Can anything be more Minnesotan than Hotdish? I don't think so. Traditionally, hotdish is a savory mix of creamed soup and hamburger, often topped with tots. Or macaroni and hamburger and cheese. Much cheese. Or tuna and noodles topped with crispy onions and mixed with....creamed soup. But let me propose another kind of hotdish, this one sweet rather than savory. What kind of sweet served in a casserole could possibly pass for hotdish? A souffle? Mais, non...too highbrow. And a banana pudding seems much too Southern. But a crumble...yes a crumble...perfect for a sweet hotdish...

Pick a tart apple to compliment the sweetness of the caramel.

Caramel Apple Hotdish

If you had to imagine that iconic Minnesota casserole, the Hotdish, transformed into dessert...this would be it!

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 3-4 medium sized tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup good quality caramel topping

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., spray 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Set aside 1 1/4 cups of the crumb mixture. Press the rest of the mixture onto the bottom of the casserole dish.
3. Spread the apple slices evenly over the top of the crumb mixture. Drizzle the caramel topping over the apples. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the caramel. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the apples are tender. Serve warm.

Warm, buttery, with a hint of cinnamon......

Apple Peanut Butter Muffins

So, I got to thinking---apples and peanut butter are really a tasty little treat, right? Well then, they would make a terrific combo in a muffin. Yes. Yes they would. Yes they do.

I've said it before...Minnesota has the very best apples. These are Honeygolds. They are a cross between a Golden Delicious and a Haralson. In 1960, the Honeygold was crossed with a Macoun. Their lovechild was the Honeycrisp!

You may recall that my husband and I went apple picking a couple of weeks ago. I still have apples to use! Not only that, we bought a couple jars of peanut butter at Costco. Jars may not be the best term. Drums. Drums of peanut butter. Apple Peanut Butter Muffins were meant to be.

Use a cookie scoop to get the batter in the tins..much less messy.

This time, instead of chopping up the fruit, I grated the apples, peels and all (I did core them). It's easy if you use a food processor...or a salad shooter. 

Apples and cinnamon = yum. Apples and peanut butter = yum. Apples, cinnamon, and peanut butter = Holy Cow!

Apple Peanut Butter Muffins

Printable Recipe

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar, divided

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups shredded apples (about 2 medium)

1 cup low fat buttermilk

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup coconut or canola oil

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.; line a 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and salt. In another bowl, stir together the shredded apples, buttermilk, peanut butter, oil, egg, and vanilla. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry, stirring until just mixed, being careful to not over beat. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins. Combine the remaining sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over the muffin tops.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool on a wire rack.

Of course, twelve muffins are a few too many to have around the house. These freeze really well. In fact, they are almost better after a day or so...the flavors meld together. For a quick breakfast, just grab one from the freezer and nuke for about 30 seconds. 

Apples, peanut butter, cinnamon, coconut oil...these are on the road to healthy. A few more tweaks and we'll be there. Perhaps, next time I'll try some whole wheat flour and a little less sugar. Or maybe not. It's hard to mess with success. :)

Zucchini Bread Pancakes with Pan Fried Apples

I'm lucky to have a supportive husband, but sometimes he just doesn't understand. Take last Sunday, for instance. I so wanted to participate in this month's Improv Challenge, hosted by Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker (go visit her...she's awesome). I missed last month for some reason or another--the time sometimes just gets away from me. At any rate, the ingredients for this month's Improv are Zucchini and Brown Sugar and I thought some nice Zucchini Bread Pancakes would fit the bill. The hubby thought so, too. He certainly had his plate at the ready when the first pancakes came out of the pan. But, by the time the pancakes were done, and I finally got a few on a plate so that I could take a picture, half of the morning was gone and he was chomping at the bit to be on the road to go apple picking. "You take pictures of pancakes every time you make them. Don't they all look the same? Can't you just recycle a few?" Seriously. Didn't he see the little green specks in these?

If I were to be completely honest with myself, I do get a little obsessive with the picture taking. Someday, I'd love to take a photography class and actually get a real camera, but for now I have a great deal of fun playing with my smart phone. After all, I don't gamble or smoke. Taking pictures with my phone is a much better vice, no?

