Apple Pie French Toast for One

This perfectly portioned for one Apple Pie French Toast takes just a handful ingredients and a few minutes to make in your microwave...

Okay, you all. I have another apple pie inspired recipe for you guys today! And yes, I am well aware that I just shared my Easy Apple Pie Trail Mix recipe with you all last week. ;) But you see, I have apple pie on the brain lately. 

I am totally craving the combo of sweet apples with cinnamon and sugar, but I am not quite ready to dive into full-on pie baking mode yet. Mostly because it still feels like summer here. Like in the 80's with some humidity. I definitely have no desire to kick on the oven and bake when I am still have to have the AC on pretty much all hours of the day. Where is the crisp fall weather at already?? Because I am SO ready for jeans and flannels, okay? 

Until the temperatures drop and it actually starts to feel like fall around here, I will satisfy my apple pie cravings without heating up the kitchen with this easy to make Apple Pie French Toast for One. This perfectly portioned for one french toast in a mug takes just a handful ingredients and a few minutes to make in your microwave...

Slow Cooker Apple Butter Rice Pudding

Creamy, comforting rice pudding is jazzed up with apple butter & chunks of fresh apple in this easy to make Slow Cooker Apple Butter Rice Pudding...

Since a good, home cooked risotto happens to be my favorite savory adult comfort food, then a creamy rice pudding has to be my ultimate sweet comfort food. But rice pudding wasn't a comfort food that I came to love as a child. Now my mama made this great quick version of rice pudding with a little leftover rice mixed with melted margarine & sprinkled with cinnamon & sugar. 

But the first time that I tried an honest for goodness homemade rice pudding was when I baked up a batch myself a few years after moving out of my parents' house. Yes, making rice pudding from scratch equals adulting when you are in your earlier 20's. ;) And thus began my love affair with creamy, comforting rice pudding.

But the thing with most homemade rice pudding recipes is that they require both stove top cooking & oven baking and thus twice the dirty dishes. Is it worth the extra effort and dish washing? Yes! 

But I knew there had to be a better way to whip a homemade rice pudding recipe that I would love without all the extra steps. My solution? The slow cooker- duh! ;) 

You literally just dump everything in, mix, and let the slow cooker do the rest. Now I jazzed up the basic rice pudding with spicy apple butter and chunks of fresh apple for this Slow Cooker Apple Butter Rice Pudding I am sharing with you all today, but you could leave out the apple flavors for a classic creamy rice pudding (just increase the cinnamon to a 1/2 teaspoon)... 

Apple-Pear Pomegranate Puff Pancake

A thick buttermilk pancake is studded with juicy pears, sweet apples, and jewels of pomegranate seeds & baked to a golden brown in your cast iron skillet in this Apple-Pear Pomegranate Puff Pancake...

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Want to know the quickest way to make pancakes that will feed the whole family? Bake up a delicious puff pancake in your trusty cast iron skillet! :) 

While I love making stacks of homemade pancakes for my family, let me be honest for a second- it gets a little time-consuming standing there flipping pancakes. 

Christmas morning is just one of those mornings when you do not want to be stuck in the kitchen any longer than you have to, am I right? 

I mean, there are presents to open, and warm mugs of coffee and cocoa to be sipping on, and everyone knows that A Christmas Story is playing ALL day on TBS. Who wants to miss Ralphie modeling his pink nightmare bunny PJ's because you are standing over a hot griddle? ;)

This Apple-Pear Pomegranate Puff Pancake is my lazy Christmas morning solution for you all. You just bake up one giant pancake, cut it into slices, and voila! 

Christmas morning breakfast is ready, and everyone gets to eat at the same time. I must admit that this was my first time making a puff pancake, and now I want to kick myself for waiting so darn long to give it a go.

A giant buttermilk pancake studded with juicy pears, sweet apples, and jewels of pomegranate seeds- how could you possibly go wrong with this on Christmas morning? :)

Spiced Pomegranate Apple Cider Sangria

Warm spices, sweet pomegranate, and crisp apples come together perfectly in this Spiced Pomegranate Apple Cider Sangria...

