Baked Apple Pie Spiced Cider Donuts


Apple Cider is a highly anticipated seasonal beverage in our household and an assist to many fall home cooked dishes.  I can find a way to add it to just about anything. Whether the recipe be a sweet baked good or savory dinner dish. 

A breakfast of donuts must be one of my husband’s favorite morning treats. He also loves fresh cider. This breakfast donut combines the two for a satisfing starter for the fall weekend. 

This recipe yields: 14 Donuts using the Wilton Donut baking dish

Prep time: 30 minutes  Cook time: 9-10 minutes

Prework:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and generously spray baking pan with cooking cooking, set aside. 

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat pastry

1 teaspoon apple pie spice 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 kosher salt

1/2 cup apple cider reduction (directions below)

1/2 cup sugar 

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 Tablespoon of canola oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

1/2 cup low fat buttermilk 

1 egg

Apple Pie Spice Sugar, recipe below

Apple cider reduction ingredients:

1 1/4 cup 100% apple cider 

1 (3 inch) cinnamon stick)

Directions for reduction:

1. Place apple cider, cinnamon stick in a 1 quart sauce pan and place on low to medium heat for 30 minutes until product yields 1/2 cup reduction. Discard the cinnamon stick.

Apple Pie Spice Sugar:

3/4 cup sugar 

1 teaspoon of apple pie spice 

Directions:

1. Place the sugar and apple pie spice in a shallow container and mix thoroughly. Set aside.

Directions:
1. Place the first 5 ingredients into a medium bowl. Whisk together thoroughly & set aside. 

2. In a large bowl, mix the cider reduction, sugars, vanilla, canola oil, and buttermilk. Lastly add in the egg & mix. 

3. Add the dry ingredients into the wet. Mix enough to wet all ingredients; however, caution not over mix. 

4. Place the batter into a piping bag with large round tip. Portion out the batter evenly into the donut pan. 

5.  Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes. 

6. Allow Donuts to rest in pan for 1-2 minutes before inverting the pan and placing the on wire rack. 

7.  Dip the warm Donuts into the apple pie spice sugar bath. If the sugar dust does not want to stick spray the Donuts with some cooking spray prior to dipping. Dip both sides of the donut.

*Tip the Donuts taste the best the day they are made. Make sure to store in a sealable container. 

Apple Cider and Honey Biscuits

October is here which means fall is in full swing. I love the fall colors and harvest.  Apple butter is one of my favorite things to make with local fresh apples and if I am lucky my grandfather’s apples from his orchard.

The combination of apple and cinnamon simmering is purely divine to me. Nothing says home and comfort like some freshly made baked treats with mother natures resources.

Happy Fall!!

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Recipe yields: 16 small biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour

2 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoons of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon of apple pie spice

1/3 cup of cold unsalted butter

2 teaspoons of pure honey

3/4 cup of apple cider 100%

1-2 tablespoons, scant skim milk for brushing

Directions:

  1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter & honey until mixture resembles sand like texture. Stir in cider just until moist.  Place batter onto a lightly heavily floured surface and knead 4 times.
  2. Roll out to 1/2-in. thickness; cut with a 2 inch. biscuit cutter. Place on parchment paper lined  half sheet baking pan.
  3. Brush with milk and plan in preheated oven at 425 degrees
    for 10  minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with apple butter.

Cocoa Beet Scones

My mom and grandpa combined gave me around a half bushel of beets. I love beets and for the last month. I have been eating one a day.  Beets are rich in folate, fiber and potassium. A lot of people dislike beets, but I believe that is because they have ate them from the salad bar and they are canned subpar. Quite frankly they haven’t tried my homegrown roasted in the oven to perfection. 

I roasted several last weeeknd and I made a vow, that I will not can them. This is my second take on using them to add moisture to baked goods. A few weekends ago I added puréed Beets to my sister’s vegan birthday cake. Roasting beets and adding them to baked goods opens the door to endless opportunities to add moisture and sweetness naturally to foods.

Yields:16 serving 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup of whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice

1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt

1/4 cup of canola oil

1/4 cup of light agave nectar

1/4 cup of raw sugar

1 cup of roasted beet puree

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla

1/3 cup of pistachios, chopped: plus another 1 tablespoon of pistachios chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cooking spray mini scone pan with cooking spray. 
In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, ground chinese 5 spice, and kosher salt. Set aside. 

In a medium bowl mix oil, sugar, puréed beets, maple syrup, and vanilla extract and stir to combine.

Pour the dry into into the wet batter and mix to combine. Mix until no dry residue remains.  Fold in pistachios into the batter. Save 1 TB to sprinkle right before placing into oven.

Place the dough evenly into the mini scone pan. Sprinkle with leftover pistachios. 

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean. Allow the scones to cool for 5 minutes in the pan and invert onto wire rack. Serve warm. 

