Apple Desserts

Next to pumpkins, apples are probably the most iconic of autumn flavors. In honor of that, today's post deals with six yummy apple desserts, including Apple Crisp, Apple Pie, and Quick Vegan Crock Pot Apple Crumble. Enjoy!

BAKED APPLES

This is from Dorie Greenspan in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Dorie wrote, “I don’t remember my mother at the stove. When asked what childhood dish was my favorite, I’d stammer and come up empty. And then, walking down the stairs in my Paris apartment, I got to the third floor and said out loud to no one: baked apples! My mother made baked apples. Her apples were big Cortlands or Rome Beauties, and she cored and stuffed them with raisins, because my father loved raisins. I also bake with Cortlands or Romes when I can get them, Fujis or Galas when I can’t. I’ll often stuff them with raisins, but I think they’re especially nice filled with bits of dried apple and candied ginger. And I like to baste them with apple cider and honey. They’re good hot or cold, but best served warm and topped with something creamy. Cinnamon (my mom always used too much) is optional.”

Yield: 4 servings; Time: 1 hour 15 minutes, plus cooling.

This was featured in “My Mother’s Best (And Only) Recipe: Baked Apples,” and can be viewed online at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020471-baked-apples.

Ingredients

4 large baking apples, like Rome Beauty

2 lemon wedges

2 to 3 dried apple rings, cut into bits

4 tiny pieces crystallized ginger (optional)

3 to 4 teaspoons honey

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 cup apple cider or juice

Heavy cream, whipped cream or ice cream, for serving (optional)

Cinnamon, for dusting (optional)

Preparation

Center a rack in the oven and heat to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil, and set a 9- or 10-inch glass pie dish on top.

Cut a small cap off the top of each apple, and set aside. Using a paring knife or corer, core the apples, making sure not to go all the way to the bottom. Cut away and reserve about 1/2 inch of peel around the tops of the apples. Rub the peeled portions of the apples with the lemon, squeezing a little juice into each opening.

Fill each apple with an equal amount of dried apple and ginger, if using, pressing down lightly as needed to push bits into the opening. Pour 1/2 teaspoon honey over the dried fruit in each apple. Cut the butter into 4 pieces, and top each apple with a pat. Pop the caps back on the apples. (It’s O.K. if they teeter). Transfer the apples, lemon wedges and a few of the reserved peels into the pie dish; pour in the cider or juice, and stir in 1 to 2 teaspoons honey. (The honey won’t blend evenly into the cider, and that’s fine.)

Bake the apples, basting occasionally with the cider and honey, until you can poke them with a skewer or the tip of a knife and not meet much resistance, 50 to 70 minutes. Since apples are so variable, check early and often, as you might need more or less time.

Let them cool for at least 15 minutes before serving moistened with a little pan sauce, and if you want, top with cold heavy cream, whipped cream or ice cream and dust with cinnamon. The apples are good warm or at room temperature. They’ll keep, covered, for 2 days in the refrigerator and can be reheated in a microwave.

APPLE PIE

I got the original recipe for this from an old Betty Crocker Cookbook, years ago. I've tweaked the recipe quite a bit; the original called for butter, which mine doesn't, while I add apple cider or apple juice, which isn't in the original. I also added several other changes to this, changing it to the way my family loves it. Here's the tweaked version of apple pie.





Ingredients

Crust for a 9-inch two-crust pie

3/4 + 1 tablespoon cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour (do not use self-rising flour, but if you must use it, omit salt)

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

dash salt

6 to 7 cups apples (6 to 8 apples), peeled and thinly sliced

1/4 cup apple cider or apple juice

Directions

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare crust and line pie pan with bottom crust.

Placed cut up apples in large bowl. Add sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and (lastly) apple cider or juice. Mix apples and additions with hands, then pour apples and additions into crust-lined pie pan.

Cover with top crust, cut slits into top crust, then seal edges of crusts. (Note: You can replace top crust with a lattice crust.) Cover top of pie with aluminum foil to prevent excess browning; remove foil last 15 minutes of baking.

Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust.

QUICK VEGAN CROCK POT APPLE CRUMBLE

This comes from Jolinda Hackett, who wrote for The Spruce Eats. For this recipe, Jolinda wrote, “A quick and easy recipe for a vegan apple crumble (just like an apple crisp, if you prefer!) that you can make in your crockpot or slow cooker. Make sure to read the ingredients of whatever kind of granola you use, as many are not vegan.

“Refined sugar-free and vegan, this apple crumble or apple crisp recipe takes just minutes to prepare. It's made from fresh sliced apples sweetened with a bit of maple syrup (use real maple syrup, not bottled flavored corn syrup!) and topped off with a crumble granola, cinnamon and nutmeg topping. Using granola for the top of this apple crumble means that there's no bowls to get dirty and nothing to mix. Just sprinkle everything over the top of your crock pot or slow cooker.

“Like waking up to a hot and delicious breakfast or coming home to a sweet dessert already ready to go? You might also want to try this recipe for crockpot peach cobbler or scroll down for a few more vegetarian and vegan crockpot recipes including a few desserts.