With four different picture apps on my phone, I can get creative with the look of my zucchini.

As for the pancakes, I loved how these turned out--but since I was in a bit of a rush, I neglected to add a fun topping. 

Just a little butter and syrup...not too exciting, but tasty nonetheless.

Zucchini Bread Pancakes

Printable Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

3 cups buttermilk, room temperature

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the griddle

2 cups shredded zucchini

Heat a griddle on medium-high. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and brown sugar in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, add eggs, buttermilk, and 4 tablespoons butter; whisk to combine. Mix in zucchini. Add to flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Batter should have small to medium lumps.

Brush a little melted butter on the griddle. Pour the pancake batter by ¼ cups onto the griddle, keeping the pools of batter 2 inches apart. When pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around edges, about 2 1/2 minutes, flip over. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute.

We had our fill of the pancakes and I packed the leftovers into a container so that we could feast on them throughout the week. Then, it was off to the apple orchard.....

We went to the same orchard as last year and, once again, we were blessed with beautiful weather and gorgeous apples. We came home with a boatload of Honey Crisps and Honey Golds...yum!

Wednesday, after work, it occurred to me that we still had some pancakes to eat. It also occurred to me that we had loads of apples. Pancakes. Apples. Apples. Pancakes. Now, there's an idea!

Apples fried in butter and brown sugar. Does it get any better?

It does if you put those apples on top of Zucchini Bread Pancakes.....

Pan Fried Apples with Brown Sugar and Cream

2 tablespoons butter

3-4 medium sized tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the apples and saute until the apples are slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon over the apples, add the cream, and cook until the liquid is reduced and slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat. 

Now, go check out what everyone else is making with Zucchini and Brown Sugar......

Apple Crack (aka Swedish Apple Pie)

Apple Crack...it's really quite addicting.

Yesterday was the perfect day for apple picking. It was sunny, the leaves are at near peak in color, and the apple selection is fantastic. In case you didn't know, Minnesota is the birthplace of some of my favorite apples-- Haralson, Honeycrisp, Zestar, Honeygold, and the latest apple sensation, SweeTango, were all developed by the University of Minnesota's Horticultural Research Center. And, although the numbers are dwindling, there are several "pick-your-own" apple orchards in and around the Twin Cities. We chose an orchard that was pretty close to home--Deardorff Orchards & Vineyards.

We had two choices: to the left was the vineyard with some wine sampling going on, and to the right we had the apples. Hubby took my arm and steered me to the right.

A short, but scenic ride behind the tractor brought us to the apples.

There were plenty of apples to be had...we went a bit overboard.

Of course we do what we always do when we first bring our apples home...we gorged ourselves on some fresh ones. Then, when we had our fill, my thoughts went to what I could bake. Hmmm. It didn't take me long to come up with this one. A co-worker brought a variation of this to work last week and it was way more popular than my chocolate cupcakes. Apple Crack. You can't stop at one bite.

Apple Crack

Printable Recipe

6-8 medium baking apples (I used Honeycrisp)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup butter, softened

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 ° F.; butter a 9” ceramic, deep-dish pie plate.

Peel, core and thinly slice the apples and place them in the buttered pie plate. Mix one tablespoon of sugar with one teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over the apples; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and cinnamon. Add the butter, egg and vanilla and mix well with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined. The mixture will be like cookie dough. Spread the batter evenly over the top of the apples. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is browned and the apples are bubbling.

 I used my food processor to easily slice the apples thin.

Mix the vanilla in with the egg before you add it to the flour, then stir it all up.

Just use the back of the spoon to smooth the batter over the apples.

Be very careful. Once the spoon goes in, it's very hard to stop scooping it into your mouth.

Naked Applesauce....just one ingredient

Naked applesauce...ok, I broke down and sprinkled in some cinnamon.

Once again, my friend and co-worker, Brenda, was kind enough to bring me some produce....this time some apples. I'm not quite sure where she got the apples (and I'm not asking--lol), but I was happy she shared some with me. The thing is, while these apples were tasty--crisp and tart/sweet--they were pretty ugly.

