Recipe: Sour Cream Apple Squares

Don't you love fall?  Getting back into routines, wearing flannel pajama's, chilly mornings and evenings, and making lots of apple recipes like this one. 

These squares were so quick and easy to make.  With a nutty shortbread crust, and soft apple topping they are a delight to the senses.  I love the contrast in textures and how well the cinnamon-apple and buttery-nut crust go together.

SOUR CREAM APPLE SQUARES

from Best of the Best from the Midwest Cookbook

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups firmly-packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup chopped walnuts

1-2 teaspoons cinnamon (I used 1 tsp Saigon Cinnamon)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt (I used Kosher salt)

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 eg

2 cups peeled, finely chopped apples

Preheat oven to 350.  In large bowl combine flour, brown sugar, and butter until crumbly.  Stir in nuts.  Press 2-3/4 cups of crumb mixture into ungreased 9x13" pan.

To remaining mixture, add cinnamon, baking soda, salt, sour cream, vanilla, and egg.  Blend well.  Stir in apples.  Spoon evenly over base.  Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.  Cut into squares.  Yields 12-15 servings.

Printable Recipe

Enjoy!

from the book

"Take Sky, More Rhymes of the Never Was and Always Is"

by David McCord

drawings by Henry B. Kane

1962, Litte, Brown & Company Ltd.

Recipe: Apple Pie & Crust Recipe

This pie was light and delicious with lots of apples and only a portion of the sugar found in regular apple pies.  I wanted to make a more healthful pie and found a good recipe in my Cooking Light Cookbook.  This was so quick and easy that I'll be making it all the time.  I called my mum as soon as it came out of the oven as she's famous for her apple pies and I knew she'd be delighted that I'd made my first one.

PIE CRUST

from Everyday Food Magazine June 2010

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) col unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3 to 5 Tablespoons of water (I used 3 each time I made a crust)

In a food processor, pulse flour, salt, and sugar until combines.  Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining.  Sprinkle with 3 Tablespoons ice water.  Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed (if necessary, add up to 2 Tablespoons water, 1 Tablespoon at a time).  Do not overmix.  Form dough into a disk (I use my glass stovetop as it makes a good non-stick surface - must be cold), wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour (or up to overnight).

Last step when the dough comes together.

APPLE PIE

from The All-New Complete Cooking Light Cookbook
 
8 cups thinly sliced peeled Braeburn apples (about 8 medium - I used Johnathan apples)
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
 
1 large egg white
1 Tablespoon sugar (I used sugar in the raw)
 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  To prepare filling, combine apple and lemon juice in a  large bowl.  Combine 2/3 cup sugar and next 4 ingredients in a small bowl.  Sprinkle sugar mixture over apple, toss well to coat.
 
Fit dough into 9-inch deep dish pie plate (I used a quish dish) allowing dough to extend over edge.  Spoon filling into dough, brush edges lightly with water.
 

Place top dough over filling.  Press edges of dough together.  Cut 4 slits into top of pastry using a sharp knife.  Brush top and edges of pie with egg white, sprinkle with 1 Tablespoon of sugar.
 

Place pie on a baking sheet, bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees (do not remove pie from oven), and bake an additional 40 minutes until golden.  Cool on a wire rack.

 

Printable Recipe

 

Happily submitted to the Make-It-From-Scratch Carnival #167.  Lots of inspirational recipes all made from scratch!

Enjoy!

from the book "I Want To Read!"

by Betty Ren Wright

illustrated by Aliki

1970, Western Publishing Co.

Recipe: Apple Cinnamon Scones

Scones are perfect for breakfast or as a snack.  They are so easy and quick to make as well.  This recipe comes from a wonderful site I found recently called Good Things Catered.  Since finding this site, I've printed recipe after recipe and I can't wait to try them all.

I'm still making lots of apple recipes as the price on apples is still so low.  We love scones and this Apple Cinnamon recipe is delicious.  It has chunks of apple, lots of cinnamon and they're quite moist.  They're so simple to make, that I made them before we went to church so we could have them when we got back.