“Enjoy!” Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 480 minutes (8 hours); Total Time: 500 minutes; Yield: about 4 servings.

To view this online, click here.

Note: Jolinda’s Cranberry Peach Cobbler recipe follows immediately after this recipe.

Ingredients

4 apples, sliced

2 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 tbsp margarine

2 cups granola

Preparation

Place apples in your crock pot or slow cooker. Drizzle with maple syrup, spices and margarine, then cover with granola.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

APPLE-PUMPKIN BROWN BETTY

This is from the Food Network. Prep Time: 25 minutes; Cook Time: 2 hours 20 minutes; Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes; Yield: 4 to 6 servings; Level: Easy

You can view this online at https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/apple-pumpkin-brown-betty-recipe-2108907.

Ingredients

1 2-to-3-pound sugar pumpkin

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup cubed bread (preferably from a baguette)

2 Gala apples, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup golden raisins

1 tablespoon rum (optional)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Kosher salt

Maple syrup, for drizzling

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Slice off and reserve the top 1 1/2 inches of the pumpkin. Scoop out the seeds and stringy pulp.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bread and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 4 minutes; transfer to a bowl. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter, the apples, brown sugar and raisins to the skillet and cook until the apples are crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in the rum, vanilla, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Return the bread to the skillet.

Put the pumpkin in a small baking dish and fill the pumpkin with the apple mixture. Cover with the pumpkin top and add 1 inch of boiling water to the baking dish. Cover loosely with foil and bake until the pumpkin is tender, 2 hours to 2 hours, 30 minutes. Remove the foil and pumpkin top and return the stuffed pumpkin to the oven. Bake until the filling is lightly browned, about 10 more minutes. Transfer to a serving plate and drizzle with maple syrup. To serve, scrape the pumpkin flesh and stir into the apple mixture.

APPLE CRISP

This comes from the infamous long-since-forgotten emailing list.

Ingredients

4 large apples

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. melted butter

1 egg

1/2 cup water

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel, core & slice the apples. Put apples in a bowl & mix in 1/2 cup brown sugar. In a separate bowl, using a fork, mix together 1 cup flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, & 1/4 teaspoon salt. In another bowl, beat together 1 egg, 2 tablespoons melted butter & 1/2 cup water. Add them to the dry ingredients. This is the topping. Put apples in baking dish & pour topping over them. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes. When done, apples should be soft & topping golden and crisp. Remove from oven & let cool.

DOUBLE APPLE PIE

This is from Melissa Clark in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter, and begins, “This recipe is a keeper. Gently spiced with cinnamon, tinged with brown sugar and loaded with apple butter, it’s as deeply flavored as an apple pie can be, all covered with a buttery wide-lattice top crust. Although it’s at its most ethereal when baked on the same day you serve it, it’s still wonderful made a day ahead. (Don't let making your own pie crust intimidate you: our pie guide has everything you need to know.)”

Yield: 8 servings; Time: 2-1/2 hours, plus at least 3-1/2 hours' chilling and cooling.

This was featured in The United States Of Thanksgiving and can viewed online here.

Ingredients

For the Crust

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2-1/2 sticks/20 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

4 tablespoons vodka (optional)

1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

For the Filling

3 pounds apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced crosswise (1/8-inch)

1/2 cup granulated sugar, more as needed

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca

1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Pinch ground cloves

1-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons apple butter

Heavy cream or milk, as needed

Whipped cream, sour cream or crème fraîche, for serving

Preparation

Make the crust: In a food processor, pulse together flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add butter and pulse until mixture forms 3/4-inch pieces. Mix vodka with 4 tablespoons ice water (or use 1/2 cup ice water). Add half the ice water mixture to dough, pulse a few times, then continue adding liquid a tablespoon at a time until dough just comes together (you might not use all the liquid). Dough should be moist, but not wet, and hold together when pinched. If there are visible pieces of butter in the dough, all the better.

On a lightly floured surface, gather dough into a ball. Remove a third of the dough and form into a disk. Form remaining dough into a disk. Cover both tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 5 days.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out larger disk to a 12-inch circle. Transfer dough to a 9-inch pie plate. Fold over any excess dough, then crimp edges. Prick crust all over with a fork, then chill crust for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.

While dough chills, heat oven to 400 degrees. Line chilled crust with foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes; remove foil and weights and bake until pale golden, 5 minutes more. Cool on rack until needed. (You can bake the crust up to 24 hours in advance.)

Toss apples with sugars, tapioca, spices, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the lemon juice. Fold in apple butter. Transfer apples to crust and press gently to make sure fruit is tightly packed.

Roll out remaining dough disk to a 10-inch round. Use a knife to cut strips 1 3/4 inches wide. Arrange strips over the filling in a lattice pattern. Brush top of crust with heavy cream or milk. Sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Place pie on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Bake 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling thickly, about 1 hour 15 minutes more. Let pie cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before cutting. Serve with whipped cream, sour cream or crème fraîche.

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