When life gives you ugly apples....make applesauce!

I managed to eat a few...really who cares what they look like? Still, I had several left and, while I am the queen of naughty desserts (stay tuned for the Apple Crack I plan to make), I was coming down from a sugar high when I decided to make some good, old-fashioned applesauce. Seriously, there is no recipe for this....just follow along.

Rinse off your apples. I'm not going to peel these...just make sure to use organic apples if you don't. Your local apple orchard may just sell you some of their less-than-perfect apples for a good price. It doesn't hurt to ask.

Cut off any real icky spots (no worms, please) and then just quarter the apples and put them, seeds and all, in a large saucepan. The water from rinsing them is probably all you need, but if your apples aren't very juicy, add a tablespoon or two of water to the pot.

Now, put a cover on the saucepan and place the pot over medium heat. Let the apples cook (add a little more water if it seems that they are scorching) until they are fork tender, 15-20 minutes. They will smell awesome. 

This is a food mill. They cost about $25 and come in handy for many things. I like to put roasted tomatoes through the mill for excellent tomato soup. 

Add the cooked apples to the food mill and turn the crank clockwise and then counter-clockwise several times (this  gets all the pulp out of there and leaves behind the skin and seeds). Depending on how many apples you have, you may have to batch this out.

Stir in a bit of cinnamon, if you like. It really doesn't need sugar--trust me. The sweetness will really depend on the kind of apple you use. Try Golden Delicious if you like it sweeter.

What kind of apples should you use? Shoot, I wasn't even sure what kind I had--I'm thinking they were McIntosh--but use a good cooking apple. Haralson, Honeycrisp. McIntosh, Golden Delicious....the possibilities are endless. If you are into canning (I don't have a clue how.. plus I made a fairly small batch), go ahead and do it while the sauce is warm. I like to eat it while it's warm...

Yum...peanut butter on raisin bread toast with warm applesauce.

How do you eat your applesauce?

Oliebollen--A New Year's Eve Tradition

To be honest, I'm not much into deep frying my food. Don't get me wrong--I like to eat deep fried foods (well, most of them anyway--I saw Paula Deen do a deep fried cupcake once...that's just wrong), I just don't like to deep fry at home. It's the smell in the house I'm not fond of. Some things, however, are worth digging out the deep fryer. Take, for instance, our new New Year's tradition: Oliebollen.

Oliebollen, the Dutch version of doughnuts, is literally translated as "oily balls". Not the most appetizing name, to be sure, but there is a history to these delectable pieces of fried dough. They are said to have been first eaten by Germanic tribes in the Netherlands during the Yule, the period between December 26 and January 6. The Germanic goddess Perchta, together with evil spirits, would fly through the mid-winter sky. To appease these spirits, food was offered, much of which contained deep-fried dough. It was said Perchta would try to cut open the bellies of all she came across, but because of the fat in the oliebollen, her sword would slide off the body of whoever ate them.[1]

Whatever the background, I couldn't wait to figure out how to make them. I searched the Internet for a recipe and settled on one that I found on allrecipes.com. You can click on this link to find it: Oliebollen (Dutch Doughnuts)

I mostly followed the recipe, not knowing quite how to change it up. That will come with the next batch. :)

Oliebollen are generally made with bits of apple, raisins or currants added to the dough. I decided to use an apple for the first batch, since there was at least one raisin hater in the house.

Start by chopping up a Granny Smith apple. The first change I'll make the next time is to chop it up a little more. My daughter liked the bigger chunks, however.





Next, warm a cup of milk until it is about 110 degrees---bathwater warm---and sprinkle an envelope of yeast over it. While the yeast is proofing,  put 2 1/2 cups of flour in a large bowl and whisk in a teaspoon of salt (the recipe calls for 2). Make a little well in the middle of the flour, and add a slightly beaten egg and the yeast/milk mixture. Beat it all together with a wooden spoon (it makes a pretty wet dough) and add the apple chunks and/or raisins. Once the apples are mixed in, cover the bowl with a towel and put it in a warm place to rise for about an hour, until it doubled.