One thing I've learned about making scones is to not handle the dough too much.  When you put the dough onto the floured surface to bring it together, knead it no more than 5 times, 3 is best.  The instructions in this recipe have you divide the dough into two, knead, then cut.  This makes for smaller sized triangles which is the perfect size for kids.

APPLE CINNAMON SCONES
from Good Things Catered


2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1/3 c. dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick (8 Tbsp) butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 egg
1/4 c. applesauce
1/4 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 c. apples, cored peeled and diced
raw sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment.

In small bowl, combine egg, applesauce, milk, vanilla, whisk to combine thoroughly and set aside.

In large bowl combine flour, sugar, powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and whisk to combine.

Using pastry cutter or two knives, cut butter into flour until all pieces are smaller than pea-sized.  Add apples and toss to coat.

Add wet ingredients to dry and mix in lightly with fork until dough just comes together.

Turn dough out onto well floured work surface and pat into large ball.  Cut dough in half.  Shape half of dough into flat disk shape and cut into 8 slices.

Place on baking sheet and repeat with other half of dough.

Sprinkle tops of scones with sugar and place in the oven.  Bake until turn slightly brown, about 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes.   Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

For a printable copy of this recipe go here

Enjoy!  Sarah

from the book "The Rooser Crows, A Book of American Rymes & Jingles"
by Maud and Miska Petersham
1955 The Macmillan Company

Recipe: Apple Maple Crumble Pie

Perfect for a cold winter's night is this warm, sweet apple crumble pie.  We love deserts in our family and this topped our meal off perfectly last night.  I have a drawer full of apples in the fridge and have been using them in my cooking alot lately.  This was very similar to an apple crisp but most of the sugar's replaced by the maple syrup.

I found this recipe on one of my favourite recipe sites http://www.allrecipes.com/

APPLE MAPLE CRUMBLE PIE

5 apples - peeled, cored and sliced (I used 6 apples)

2/3 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 pinch salt

3/4 cup rolled oats

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Place the apples in an 8x8 inch baking dish. Pour the maple syrup over the apples. In a bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Stir in the flour, salt and oats. Sprinkle the oat mixture over the apples.

Bake in preheated oven 35 minutes, until golden and bubbly and apples are tender.

 
Find a printable copy of this recipe here.
 
Enjoy!  Sarah
 
Happily submited to Works for Me Wednesday over at We Are THAT Family
 
 
From "The Golden Book of Poetry"
Edited by Jane Werner, Illustrated by Gertrude Elliot
1949 by Golden Press

Recipe: Gingery Apple Crumb Pie

Yes, it's as good as it sounds and with the good price of apples lately it's a great way to use them.  I found this recipe in Real Simple, November 2009 issue.  I love how the ginger flavour comes through and the crumbly, yet soft, topping taste together.  It's a step-up from regular apple pie and is perfect for when you have company.

GINGERY APPLE CRUMB PIE
Adapted from Real Simple magazine, November 2009, page 290

Basic Flaky Piecrust or 1 store-bought piecrust, fitted into a 9-inch pie plate
1/2 cup cup cold unsalted butter (1 stick), cut into small pieces
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 pounds apples (about 5; such as Granny Smith, Braeburn, or Empire), peeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (I used minced ginger from a jar)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Set an oven rack in the lowest position and heat oven to 375º F. Place the pie plate on a foil-lined baking sheet.

In a food processor, pulse the butter, ¾ cup of the flour, and ¼ cup of the sugar until large clumps form (I just did this by hand with a pastry blender). Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.

In a large bowl, toss the apples, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and the remaining ½ cup of sugar and tablespoon of flour.

Transfer the apple mixture to the crust, sprinkle with the crumb topping, and bake until the top is golden and the apples are tender, 55 to 60 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
 
Get a printable copy of this recipe here.

Enjoy!  Sarah