A few weeks ago I mentioned this apple cake recipe and wanted to make sure I got it out to you all. You need a serious sweet tooth for this one! Its delicious and best served warm with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream. Its very similar to one of those poke-cake recipes, which intrigued me. I swear I've pinned 500 of those poke-cake recipes but made 0 of them. They always look good and the concept sounds amazing, no idea why I haven't followed through. Probably because my baking is more often than not spontaneous and requires whatever I have on hand. Luckily I've had apples coming out my ears and I over purchased jars of caramel a few months back...so I was ready to go when I found this recipe.
Currently my son Maks is my #1 fan when it comes to my baking. He sits at the counter and eats whatever I've made and says "Mommy, you're the best cook ever." Seriously?? Does it get any better than that? He's only 5. Hopefully he'll still feel that way when he's 50. He loved this cake! The kids even helped bake this one, its very family friendly. Give it a try while apples are still in season, hopefully you'll like it as much as Maks! :)
Caramel Apple Cake
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Adapted from Lady and Sons Cookbook
Prep time:
Cook time:
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
2 1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. vegetable oil
3 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp vanilla
1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
2 1/2 c. diced apples
1 jar caramel sundae topping
Instructions
Preheat oven 350 degrees.
Cream together sugar, eggs, and oil. Add flour; mix together until well blended.
Add vanilla, nuts, and diced apples.
Spread into a lightly greased and floured 13 x 9-inch baking dish; bake for 45 to 60 minutes.
Cake is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
When cake is done, punch holes in it with a knife and pour caramel topping over it.
Let stand for 10 minutes and serve warm with ice cream.
If you are like most homes with small children in residence, spaghetti is a popular menu item. It's quick, easy, and photo ops abound. Who doesn't have a collection of pictures of toddlers with upside-down bowls on their heads?
In an effort to change up our pasta routine, I tried out this recipe, found through the wonderful world of Pinterest. I loved the "make ahead" nature of this dish and the ability to throw it together with ingredients on hand. The original recipe calls for ground beef, but I have used turkey Italian sausage (which was very good), and chopped up turkey pepperoni (which was delicious and the clear winner). My kids love it and it's earned a permanent spot in our meal rotation. Enjoy!
~Erin
Creamy Baked Spaghetti
Author: Erin (adapted from Plain Chicken)
Prep time:
Cook time:
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Serves: 6
Ingredients
12 oz spaghetti
1 28 oz. jar of your favorite prepared pasta sauce
1 lb cooked, drained Italian sausage OR 1 c. of roughly chopped pepperoni
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced
8 oz. cream cheese, softened and cubed
1/2 c. parmesan cheese, grated
1 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
Stir your choice of meat into pasta sauce.
Prepare spaghetti noodles according to package directions. Drain cooking water and return hot pasta to pot. Immediately stir cream cheese, Italian seasoning, and garlic in to pasta until noodles are coated.
Lightly spray a 9x13 pan. Spread a small amount of sauce mixture on bottom of pan. Spread spaghetti in pan, then top with sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.
Bake at 350 for approximately 30 minutes, until bubbly.
Notes
Save yourself a lot of frustration and make sure your cream cheese is thoroughly softened and cut into small chunks before stirring into noodles. Even after following these steps myself, I was a little surprised how "melt resistant" my full fat cream cheese could be. Putting the lid on the pot and letting it sit for a few minutes usually helps. Definitely avoid using a fat free cream cheese as it's melting capabilities are severely limited. :)
If you're like me, the idea of a healthy chocolate chip cookie sounds like an oxymoron. AND moronic. Really...if I want a chocolate chip cookie, I'm more likely PMSing and just want something sweet more than I care about if it's good for me or not! BUT, I have to say, these fit the bill as far as fulfilling a need for sweets and being healthy to boot (or at least healthy as far as cookie standards go).
I found this recipe in Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook when my kids were toddlers. I remember being so excited to get the cookbook and then feeling like a complete failure as a mother because I hadn't been setting aside my Sundays to steam and puree enough fruits and vegetables to choke a horse. I personally found that most of the recipes were just way too labor intensive for the little time I had to prepare food while caring for a one and a half year old and a newborn. So I didn't chop, steam, puree, and freeze avocado, beets, broccoli, butternut squash, carrots, cauliflower, peas, red peppers, spinach, sweet potatoes, zucchini, summer squash, apples, bananas, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, cherries, and pineapple in popsicle molds. Report me to DCFS. ;)
Don't get me wrong, if you were (or are) a mom (or dad) who purees vegetables and fruits and sneaks them into food on a regular basis, I think you're awesome and amazing and I'm completely jealous. I just found I had a hard time finding the time to be able to do it...let alone shower.
