New smells. The cooler, crisper air. The warm thoughts of holidays to come. A new season of baking. 

I made my annual trek to the apple orchard two weeks ago, which means my kitchen will smell like apples for the next month. Here is last year's adventure and once again I returned from the orchard with over 20 pounds of Stayman Winesaps. A side note: I encourage you to try your hand at canning and stock your cabinets with apple butter. It will make you smile on the darkest and coldest of January days. 

An apple pie is a fall essential. Make at least one, whether it's for a regular Sunday dinner or an addition to your Thanksgiving meal. I've used this particular recipe several times and have always been satisfied. I've managed to get away without using cornstarch and I'm convinced that draining and saving the spicy syrup makes all the difference.

Meet one of the greatest kitchen tools, the apple peeler-corer-slicer. If you find yourself making many apple-filled recipes, I suggest investing in one of these. Not only is it fun to cover your kitchen counter in apple peal spaghetti, you won't believe how fast you can peal and slice your apples. After running your apples through this machine, you simply run a knife through the slices to cut them in half.

Goat Cheese, Leek and Spinach Quiche

Cooler days are here. Quiche, soup, and pie please.

My mom graciously made me lunch last Saturday and it included this yummy goat cheese and veggie quiche. I seriously love goat cheese. The flavor is prominent in this quiche, so be wary if it isn't your favorite (either use less or swap it for another soft cheese). She used a store bought crust, which didn't make it home from the store without a few bumps and crumbles.

There isn't much to say about this quiche, other than it's delicious, easy to whip up, and makes you smile on a chilly day. It's just as good the next day too!

Dark Chocolate Chip, Pistachio, and Smoked Salt Cookies

I love adding pistachios to cookie recipes (as in these Oatmeal Cranberry Pistachio gems), so I bookmarked Joy the Baker's recipe for dark chocolate, pistachio and smoked salt cookies as soon as I saw it. But what the heck is smoked salt and where was I going to find it?

The recipe sat for a few weeks as I waited for an excuse to bake these cookies, or stumbled upon smoke salt (whichever came first). I was stopping in Whole Foods to pick up some treats for an impromptu dinner with friends, and somehow remembered my need for smoke salt. I tried the baking aisle first, where two gentlemen who worked at the store looked at me confused and asked, "What are you trying to make?" Luckily, one of them thought to radio the man at the specialty foods/cheese counter, who happened to be standing behind a huge glass jar filled with a smoky brown salt. Within minutes I found myself in a circle with these three workers, all sniffing the campfire worthy scent of their smoked salt.

Needless to say, once I had the salt I didn't need an excuse to bake. These cookies are as easy to whip up as any other chocolate chip cookie recipe and I was delighted at their thinness and chewy texture (if you want to hear me talk more on that, check out my classic chocolate chippers).

A smoked, nutty, and chocolately cookie - how can we make it any better, you ask? How about using some homemade vanilla extract. Yes, be jealous, and then make your own. Luckily, the man in my life has a stash of these perfect bottles in his kitchen and I get dibs.

Apple Butter and Appled Brandy for a Homemade Holiday

As soon as you become a pretty serious vegetable gardener, or spend that extra dollar or two to get the freshest produce at the local farmer’s market (or better yet, to pick your own!), you will realize the benefit of preserving the harvest.

I was intimidated by canning for a while. If you have ever read the introduction to a canning book, you know what I’m talking about. Better not screw up or you’ll give all of your loved-ones botulism, right? Wrong, if you’re smart and don’t break the rules. Start easy with acidic foods like fruit butters, jams, and jellies. It’s the low-acid foods like vegetables that are trickier.

What’s the best fruit to can in the fall? APPLES!

My friend Dawn and I ventured to Solebury Orchards in New Hope, PA for our apple needs this year. We hit the orchards in mid-October when the Stayman Winesaps were perfect for picking and both left with 20 lbs. of apples, cider, and the obligatory cider doughnut.