While I know that the turkey, and all the sides, and the pumpkin pie are the stars of that big turkey day coming up next week, I do firmly believe that a Thanksgiving dinner menu is not complete until a fall festive cocktail has been added to the mix. ;) 

Usually, we pick up a bottle of wine that will pair well with turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner, but this year I am changing things up just a bit. 

We will still be sticking with the wine, but I am jazzing it up with fresh pomegranate, apples, and lots of spice in this easy-to-make sangria recipe that I am sharing with you all today.

I know most people think of sangria as just a warm weather thing, but why should summer get all the boozy fun of this delicious cocktail? The fall season offers such wonderful flavors that lend themselves perfectly to a good homemade sangria. 

Since I have been on such a pomegranate kick lately, I really made it the star of this sangria with the addition of pomegranate vodka, pomegranate juice, and fresh pomegranate seeds. The apple cider, spiced rum, and cinnamon smooths out the entire cocktail making for easy sipping for your Thanksgiving feast next week... :)

10 Unique Apple Desserts for Fall

Whether you are looking to get out of that apple recipe rut or are looking for an apple dessert that is sure to wow, then this collection of 10 Unique Apple Desserts for Fall is definitely for you...

Now don't get me wrong, you all. I love a good classic apple pie or apple crisp as much as the next gal, but sometimes (especially when we have been weeks into apple season) I need some new & out of the box recipe ideas for apples. 

I have whipped up a batch of my Homemade Crock Pot Apple Butter, baked a couple of pies, made a crisp or two, but I still found myself with quite a few apples leftover from our annual apple picking pilgrimage. So, I decided to scour some of my favorite food blogs and gathered up some unique apple desserts for fall to share with you all today. 

Whether you are looking to get out of that apple recipe rut or are searching for an apple dessert that will really wow them at the Thanksgiving table this year, I have you covered with these 10 Unique Apple Desserts for Fall...

Scary Salted Caramel Apples

A big thank you to Urban Accents for providing their Spooktacular Halloween Party line to try for myself & for one to giveaway to a lucky reader. All opinions expressed below are my own.

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I have to admit that for years the thought of trying to make homemade caramel apples at home sort of scared me. Fresh apples covered in gooey caramel seems easy enough, but it is the actual caramel making part of it that left me hesitant. I am sort of candy making challenged. ;) So when Urban Accents reached out to me to try their new Scary Salted Caramel Apple Kit, I was all for it. A kit that took most of the caramel apple making guesswork out of the equation? Yes, please! Sign me up.

It just so happens that I have a lot of apples from our apple picking adventure weekend before last that I need to put to tasty use soon, so I set to work right away whipping up these easy and delicious salted caramel apples. The kit includes the caramel mix, the wooden sticks, and sea salt for sprinkling. You just need to pick up a few ingredients from the grocery store to make these Scary Salted Caramel Apples happen in your kitchen...

An Apple A Day {31 Apple Recipes for October}

From the sweet to the savory, here are 31 tasty apple recipes you can enjoy each day of October... 

Happy October, friends! :) 

October always means apples to me.  Each October for the past two years, my family & I head to an apple orchard and farm a short drive from here and go apple picking.  We come back home with almost more apples than we know what to do with.

I mean, you can only bake so many apple pies and crisps, right? ;)

Not to mention since apples are now in season, you can pick them up at your local grocery store or farmers market for cheap. 

I scoured my favorite food blogs and gathered 31 apple-licious recipes- one for every day in October!  I included every kind of apple recipe possible...

From the sweet to the savory.

From pies to cakes.

From drinks to snacks.

You name it.

Apple Biscoff Crumb Pie

 Tender apples, cinnamon, & gooey cookie butter come together perfectly in a flaky crust with a crunchy oat topping in this Apple Biscoff Crumb Pie...

Post updated 10/25/19- This crowd-pleasing Apple Biscoff Crumb Pie deserved some updated photos. I did leave one of the originals down below just so you all can see for yourself why this recipe so desperately needed a little face-lift. ;)

Okay, okay... I obviously need an intervention.  

Hello, I am Carrie and I am a cookie butter addict.

