Fruit Desserts

Crock Pot Baked Apples- SRC

January 27, 2014

Every night Price and I are up between 2 am-4am, depending on when Autumn has fallen asleep. Ideally, we get her down between 9-10.30 and then we immediately brush our teeth and drive into bed as well. Gotta maximize on our sleep! Anyway, there are some pretty interesting things on TV in the middle of the night.

Sometimes we watch something we’ve DVR’d but other times we’ll find some random thing to watch while I’m pumping and he’s feeding Autumn. Lately, we’ve been watching the Australian Open. So weird to be watching live tennis in the middle of the night. But to change it up, the other night we watched the first episode of Wahlburgers, a reality show about the burger joint run by the Wahlberg family. Made me want a burger in the middle of the night. Hello… always hungry now!

Other nights we turn on Weatherscan and just so happen to leave it on for like an hour as we sometimes are zombies in the middle of the night. There is just something so relaxing about their music in the middle of the night. no?

Anyway, besides the TV we watch in the middle of the night, I often end up browsing Pinterest. My pins are pretty varied but lately I’ve been thinking about slow cooker recipes. I have fallen deep in love with my slow cooker. It just makes things so much easier now with a new baby. Between feeding her, changing her, snuggling with her my time gets sucked up pretty quickly. And it’s not like I have any problem with that but that is the way things go. Basically it just means it’s time to reinvent how we typically get meals on the table.

Since slow cooker recipes are a big part of our life now, it made perfect sense that Price picked out these Crock Pot Baked Apples for this month’s Secret Recipe Club. This month I had Emily’s blog called Life on Food. Emily has lived all over, including Iowa, Maine, and Connecticut, and her travels are reflected in the recipes she features on her blog. Totally jealous she gets to Disney every year too!!

These Crock Pot Baked Apples are killer. Well, actually, I don’t like baked apples. So I took Price’s word for it when he said they were really, really good. I know, how can I not like baked apples?!?! It’s a texture thing that has to do with the skin. But Price wanted them so I made them. That’s what happens when you love someone… you make them baked apples! And then your house smells amazing!!

Make these for yourself, or at the least for someone you love!

Crock Pot Baked Apples

Makes 6 apples

Ingredients

6 Gala or Macintosh apples
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup diced walnuts
3 tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup apple cider or apple juice
2 tablespoons orange liquor (optional)

Process

Remove the stem, core, and seeds from the center of each apple while keeping the bottom of the apple. This basically creates a bowl shape.
In a large bowl, mix brown sugar, walnuts, butter, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Fill the apples with the filling and place them in the crock-pot. Pour in the liquids into the bottom of the crock pot.
Cover and cook 2 1/2 to 3 hours on high heat until the apples are soft and begin to collapse.

Adapted from Life on Food

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Check out my 2 years of Secret Recipe Club posts!!!!

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Peach and Blueberry Cobbler

August 30, 2013

So I’m still addicted to peaches. I don’t know what I am going to do when they are out of season. I’ll be super sad and probably still buy them and pay too much for out peaches shipped half way around the world. All because I’m pregnant and must have peaches on the daily.

When I recently checked the NASCAR schedule to see what recipes I would be making soon for the upcoming race for my Sprint Cup Snacks posts, I got really excited for the Atlanta race this weekend. Peaches just jumped out to me so I could not resist!

Oh man, I had so many peach recipes dancing through my head! I toyed around with everything from muffins to a dessert pizza topped with a cream cheese drizzle. (Still thinking about that last one!) But in the end I found this Peach and Blueberry Cobbler that had my name all over it. Nice mash up of the North and South with the Blueberries and Peaches. Plus cobbler is just super simple to make so you really have no excuse not to make one. No excuse.

I suggest you take a bit of time before dinner (or this weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway) to make it so it is hot and ready for when you are looking for dessert! Doesn’t hurt to serve with some vanilla bean ice cream or whipped cream.

Peach and Blueberry Cobbler

Ingredients

2 3/4 pounds peaches, halved lengthwise, pitted, and then cut into 3/4-inch-thick wedges (about 8 cups)
1 pint blueberries
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated, peeled fresh ginger or 1 generious pinch of ground ginger
pinch of salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, (1 stick), cut into small pieces
1 vanilla bean
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream, plus more for brushing
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Process

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the racks in the in upper and lower thirds of the oven.
Stir together the peaches, blueberries, 1/3 cup of the granulated sugar, cornstarch, brown sugar, lemon juice, ginger, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Transfer to a 12-by-8 1/2-inch (2-quart) baking dish; set aside.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a medium bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture using a pastry blender or your hands to form clumps that are no larger than small peas. (If using your hands be sure to work quickly!)
Scrape vanilla bean seeds into the cream; stir with a fork to combine. Discard pod. Add the cream mixture to the flour mixture; stir until a soft, sticky dough forms.
Drop small pieces evenly over the entire cobbler. Brush the top of the dough with cream, and sprinkle with sanding sugar.
Place a parchment-lined baking sheet on the bottom rack to catch any overflow juices. Bake the cobbler on the rack directly over the baking sheet until topping is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 55 to 70 minutes. If the topping is browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil. Let cool on a wire rack 1 hour before serving.