Enjoy! 

 

 

Double Pumpkin Spice Chip Cookies

Fall is pumpkin madness as far as I am concerned so I am going to take advantage of the season and the bountiful harvest of the pie pumpkins! This is a spin off my hubbies favorite chocolate chip cookie. 

This recipe yields: 74 cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (room temperature)

1/4 cup puréed pumpkin 

¾ cup brown sugar

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs (room temperature)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups Whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher  salt

1 small box pumpkin pie instant pudding ( you can use sugar free)

1 (10 ounce) bag pumpkin spice baking chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Parchment paper line 2 half sheet pans & set aside.

3. In a small bowl thoroughly mix together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. 

4. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment beat butter until light and fluffy. Add in both sugars, vanilla, pudding mix, and pumpkin continue to beat with paddle attachment. Slowly add in eggs one at a time. 

5. Add in flour blend to the liquid batter. Slowly incorporate. Be cautious not to over mix. Fold in pumpkin chips. 

6. Portion out cookies using a # 60 scoop and place 15 to a pan. Bake for 12-13 minutes. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes on pan and then move to a wire rack to cool. 

Crock Pot Cider Beef Roast

This dish is a perfect way to celebrate the first day of autumn.

We had some chopped vegetables and cider leftover from a party we had Sunday. I generally always have a beef roast in the freezer. I thought I’d give this a try. I literally threw this dinner together in less than 10 minutes before I went to work yesterday. 
Honestly who doesn’t have time to put this together and having the stress free feeling of coming home to dinner ready. 
The cider does make this dish fairly sweet. So if you don’t like your beef real sweet consider using 2 cups of beef broth and only 2 cups of cider in place of the full quart of cider. 

Serves 4-6

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 8 hours on low

Ingredients:

1 (2 pounds) beef roast

1/2 large yellow onion (quartered)

1/2 medium red onion (quartered)

1 small green pepper, cut into strips

1 pack low sodium onion soup mix

1 cup of baby carrots

1 quart spiced apple cider

Directions :



1. Place the beef in the center of the slowcooked. Surround the beef with the onions,peppers and carrots.  

2. Sprinkle the beef and vegetables with the onion soup mix and lastly pour the cider over the ingredients. Set the crockpot on low for 8 hours. 

3. Enjoy!

Pesto Crumbled Sausage Rotini Bake


We have an abundance of basil in the herb garden. I love making homemade pesto with it! 

This recipe is a great way to use up your basil before the nights get too cold and start to frost. 
You can also use store bought pesto if you don’t have basil in the garden or if you are pressed for time. 

Serving 4

Prep time: 15 minutes. 

Bake time: 20 minutes


Ingredients:
1/2 cup prepared pesto  

3 cups cooked rotini pasta (I use Dreamfields wheat pasta that cooks white)

1 cup cooked crumbled Italian sausage 

2 Tablespoon fresh shredded Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cup shredded Italian blend cheese

Cooking spray (divided)

8 by 8 baking dish

Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to package. 


Directions:
1. Place pesto, sausage, pasta, and a 1/2 cup of the Italian cheese in the empty pasta pasta pot (why use another bowl). Mix together the ingredients and place them in the 8 by 8 baking dish. 

2. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup of cheese and place in the preheated oven at 360 degrees for 20 minutes. 

3. Remove from oven and enjoy with some garlic bread! 

  

Molasses Pizza Crust

Oh dear glory ! This is it! You must try this pizza crust! It is the perfect combination of sweet, crunchy and chewy texture. 

Have you ever been to Mellow Mushroom? My husband and I fell in love with this pizza restaurant in Franklin, Tennessee. We seek these out when we travel. We love the atmosphere and how you can build your own pizza.

We took that concept to the next level and recently had a party with a build your own pizza bar theme. 


This recipe yields 4 personal pizzas

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons molasses 

1 1/2 tablespoon yeast 

1 1/2 cup warm water (like bath water)

3 1/4 cup Bread Flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

Cornmeal for dusting and rolling (freshly ground)

Directions:

1. Place the first three ingredients in a small bowl and allow the yeast to proof. 

2. In the meantime, place the flours, salt,and oil in a stand mixer and mix the ingredients on low. 

3. Pour the yeast, molasses and water mixture into the mixing bowl with the mixer on low, then turn it to medium low and mix for 5 minutes

4. Cover the bowl and let rise at room temperature for one hour. Punch down the dough and allow it to rise again for about an hour then place it in the fridge overnight to allow it to ferment.

5. Preheat the oven to 500 and place the pizza stone in the oven. Allow the stone to get hot for about an hour at 500 degrees. At this time bring the dough out of the refrigerator to come to room temperature. 