There. I said it. 

Need proof?  Remember when I dedicated an entire week on the blog just to cookie butter? ;) Yeah... there was that.

And I am not going to lie.  I have been pining away for fall because I KNOW that Biscoff (also known as cookie butter under some labels) is the perfect complimentary flavor to just about all of the popular fall flavors.

Pumpkin?  Heck yeah! (And yes, there will be recipes coming to the blog soon marrying our favorite orange gourd with our favorite non-peanut butter spread.)

Apples?  Of course!  

Homemade Crock Pot Apple Butter {A Recipe Makeover}

No need to stand over a pot stirring for hours to make perfectly spiced homemade apple butter. Let your slow cooker do all the work with this Homemade Crock Pot Apple Butter...

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I originally published my recipe for this Homemade Crock Pot Apple Butter in October of last year.  But I decided that it was time to give this recipe a makeover.  

I didn't really change anything about my original recipe, but I knew the photos desperately needed a makeover.  

I have learned so much in the past year about food styling, lighting, angles, and I knew I could do so much better for this tasty apple butter.  In fact, it deserved better. ;)

And because everyone loves to see before and after shots when we are talking about makeovers, here is one from my post almost a year ago...

Cinnamon Spiced Apple-Cranberry Jam

I purchased the book Food In Jars before I even knew that it was based on a blog by Marissa  McClellan.  I just started to learn to can this past summer, and I am hooked.  So when I happened upon this book at Sam's Club while I was there shopping with my mom one day, I had to pick it up.

Later that afternoon when I was on Twitter gloating about my new cookbook find, a friend of mine said, "You know Food In Jars is a blog, right?"  What?!?  Stop the presses!  So, I am now a faithful follower of Food In Jars. :)

I immediately spent the evening after I bought the book happily earmarking everything I wanted to make (yeah, a lot of this book is dog-eared at this point ;) ).  One recipe that I knew I had to make for the holidays is her Apple-Cranberry Jam.  I added my own little spin on it with the cinnamon to make it a little more festive. 

What you will need:

11-12 medium apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (I used a mix of Cameo, Suncrisp, & Fuji.)

4 cups of fresh cranberries

6 cups of sugar

Zest & juice of 2 lemons

3 small cinnamon sticks (about 3 inches long each)

I am not going to get into all of the canning basics with this recipe.  If you need a few tips or are a beginner, check out my post of A Few Tips From a Canning Novice to the Canning Newbies or take some time to peruse the Resources Page on Food In Jars.

Be sure to sterilize your jars and lids.  I like to do this in the dishwasher.  Just leave the jars in your dishwasher to keep them warm until you are ready to fill them.  This recipe made four 16 oz jars for me.  

Combine the apples, cranberries, sugar, & 1 cup of water in a large pot or dutch oven.  Over high heat, bring it to a boil.  Add the cinnamon sticks.  Allow it to boil for 15-20 minutes.  The apples will become soft and the cranberries will pop open.

Mix in the lemon juice and zest.  Reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for another 10-15 minutes.  I let mine simmer for about 20 minutes because I was aiming for a thicker consistency, more like a cranberry sauce than a jam.  (I actually used some of this instead of cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving dinner, and everyone loved it. ;) )

Ladle your jam into your hot jars and add your lids and rims just until finger tight.  Process in boiling water for about 10-15 minutes.  Remove from the pot and allow it to set up on a counter overnight before moving them.  You should hear the reassuring little pings as your jars cool letting you know that your jars' lids have sealed. 

Add a festive bow or some twine and you have a perfect hostess gift or a fabulous jar of homemade jam to add to a gift basket for your favorite foodie! :)

What are some of your favorite gifts to can for the holidays?

Apple Cranberry Bread Pudding

Okay, since the Get Your Chef On- Cranberries Challenge (which I am going to toot my own horn *just for a second* and let you all know that I WON with my Cranberry Cheesecake Ice Cream! Woot woot! :)), I have had cranberries coming out of my ears.  I bought this HUGE bag of them at Sam's Club, and now most of them are happily frozen in my freezer.  It is safe to say that you all may be seeing quite a few cranberry spiked recipes from me in the coming weeks.  Starting with this creamy and comforting Apple Cranberry Bread Pudding...

