Cinnamon Applesauce

As a child I always marveled over the pink applesauce on the grocery store shelves, but mom would never let us buy it. She said it was plain applesauce or none. I'm not really sure on her reasoning behind that...

So when I found this recipe in a Taste of Home cookbook I decided to whip up a batch. I should take a side street here and mention that I can no longer stand store boughten applesauce of any kind. I had a jar in my refrigerator a few weeks back and poured some to go with my lunch and I just wasn't satisfied. I guess once you go homemade you just can't go back. So I guess I have no idea how this version of homemade "pink" applesauce compares to the boughten kind...but I'm guessing it's probably better.

I was pleasantly surprised by how the red hots weren't "hot" once they were cooked into the applesauce. Only a nice cinnamon flavor shone through. And of course the pink color. This applesauce is a great change of pace from the regular stuff, and what a fun twist, being pink and all!

Ingredients...

...8 tart apples, peeled and quartered
...1 c. water
...1 c. sugar
...1/4 c. red hot candies

Directions...

Place apples and water in a large saucepan. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Mash apples once simmering is completed, and stir in sugar and red hots over heat until both are well disolved.

To see more delicious recipes, be sure to check out Friday Food over at Mom Trends, the Recipe Swap going on over at And Baby Makes Five, Foodie Friday over at Designs by Gollum and Food on Fridays over at Anne Kroeker!

Apple Muffins

I have been craving a moist, spicy, nutty apple muffin for weeks now. I finally decided to take matters into my own hands and make one. I've made lots of muffins before, but never an apple cinnamon muffin. So I searched high and low over at Allrecipes and finally decided that this particular recipe was the chosen one.

I'm not going to lie.

This was nothing like I was hoping for. While it was good...there just wasn't enough "spice" to it. And I forgot to add in nuts. And there was too much apple.

However, for what it's worth, despite that this muffin didn't meet my craving, it was pretty good. Kind of a dense muffin, not so much a light and fluffy muffin.

Ingredients...

...2 c. flour

...1 T. baking powder

...1/2 tsp. salt

...1 tsp. ground cinnamon

...3/4 c. milk

...2 eggs

...1/4 c. applesauce

...1/4 c. honey

...1 c. chopped apples

Directions...

In a small bowl, lightly beat eggs. In a larger bowl, stir together dry ingredients until well combined. In another seperate bowl, mix remaining ingredients. Gently fold in beaten eggs. Add wet mixture to flour mixture until everything is just moistened. Fill greased muffin cups until 3/4 full and bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

To see more delicious recipes, check out Tempt my Tummy Tuesday over at Blessed with Grace and Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!

Crockpot Bacon Wrapped BBQ Apple Chicken

Not even kidding you right now, I probably have at least 20 bottles of barbecue sauce in my pantry. Who really needs 20 bottles of barbecue sauce. Especially considering that in the past we've averaged, I'd say about 2 bottles per year. That means we'd be set on barbecue sauce for about the next 10. Unless we start using it on a lot of stuff. That's why I decided to finally give this recipe it's shot at glory after about 6 months of sitting in my "to try" file.

Ingredients...

...1 chicken breast (boneless is really the only way to go for this recipe.) per person
...1 slice of bacon per chicken breast
...2 apples for every 2-3 chicken breasts used
...1/2 cup bbq sauce for every 2-3 chicken breasts used

Directions...

Peel and chop apples. Stir into barbecue sauce and place in crock. Wrap bacon around each chicken breast and set in bbq/apple mixture. Spoon apple/bbq mixture ontop of chicken breasts. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.

My Thoughts...

Excuse the half eaten chicken breast. I completely fogot to photograph until I was almost finished. This was good! I used a bbq sauce that had a lime flavor, and I doubt I'll do that again as it gave it a bit of a tang and covered up the apple flavor. I also felt that the bacon flavor was covered...so perhaps I'll try two slices of bacon per chicken breast next time? Well at any rate, this was really good! Hubs was slightly worried about it when he saw it, but even he enjoyed it. And the smell that wafted through my house as it cooked....downright sinful!

Apple Strudel Muffins

I had some apples leftover that I found on clearance for 20c/lb last week. I already have several pints of applesauce in my freezer, so I decided to switch it up and make some baked goods with the apples...