Heat up the oil (I used a bottle of vegetable oil) to 390 degrees, then grab 2 ordinary spoons, dip them in oil, and scoop up some of the dough, using the spoons to shape the dough, and drop it into the hot oil. I put about 4 of them in the oil at a time. The oliebollen should turn by themselves, but use your spoon to turn them over, if needed. Let them fry until they are golden brown, about 6 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the oliebollen from the oil and put them on a paper towel lined plate to drain. Sprinkle them with some powdered sugar and enjoy them warm.....although they are good the next day, split open, with a little jam. ;)

I decided I wanted to try them with raisins, so I did add some to the dough after I made a few apple-only ones. I liked them.

These had the raisins.

I wish the lighting in my kitchen was better. The picture makes them look like they have warts. Those would be the raisins....

While everyone loved these (my mother-in-law got a little misty-eyed, remembering something similar her grandmother used to make), there are some changes I will make the next time. Initially, I thought to add sugar to the dough, but that is totally unnecessary---the fruit and the powdered sugar make these sweet enough. Aside from chopping the apple a little smaller, I would add a teaspoon or so of lemon zest. I also might switch to bread flour or use the stand mixer to beat the dough for a few minutes, as these seemed a little dense. Last, I might add a couple of tablespoons melted butter to the dough...I've seen this in a few recipes and it may add to the flavor. 

They say that the whole country of Holland smells of oliebollen on New Year's Eve. I'm not sure how true that is, but our house will be smelling of them again next year.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliebol

Butterscotch Apple Frangipane Tart

As many of you are aware, I have become a cooking contest freak as of late. This foray into contesting actually started many years ago, when I first became a fan of The Pillsbury Bake-Off®. This mother of all cooking contests started back in 1949 and has been celebrating home cooks ever since. In fact, I’m pretty sure everyone has a favorite Bake-Off® recipe. Remember the Tunnel of Fudge Cake? Well, Ella Rita Helfrich won $5000 with that recipe back in 1966 and kicked off a Bundt Pan revolution. And, what about those Peanut Blossoms? You know—the peanut butter cookies with the chocolate kiss on top. Nearly everyone has those on their holiday cookie list. That recipe came from Freda Smith, Bake-Off® 1957. Oh, how I yearned to have a recipe selected for the Pillsbury Bake-Off®--especially since the grand prize is now a cool million dollars! Well, guess what? I am officially a finalist in the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off® being held in Orlando, Florida in April 2010! Indeed, my Pecan Cookie Waffles with Honey-Cinnamon Butter is a contender for the million dollar prize! I am very honored and, since the details of this recipe are being held in strict confidence, I won’t share the recipe yet, but I will share the results of one of my other creations using the fabulous Pillsbury® Pie Crust---Butterscotch Apple Frangipane Tart.

I suffer from occasional insomnia. What do you do when you can't sleep at 3:30 in the morning?

Well, sometimes I pull out some ingredients and bake! Ha--I told you I was a freak. This time I put together a tart. Here is my recipe:

Butterscotch Apple Frangipane Tart

1 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crust (from 15-oz box), softened as directed on box

¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup almond paste
¼ cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup flour
2 large, tart baking apples (such as Granny Smith), peeled, cored and thinly sliced
½ cup butterscotch ice cream topping
½ teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 ° F.

2. Place the butter and almond paste (break the paste into small pieces) and sugar in a large bowl; cream them together with a hand mixer until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue to beat until light and creamy. Fold in the vanilla and the flour.

3. Fit the pie crust into a 9” tart pan with a removable bottom. Trim the excess dough. Spread the almond filling over the bottom of the crust, covering it completely. Arrange apples in concentric circles on top of the filling.

4. Mix the cinnamon into the butterscotch topping and spread the topping evenly over the top of the apples. Place the tart into the preheated oven and bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until the apples are golden and the filling is set. Cool to room temperature before serving. Serves 6-8.

Oh--you can check out the whole list of 100 Bake-Off® Finalists right here: 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Finalists