Sourced from Martha Stewart

Apple Pie Squares

October 10, 2012

When I was recently doing a bit of random blog browsing on Rachel’s blog I saw this recipe for Apple Pie Squares and I knew I would have to make them this year. After I went apple picking I knew that making these was only a matter of time, finding time. Well after a crazy 2 weeks that included a surprise trip to Chicago (more on that later!) I finally had some time to stay home and bake. I’m not saying they take long, I just felt the impulse to basically unpack everything in the kitchen before hand and put it in a new cabinet/drawer/bin before doing anything cooking related.

Before making them I discussed with Rachel that I don’t have a food processor large enough to process all the base ingredients together so I would have to adapt the recipe a bit and I’d see how it works out. Well, folks if you have a food processor then follow Rachel’s instructions, you don’t have one then follow mine. These came out really well so I imagine that you can make it work out for you as well. If you can’t break down oats in something like a mini prep which I borrowed from my friend) then you just carry on. Maybe I’d add an extra egg white to help it come together easier. The important thing is that you make these apple pie squares!

Truthfully I was a bit nervous about enjoying these because I don’t like apple crisps, or any crisps for that matter, since they have an oat crumble on top. Well, it turns out I like the taste and just hate the texture. Blending the oats kept the great oaty taste but completely changed the texture. Perfect!! In regards to adapting the recipe I basically stuck with it but I used much more apples, basically because I felt like it, so I had to increase the bake time. Also, I didn’t have plain yogurt at home so I used vanilla which gave this a nice a la mode taste to it.These were a hit at work and I bet they will be a hit when you make them too.

Apple Pie Squares

Makes 16 squares

Ingredients

For the base and topping:

1 1/2 C flour
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 C oats
1/2 C butter, cubed
1 egg white
1 tsp cinnamon

For the filling:

6 oz of vanilla yogurt
1/2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
4 C diced, peeled apple

Process

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 8×8 pan by lining with foil or parchment.
In a large bowl, mix the peeled, diced apples together with the sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Once evenly coated, add the yogurt and mix to coat all pieces. Set aside.
In a food processor, blend the oats until a fine meal is created. Add the oats to a large bowl containing flour, brown sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly to combine. Add the butter incorporate with your hands/forks/pastry blender until the dough is crumbly. Remove 1 cup of the mix, set aside. Add 1 egg white, blend until mixture is just combined.
Evenly press moist mixture into the baking pan. Bake crust for 10 minutes.
Spoon filling over the pare-baked crust spreading out as evenly as possible. Sprinkle reserved topping mixture over apples. Press down to flatten just slightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown.
Cool in the pan then transfer to the fridge to chill for at least one hour. Remove from pan carefully and slice into 16 squares. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Individual Apple Pie Tarts

October 9, 2012

One of my favorite things to do is rip out all the recipes in magazine that I think I would enjoy making. There is a big difference tween the ‘ooo this looks good’ recipe to the ‘I need to make this one day/right now’ recipe. Then I trim my recipes pages up and ~~file them~~ stack them all up so I can go through them and pick out things to make. Well, I recently came across a recipe of Individual Plum Tarts from my Rachael Ray magazine.

I made Individual Apple Pie Tarts by swapping out the plums for apples and adding some typical spices used in apple pies. These are easy with a capital E! The puff pastry does most of the work for you and you just need to dice up some apples and quickly mix with the sugar and spices. The important thing is to have a non stick sheet or one that is coated with non stick cooking spray so the puff pastry doesn’t stick. The rest is a breeze! And you’ll end up with really yummy little apple pie tarts!

Individual Apple Pie Tarts

Makes 6

Ingredients

1 sheet of puffed pastry, 1/2 pound
3 cups of finely diced baking apples (approximately 3 apples)
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of ground nutmeg
butter

Process

Let puff pastry thaw according to package’s instructions.
While the puff pastry is thawing, peel, core and finely dice the apples. In the bowl, combine the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Unfold the puff pastry and cut along the 2 seams to get 3 strips, then cut those in half to get 6 rectangles.
Lay the rectangles out on a greased non-stick baking sheet, add 1/2 cup of the apple mixture to each rectangle keeping a 1/2″ border around the edges clean of apples. Add 2 tiny pieces of butter to the mound of apples.
In a 375 degree oven, bake until golden, about 25-30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Ice cream or caramel sauce are great additions when serving.

S’mores Campfire Banana Boats

August 22, 2012

When I was growing up I used to go to sleep away camp at Camp Hazen in central Connecticut.

I have some of my best memories from the fun times I had during the 30 weeks I spent at camp over 5 years. It was such a blast with swimming, horse back riding (the horse I rode was named Cadallic), playing rounds and rounds of the cup game in the mess hall, eating fresh baked bread, and staying up way too late.