6. Dust the surface with a good amount of cornmeal.  Remove the dough and cut into 2 or 4 pieces of equal size depending on how many pizzas you want to make.  This will make 2 medium pizzas or 4 nice size personal pizzas

7. Roll dough into a circle about 12″ around with a rolling pin and continue dusting with cornmeal as it gets sticky.  Poke a lot of holes in the dough with a fork or similar utensil so it does not bubble too much in the oven.

8. Place the dough on a pizza piel and place the dough on the stone in the oven for 4 minutes to par bake the dough

9.  Remove the dough to cool on a rack and get ready to place your toppings on your crust

10. Put your favorite pizza ingredients on your crust and return the pizza to the oven for 4-5 minutes

11.  Cut your pizza into as many pieces as you would like and enjoy!

Pumpkin Pecan French Toast


We had a sleepover last night with my nephew, sister-in-law & her boyfriend. I wanted to make a fall breakfast and this cannot be anymore fallish with puréed pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice!

The original recipe called for 8 eggs and I swapped out those for liquid egg whites to cut some of the fat.

This recipe yields 12 servings 

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30-35 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound of whole wheat bread (dried)

1 1/2 cups of liquid egg whites

1 Tablesppon of pumpkin pie spice

2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups of pumpkin purée

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup

Topping:

2 tablespoon of raw sugar

1 tablespoon whole wheat pastry flour

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/4 cup chopped finely pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cooking spray 9 by 13 baking dish & set aside.

3. Cube up bread into 1 inch pieces & scatter in greased 9 by 13 pan. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl whisk egg whites,vanilla,spice, pumpkin purée, and maple syrup. Pour over bread and mix to coat well. Set aside.

5. In a small bowl mix butter, sugar, pecans,and flour. Sprinkle evenly over bread.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack until ready to serve.

7. If your guests would like they can  always add Extra Maple Syrup.

Enjoy!

 

Nutrition Label:

nutrition-facts-label-for-pumpkin-french-toast

 

Fall Harvest Spiced Muffins


Fall will be here before we know it (11 days but who is counting). Some of the tree leaves are starting to turn yellow and red hues. My husband and I went running last weekend on one of our favorite trails and there were already some leaves hitting the limestone path. Fall in Western Pennsylvania is very beautiful and we are lucky to have all the seasons.

We were able to stop at my grandfather’s orchard last weekend. He always likes to show his apple trees, peach trees, and thriving garden. This is a picture of him and I below. I am trying to hold all the goods in just one hand. But the reality of it is we left with a cooler full of produce, several bags of kale, peaches, apples, and an 8.175 pound head of cabbage.

img_0925

My grandpa’s apple trees have so many apples, he has to place posts under the branches to prevent the apples and branches from hitting the ground. He gave us some of his apples. I was able to incorporate them in the recipe today, along with my neighbor’s roasted pumpkin I freeze canned last year.

In the fall I make everything pumpkin and apple. I love the smell of these fruits baked in fall combined with cinnamon.

Prep Time: 15 Minutes    Cook Time: 21 minutes

This recipe yields: 21 muffins using a size # 16 scoop

Prep Work &Tools need for the job:

  • Number Size 16 scoop
  • Muffin Tin Liners
  • Muffin Cups
  • Cooking Spray
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Line standard muffin tin with paper liners

 

Ingredients:

1 cup of pureed pumpkin

1/4 cup of canola oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 2/3 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons of ground Flaxseed

1 teaspoon of apple pie spice

1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice

2 1/2 cup of whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon of baking soda

2 cups of chopped apples, peeled

Directions:

  1. In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Set aside.

2. In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, spices, & salt. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients just until moistened. Fold in apples. Cooking spray the lined muffin cups and use a # 16 scoop to fill the tins.

3. Bake the muffins at 350° for 19-21 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. I rotated my muffins halfway through for even baking. Remove from pan after 5 minutes have elapsed and allow to cool on wire rack.

Enjoy the muffins on their own or slathered with apple or pumpkin butter.

Peanut Butter Cookies with Mini Hershey Kisses

I made these cookies for our RD meeting today. This is a quick easy recipe and packed with some whole grain. 

This recipe yields: 36 cookies 

Ingredients:

* 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

* 1/2 cup sugar

* 1/3 cup brown sugar (unpacked)

* 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

* 1 large egg

* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

* 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

* 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

* 1 teaspoon baking soda

* 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

* 1 cup (6 ounces) mini Hershey kisses 

Pre-directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Parchment paperline baking 1/2 sheet. 

Directions:

1. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment cream butter and sugars; beat in peanut butter, egg and vanilla.

2. In a separate medium size bowl combine flour, oats, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate kisses.

3. Drop by using a size 60 cookie scoop onto parchment paper-lined baking 1/2 sheet pans (9 cookies to a pan). Bake at 350° for 10-11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute before removing to a wire rack.