Apple Cranberry Crisp

3 large apples (peeled, cored, and thinly sliced)
2 cups whole cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup oats
1/3 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
5-6 tbsp. melted butter

In a large bowl combine sliced apples, cranberries, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.  Mix well and then pour into a greased 8x8 baking dish.  In a another bowl mix the oats, flour, brown sugar and butter and then sprinkle over the apple cranberry mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, it is done when the apples are tender.

*I used Granny Smith apples (I like tart), but feel free to use a sweeter apple such as Gala if you prefer.  This is a tart dish, but it's great war with some vanilla ice cream.  I suggest this ice cream recipe.

Cranberry Apple Pie

I have wanted to try this pie for a long time and finally got it done.  It did not disappoint.  Super yummy.  It will be on the yearly rotation for sure.  I love the tartness of the cranberries, it's such a nice balance to the sweet.

Cranberry Apple Pie
Recipe from A Bountiful Kitchen


Filling:
6-7 apples any type, peeled, cored and sliced (I used large granny smith apples and it only took 4 or 5 to fill my pie plate)
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, washed
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon almond extract (I also added 1/2 tsp vanilla extract)
dash salt

I used my crust recipe found Here.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Flour a surface and rolling pin. Mold half of the dough into a ball. Roll out from center to about 1/8 inch thickness. Fold dough in half. Lift onto a 9" pie plate. Open and shape to pan. Roll out the other half of dough, and set aside.

Place apples in large bowl and mix with cranberries. Add rest of filling ingredients and mix well. Fill bottom crust with apple cranberry mixture. Place other half of rolled out dough on top of filling in pie plate. Crimp edges. Make slits on top of pie for steam to escape. (I used a mini cookie cutter for the heart shapes) Brush with egg wash if desired (**I brush my crusts with milk, see picture below), sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Place pie onto cookie sheet (important, this usually bubbles over a bit. Bake for about 60 minutes. Cover loosely with foil if pie is getting too brown. Continue baking for about 10-15 minutes or until pie is bubbly and golden. Total baking time is usually 1 hour and 10 minutes.

I added a maple cream sauce as a garnish.

Apple Cranberry Galette

Dough:

1 1/2 cups flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled butter + 2 tablespoons

2 tablespoons ice water (or more)

1 egg

1/2 tablespoon heavy cream (or milk)

sanding sugar

Filling:

4 large granny smith apples

2/3 cups fresh cranberries

5 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ginger

Directions:

Mix, flour, sugar and salt in food processor.  Add butter; pulse until course and crumbly.  Add water pulse until moist clumps form, add more water if needed.  Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk and wrap in plastic wrap.  Chill 2 hours.

While the dough is chilling make the filling.  Peel and cut the apples into very thin about 1/4 inch think, set aside. In a large saucepan, melt butter at medium heat.  Once the butter is melted add lemon juice, sugar and spices. Cook the cranberries first without the apples.  Wait until they start "popping" and then remove from pan leaving the juices. Next cook apples until they are easily sliced with little pressure from your wooden spoon.  Remove from heat and add cranberries. (I thought the filling needed to be a little thicker so next time I would add a little cornstarch.)

Roll out the dough on a floured surface.  The dough should be about 1/2 thick, cut into 8 inch diameter circles (should make 4 circles, I tried making 2 bigger galettes instead of the 4 smaller, the smaller worked better) and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Place about 1/3 cup filling in the center of the circle and fold up edges of the dough in one direction.  Place a 1/2 tablespoon butter on the filling.  Beat the egg and cream, using a pastry brush, paint the sides of the galette with an eggwash and sprinkle with sanding sugar.  Bake for 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

*Recipe adapted from CakeSpy

Apple Cake

This is for all of you who have asked and asked for this recipe.  It is a crowd pleaser, especially warm out of the oven.  It also makes your house smell AMAZING!

1 1/3 c. oil

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3-4 granny smith/gala apples (I prefer granny smith)

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the oil, sugar and eggs until a light yellow.  Sift together in a separate bowl flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda, then mix into the yellow mixture.  Mix until just combined.  Peel, core and cut apples into roughly 1 inch pieces.  Add in apples, nuts and vanilla, mix.  Scoop batter into greased bundt pan (you can use other pans, bread, muffin, etc. - I prefer the bundt for this.)  Bake at 350 degrees for 70-75 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in pan for at least 10 minutes and turn out onto a serving dish.  This is great plain, with ice cream, carmel sauce, whipping cream, etc.

PW's Apple Dumplings

This is a slighly modified version of Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings, you can find the original recipe here.

The first time I made them, I felt they were a little too sweet for my taste, so I tweaked it ever so slightly.

2-3 Granny Smith Apples
2 cans (8 Oz. Cans) Crescent Rolls
1 1/4 sticks Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Cinnamon, To Taste
1 can (12 Oz.) Mountain Dew Soda (I use about 3/4 of the can)

Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into 5-6 slices each (PW say's 8, I like bigger pieces of apple). Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan.

Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour entire mixture over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

All-in-One Cake

All-In-One Cake

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon ginger

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1/2 (packed) brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree

1 large (2 small) apple, peeled, cored and chopped

1 cup fresh cranberries

1 cup pecans, chopped

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt.

In a stand mixer, cream butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat for 1 minute. Add pumpkin and apples (the mixture will look curdled). Add in dry ingredients, mixing only until incorporated. Stir in (by hand) pecans and cranberries.

Pour batter into a greased bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes.

This cake does not cut smoothly due to all of the "chunky" ingredients.

Optional:

Maple Sugar Icing

6 tablespoons powdered sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup

add more syrup to make right consistency