Caramel apple muffins

Little foodie and I have been putting some effort into some fall baking. It's a little hard these days when the weather tops 80 degrees and the smell of smoke from fires miles and miles away cake your lungs. Anyone know why fall has been non-existent around these parts this year? Hard to put a mama in the baking mood.

Mama's little golfer in training!

Anyway, these little muffins were gooey, caramel-y and full of juicy organic gala's, granny smith's and golden delicious apples.. make sure you cut them in hearty chunks because then its reminiscent of a big ol caramel apple and yeah, what is better than that. Pears would be a wonderful substitute if preferred but keep the caramel! oh yes! Give it a try and you won't be disappointed!

Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Muffins

2 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 C. organic pure cane dark brown sugar
2 1/2 t. cinnamon
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 C. warm milk
1/4 C. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
4 apples, diced ( i used bigger size so it seemed like there was more apple than batter but it turned out amazing!)
1 cup caramel bits ( i used this bag of tiny caramel bits/balls that worked great but you could cut up the caramel squares. i got the nibblets at target but maybe a big grocery store would carry them, I believe they are Kraft brand but not entirely sure.)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease muffin tins or line with paper cups.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

In another bowl, combine egg and milk. Stir in butter and vanilla extract. Add flour mixture and stir just to blend. Stir in apples and caramels. Divide batter evenly among prepared cups. Sprinkle with flax seed for extra goodness or to fool yourself! Bake for 25 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly pressed. Serve warm.

Makes 12-14 muffins.

pear n'apple date bars

these may end up as one of my favorite snack bars ever. they came out moist and soft with huge chunks of juicy bartlett pears and gala apples and sweet little dates. i adapted the recipe for apple-date bars from an old cookinglight magazine...like so many other recipes there it was laden with white sugar and white flour..2 cups of sugar was insane and really even 3/4 cup could be scaled to 1/2 cup if so inclined. i can't imagine eating this any other way now! littlefoodie booty and bigfoodie daddy just could'nt get enough. the camera battery just pooped out on me so i'll have to make it again this week to definitley post a pick of these bars in all their heavenly and juicy glory!

enjoy!

3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup organic spelt flour
1 tspbaking soda
1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup organic natural dark brown sugar
7 tbl unsalted organic butter, softened
1 lrg organic egg
2 lrg organic egg whites
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp pure all natural vanilla extract
1 cup chopped medjool dates
1 tsp whole wheat flour
2 bartlett pears, diced chunky
1 gala apple. diced chunky

preheat oven to 325°

combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a and stir. set aside.

beat sugar and butter in a mixer at high speed until light and fluffy. add egg and egg whites.

Stir in applesauce and vanilla.

add flour mixture to sugar mixture; stir just until combined.

toss dates with 1 tsp flour.

add dates, pears and apples, and nuts stirring just until combined.

pour batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

bake for 1 hour.

morning glory muffins

try these. they are packed with fruits and veggies, fiber and sweetness! littlefoodie couldn't get enough and cause they are loaded with carrots it was my pleasure to indulge his hollering demands.

enjoy!

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 cup organic natural brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 medium sized carrots, cleaned and shredded
1 apple, shredded
1/2 cup blueberries (we always use forzen organic wild blueberries..smaller w/more flavor)
1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 can crushed pinapple, drained
3/4 cup light coconut milk
2 tbl canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
wheat germ

preheat oven to 350F. grease muffin tin.

combine flour, oat bran, baking soda, cinnamon and slat in a large bowl. add in carrot, apple, blueberries, sunflower seeds and pineapple.

combine cocobut milk, canola oil, vanilla extract and eggs. add to dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

spoon into greased muffin tins and sprinkle with wheat germ on top. bake for 25 minutes.

pumpkin profiteroles and caramel apple pie

first off...pumpkin profiteroles aka cream puffs...YUM! these are definitely food coma inducing, especially after a huge holiday meal but so worth the distended belly at the end! the recipe comes from epicurious.com... a great source of wonderful recipes. i did not make the original sauce but made a chocolate sauce instead and it was beyond great.

it makes an awful lot of pumpkin custard which is not a bad thing. next time i think i will make double the profiterole recipe since they made roughly 16 large ones but i had enough custard to make 20 more.


enjoy!

pumpkin profiteroles with chocolate sauce
(adapted from an epurious.com recipe)

3 cups heavy whipping cream
2 1/4 cups pure pumpkin puree
3 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup pure cane sugar
9 large as fresh as you can get egg yolks

profiteroles

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 large egg yolk

for pumpkin custard:
preheat oven to 325F.
whisk cream, pumpkin, spices and salt in a dutch oven over med heat. bring to simmer and stir often.
remove from heat.
whisk egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl. mix quickly as egg yolks can "cook" when sugar is added.
start off by whisking a tbl at a time of hot pumpkin/cream mixture into the egg yolk...then gradually and very slowly add more of the hot mixture to the egg yolks in the bowl. the key is slow and steady and constant whisking so your custard is creamy and smooth and does not taste like eggs or end up scrambled.

grab a large baking dish, about 13x9x2 and fill it with hot water about 1/4 of the way up.
pour the pumpkin custard in a 8x8x2 glass baking dish and place it into the hot water bath or bane marie.
bake until custard is set; about an hour. cool.
this can be made a day ahead.

for the profiteroles:
preheat oven to 425F.

line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

combine water, milk, butter, sugar and salt in a dutch heavy bottomed sauce pan; bring to a boil.
stir in flour and cook over med high heat until dough stops sticking to the sides and starts forming into a ball in the pan..about a minute.

transfer to a mixer and beat for a few minutes until slightly cooled.

add 3 eggs only 1 at a time. beat after each addition until blended. beat in the egg yolk until blended.

drop large tablespoonfuls of batter onto sheet; about an inch and a half-2 apart.
brush tops with remaining beaten egg. bake 15 minutes.

reduce oven to 375 and bake about 20-25 more minutes until puffed and golden brown. cool.

can be made a week ahead and frozen.

when everything is cooled slice the tops of the profiteroles off. add enough pumpkin custard to fill it up. put the lid back on. sprinkle with cinnamon and drizzle with chocolate sauce. and then eat them all!


chocolate sauce
4 oz chocolate (whatever kind you want...i used a mix of bittersweet and milk)
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp sugar
3 tbl butter
dash of vanilla

melt chocolate and water in a bowl in a microwave for 1 minute. stir to combine.

add sugar and mix.

add butter and stir to melt...add vanilla!

cool and reheat before drizzling over the cream puffs.




caramel apple pie


this recipe is lifted directly off of here

• epicurious
• 
  

i don't deviate from the recipe much at all...the only exception being i substitute cake flour with ap flour.
littlefoodie is being a sweet little pain right now so i'll just leave you with this link and tell you to make this pie...it is rich, the crust is flaky and buttery.

enjoy!