Anyway, back to these cookies. As I looked through the recipes and found one after the other requiring some sort of premade puree, I practically jumped with glee when I came upon this one. No puree! The sneaky ingredient comes from a can! And its a DESSERT! I was all in.
I made them for the first time to bring to a playgroup get together at my dear friend, Liz's house and I will never forget the look on my (then new) dear friend Erin's face when I told her that there were chickpeas -- yes, chickpeas...whole beans...not pureed -- in the cookies. As I'm sure she has written on here before...Erin hates beans. I did not know this at the time so her reaction was a little comical. She was VERY hesitant to try them but, God love her, she did! And I remember her and I pulling and picking them apart trying to find the beans. You cannot find them! It's like magic! Maybe it's because these "cookies" actually have more of a soft, cake-like texture than a traditional cookie.
Give them a try...I DARE you to find a bean in there once they're baked. And the kids all loved them...then and now.
~Leah
Sneaky Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Leah (adapted from Jessica Seinfeld)
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Soft, cake-like chocolate chip cookies with protein!
Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray (or a silpat)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup trans-fat free soft tub buttery spread (I used Smart Balance)
2 egg whites
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 (15-oz.) can chickpeas (or garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
2 cups (12 oz.) milk chocolate chips
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. kosher or sea salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray OR line with a silpat.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar and spread on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the egg whites and vanilla then the chickpeas and chocolate chips (you may want to lower the speed a little so chickpeas aren't flying all over your kitchen). Add the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt and mix on low speed until a thick dough forms.
Drop the dough by the tablespoon (or standard cookie scoop) onto the baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart (these don't spread much). Bake until golden brown and just set; 11 to 13 minutes. Do NOT overbake. Transfer to a rack to cool.
Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days
Recipe yields 3-4 dozen cookies depending on your scoop size.
Every September I end up with buckets of apples at my house. My mother-in-law has an apple tree that luckily produces TONS of apples and she's great at sharing! At some point in my life I acquired one of those peeler-corer thingies. Thank the Lord. It still takes forever but I know it saves me so much time. Over the last two weeks I've spent no less than 2 hours peeling and coring apples, no joke. I currently have 2 apple crisps, 2 apple pies, several pints of applesauce and a few bags of apple pie filling in my freezer!
So when I had another milk crate of apples delivered the other day I knew apple pie, sauce and crisp was out of the question. This week we've switched to apple muffins and an AWESOME caramel apple cake. Today isn't my turn to post, but I had to share this apple muffin recipe. These are so moist and yummy! And considering the possibility that some of you may have a boat-load of apples at your house too... it seemed like great timing. They were a big hit in my family.
Stay tuned. Next week I'll give you the Caramel Apple Cake recipe. Its one of those poke-holes-in-the-cake recipes and pour caramel into them. Delicious.
~Wendy
Apple Crumb Muffins
Recipe Type: Breakfast
Author: Wendy
Prep time:
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
2 c. flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ c. butter (at room temperature)
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cup chopped apples
Crumble Topping
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. flour
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp butter
Frosting
1/4 c. powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp milk
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375
Line a muffin tray with 12 muffin papers, and fill each one with a spoonful of brown sugar to hold it down and to create a bit of crust by patting down with your finger.
In a medium sized bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a larger bowl cream together the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla, stir in apples. Once they are mixed in, slowly mix in flour, small portions at a time.
In a separate small bowl, mix the 1/3 cup of brown sugar, 1 Tlb of flour, ¼ tsp of cinnamon, and 1 Tlb of butter. Mix together until it starts to create small balls of sand like crumbs. Set crumb topping aside.
Fill each muffin cup about ¾ of the way with muffin batter, and then sprinkle each with 1 tsp of crumble mix
Once all are loaded, place in oven, and set for 18 minutes (at the half way point turn the muffins around in the oven).
While the muffins are cooking, make the icing by pouring a little bit of milk at a time into your powdered sugar, until you reach the consistency that you desire.
When muffins are done, remove from the oven, let cool for 10 minutes, and then drizzle icing on, serve.