I won’t even get into the time my friend and I got in trouble for dying our hair there… obviously I would get in trouble for that!

Endless amounts of fun, which was often focused around the campfire singing J J Coolay and doing skits.

Other great things to do around a campfire is to roast marshmallows, make s’mores, ‘bake’ orange cakes, and make campfire banana splits. So I combined s’mores and campfire banana splits to make these s’mores campfire banana splits.

Sadly, I was not sitting on a log around a campfire when I made these S’mores Campfire Banana Splits. I made these in the oven but you can easily make them on your grill after dinner as well.

They are so simple but so good. Which is perfect for the kid in all of us.

Be sure to stop by Amanda’s blog to check out her S’mores Cheesecake Bars as we continue our S’mores Week!!

S’mores Campfire Banana Boats

Makes 2

Ingredients

2 bananas
2 fudge covered graham crackers
2 dozen mini marshmallows

Process

Preheat oven or grill to 425 degrees. Prepare 2 pieces of aluminum foil (approx 12″x12″) by spraying with cooking spray.
Slice each banana peel length wise. Carefully open the banana peel and slice the banana diagonially and lenthwise. Spread out the banana with your knife.
Stuff broken peices of 1 graham cracker and a dozen mini marshmallows in each banana.
Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the marshmallows have melted. Carefully unwrap and enjoy!!

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S’mores Week 2012!!

Day 1

S’mores Chex Mix and S’mores Ice Cream Sandwiches

Day 2

S’mores Truffles and Microwave S’more Turtles

Berry Brownie Torte

May 28, 2012

This Berry Brownie Torte is a perfect treat for Memorial Day & Fourth of July BBQ’s, or any of your fun summer gatherings. Everyone will love this treat!

We are still getting settled into our new home. This process feels so slow.

Well, it is slow going since I am so slow at unpacking and I want everything to be in its final home when I unpack it, not unpack, move, move again, and move once more. So a little bit of everything is everywhere.

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Biscoff Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

February 14, 2012

This has to be a yummiest and easiest dessert that you can whip up for Valentine’s Day. Perfect for a last minute idea for any occasion really. In total this took me 20 minutes to do and I’m sure someone could do it even faster. I love fast desserts. Mainly because I don’t want anything to take too long and because I would rather eat chips so why would I want to spend a ton of time on something sweet. Whip up a batch up these Biscoff Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries and I swear you will enjoy them. I would not steer you wrong!

Plus stuffed strawberries are so much better than chocolate covered strawberries for Valentine’s Day. When you get a massive chocolate covered strawberry you have to take at least 2 bites of it and when you do the chocolate cracks and falls off. You instantly rush your hand to your mouth to catch those bits so they don’t fall on your new outfit, all the while looking ridiculous= not sexy.

Ever since I made my Biscoff Muddy Buddies, I have been thinking of making another treat using Biscoff. I love cheesecake stuffed strawberries, so I figured the next best thing would be to add Biscoff spread to the cheesecake mixture. But I knew I could not just leave it there… Oh no, I had to use Biscoff Cookies as well! I ended up processing the cookies to create crumbs that I could dip the strawberries into. I love the aroma of the cookies as I processed them. Oh killer. It was well worth a wait to get the crumbs on there since these suckers were so good.

Biscoff Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

*Serves 4*

Ingredients

1 lb of large strawberries
4 oz of cream cheese
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup Biscoff Spread
4 Biscoff Cookies

Process

Cut the top off of each strawberry. Using a paring knife, gently hallow out the center of the strawberry by carefully inserting the knife 1/8″ of an inch from the edge of the strawberry. The point of the knife needs to be angled towards the center of the strawberry. Carefully work the knife around the entire strawberry completing the circular cut. As you remove the knife, gently apply pressure to the pull the core of the strawberry out. Repeat this process until you have cored all the strawberries.
In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sugar, and Biscoff spread until it have a smooth, consistently mixed cheesecake mixture. Put the mixture into a sandwich bag, massage it to a corner of the bag, twist the extra bag in your hand, and then cut a small portion of the tip off the bag.
In a food processor, blend the Biscoff cookies until a fine crumb as been achieved. Put the crumbs in a small bowl for dipping.
To fill the strawberries, insert the tip of the filled bag info the hallow core of the strawberry. Squeeze the bag to force some of the mixture out. As the strawberry begins to fill, slowly pull the bag out of the strawberry allowing more to fill the berry. Fill the berry until some of the cheesecake mixture is out of the strawberry.
Once the strawberries have been filled, gently dip the filled portion into the cookies crumbs.

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Apple Pie Trifle

November 7, 2011

This Apple Pie Trifle is a wonderful combination of vanilla cake, soft cinnamon apples, and whipped cream. The caramel drizzle on top is the perfect finishing touch!

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Apple Pie Trifle is the perfect fall dessert for everyone! It’s a great combination of cake and pie so it’s sure to make everyone happy to dig in. Thankfully, it makes enough for a hungry party so everyone can enjoy some. Yum!

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