Ingredients...

...2 cups flour
...1 tsp. baking powder
...1/2 tsp. baking soda
...1/2 tsp. salt
...1/2 cup butter
...1 cup white sugar
...2 eggs
...1 1/4 tsp. vanilla
...2 cups chopped apples

...1/3 cup brown sugar
...1 tbsp. butter
...1 tbsp. flour
...1/8 tsp. cinnamon

Directions...

Preheat oven to 375*. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine butter, sugar and eggs. Add in vanilla and apples. Slowly stir in flour mixture until well blended. Fill muffin cups with mixture. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, flour and butter until it comes coarsely together. Put topping on muffins. Bake in preheated oven for 18 minutes or until golden.

My Thoughts...

This was a really great muffin! I loved the streusel topping, and the moist apple flavor offered by this muffin! What a great change from cold cereal at breakfast!

Crockpot Applesauce

I forgot how much I love homemade and warm applesauce until I started making it again this last winter! I was excited to have found apples marked down to 25c/lb for quick sale...so I grabbed up all I could and whipped up some of this deliciousness for our freezer...I got 5 pints in all (it could have been 6, but my tummy got in the way!). I can't wait until fall to make more of this...it's so perfect for a cool day!

The Ingredients...

...4 large apples. Peeled, cored and sliced.
...juice from one lemon (if you don't have a lemon on hand, don't go buy one. 2 1/2 T will substitute quite nicely)
...1/2 t. cinnamon
...1 t. vanilla
...1 T. brown sugar
...1/4 c. water

Directions...

Place apples in crockpot. Add in remaining ingredients and stir to coat all apples. Turn crockpot on low for 6 hours. After four hours, mash apples with potato masher until desired consistency.

My Thoughts...

When I make this, I usually do a double batch. My crockpot can hold a double batch just perfectly...and it will freeze into about 3-4 pints. I don't buy applesauce at the store anymore. Unless it's for baking. This is more of a eating applesauce than it is a baking one. Besides, why would you want to waste this deliciousness in a baked good. It deserves all the attention to itself!

To see other delicious recipes (and some super cute July 4 picnic ideas!) check out Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!

Apple...Brownies?

This is the story of two apples. Two lonely little apples that got left behind from the bunch because they were too mealy to eat but I just couldn't bear the thought of feeding them to the garbage disposal (mostly, because I don't have one. So I guess it was the garbage can that I couldn't bear the thought of.). I searched high and low for a recipe that called for a mere two apples. All I could find was recipes calling for 8 or more. Poor little guys. At this rate, the garbage can fate was looming nearer and nearer.

Until, a wonderful cook at AllRecipes answered my cry for help with these two little guys for a recipe for...are you ready for this...Apple Brownies.

Yes. Apple Brownies. I was a little leery, but upon reading the ingredients and directions discovered that this is no more than a lucious apple cake, so I'm not really sure where the "brownie" portion of the title comes in. So I went for it. And I must encourage you to do the same. Here is my interpretation of the recipe.

My Alliances...

...2 apples - peeled, cored & chopped
...1/2 cup butter, melted (or applesauce or plain yogurt if you want to do the healthy thing...)
...1 egg
...1 C sugar
...1 C flour
...1/2 t baking powder
...1/2 t baking soda
...1 t ground cinnamon
...1 t ground nutmeg
...1 t vanilla

The process...

Preaheat oven to 350* & grease a 9X9 dish. In a large bowl, beat together sugar, butter, egg & vanilla until fluffy. Fold in apples. Set aside. In another bowl, sift together flour, soda, powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir dry ingredients into wet mixture until just blended. Spread the batter evenly into the baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

I also chose to frost mine. I used a half a can of Betty Crocker frosting (yes. canned. I wasn't in a "make the frosting from scratch" mood.) mixed with cinnamon and nutmeg. I didn't measure the spices into the frosting. I just added and tasted til it was right. And boy was it right!

The "brownies" in all of their deliciousness....

My thoughts...

YUUUUUUUMMMMMMMM!!!! These were a-maz-innnnnnnng! The spice to apple ratio was perfect, the moistness was out of this world, and the frosting really topped it off right! I can't wait to make this again, probably for a family gathering or something so I can share this love with others!