What you will need:

1 large or 2 smaller apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

1/2 cup of fresh or frozen cranberries

4-5 slices of thick, day old French bread, cubed

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups evaporated milk

1/4 cup butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan.  Mix together your peeled & sliced apples, the bread cubes, and cranberries in a large bowl.  Set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, mix together the brown sugar, milk, and butter.  Continue to heat until the butter is melted.  

In small bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla.  Add the milk mixture in the saucepan to the eggs and vanilla and whisk together. Then pour all of this over top the apples, bread, and cranberries in the large bowl.  Add the cinnamon and then mix well.

Turn over into the greased pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes.  

Allow the bread pudding to cool slightly.  I served my Apple Cranberry Bread Pudding with a drizzle of caramel and a dollop of whipped cream.  This recipe makes 6-8 servings.

What would you like to see me make next with the cranberries? ;)  Come on.... I need suggestions!  I have A LOT of cranberries, folks.

Homemade Apple Butter in the Crock Pot

Other than pumpkin flavored everything, nothing says fall more to me than some good, spiced apple butter.  Every fall a church close to my parents' house makes apple butter the slow, old fashioned way- outdoors, in cast iron kettles, over an open fire.  It is a tradition.  And quite literally some of THE BEST apple butter I have ever had.  Even when I lived out of state and couldn't make it back home when the annual apple butter was being made, my mother always went down and picked up a jar or two for me. ;)

This past week I had apples.  Like quite a few, and they were not going to stay good for too much longer.  I needed to do a little something with them.  Yes, I could have made an apple pie or maybe a crisp, but I have already done that at least 3 times so far this season. I needed a new idea.  And that is when I came across this recipe for a Crockpot Apple Butter from Cooking with K.  I had to make some of my own adjustments to it, but mainly based my recipe on hers. (By the way, take a few moments and peruse Cooking with K....  I guarantee you that a pinning frenzy will ensue. ;) )

What you will need:

8-10 apples- peeled, cored, and chopped (I used Cortlands.)

3/4 cup of apple juice (I did not have cider on hand, so I just upped my spices a little.)

1 1/2 cups of brown sugar

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp allspice

3 whole cinnamon sticks (I am running low on ground cinnamon, but have a ton of cinnamon sticks in my pantry for some reason. :) )

This recipe is incredibly easy.  I mean, SUPER easy. Toss the chopped apples in the Crock Pot.  Then pour in the apple juice.  Dump in the brown sugar and the ground spices and then stir to mix.  Add your cinnamon sticks to the mixture.  Turn your Crock Pot on low and cook for 6-8 hours.  Every hour or so, stir the mixture to make sure the cinnamon is getting in there well.

After about 7 hours of slow cooking, this is what mine looked like ^^^.  Remove the cinnamon sticks and then blend the mixture in the Crock Pot.  If you have one of those fancy emulsion hand blenders, you can use that.  I just used my hand mixer. ;)  Blend it until it is the consistency that you prefer.

I opted to can my apple butter.  You could just put the butter into glass jars and refrigerate, but you would have to use it all within 2 weeks if you went that route.  

I canned mine by running my jars through the dishwasher right before I was ready to can the apple butter, and filled them while they were still hot.  I did a quick boil on my lids and rings.

I filled each jar leaving about a 1/2 inch of space at the top.  Make sure you use a non-metallic utensil to stir the butter and removed any air bubbles.  Once filled, put the lids on the jars and then the rings.  Only tighten the rings slightly.

Process in a water bath of slow boiling water for 15-20 minutes.  Allow the jars to sit in the water bath about 5 minutes after the processing is finished.  (You should start hearing those pings now! ;) )  

Let the jars rest on a dish towel or cooling rack on your counter for about 24 hours.  

This recipe made approximately 7-8 (4 oz.) jars.

Be looking for a recipe later this week that you can use your homemade apple butter in... :)

How about you?  What seasonal foods tell you that fall is officially here?