I missed apple season by a long shot, but I still managed to squeeze in these two Smitten Kitchen recipes. The best thing about these dishes is that they don’t taste like every other cinnamony, sugary, appley pie and crisp that we eat so much of all fall. I like a good apple pie as much as the next guy, but every once in a while it’s nice for the apples to step aside and make room for some other flavors.
The top picture is of Breakfast Apple Granola Crisp. This is much more like applesauce with a granola bar on top than an apple crisp, which makes a fine breakfast.
The second picture is of Raisin-Studded Apple Bread Pudding. I like to think of it as a desert stuffing, but maybe I still have the Stuffing Project on the brain. It doesn’t have the custard-like consistency of a bread pudding or breakfast casserole, which is fine by me.
So if you’re in denial about winter (I would hardly call the ice on my windshield this morning a frost), then whip up one of these.
As I’ve mentioned before, my family has never been big on desserts. Along with Apple Pizza and Half-the-Chocolate-Chips Cookies, these Applesauce Muffins were in the regular dessert rotation. Or was that the breakfast rotation? Hard to say.
Don’t be intimidated by the ingredient list. If you have a fully stocked spice cabinet, you probably already have all the ingredients except applesauce, raisins, and walnuts. Once you have everything, you just dump it all in a mixing bowl and beat them together. You can make the recipe as a cake (9×13), muffins (24), or mini muffins (48).
These muffins are super easy to make and a major crowd pleaser, which is why I made them for the Goodwill Store Costume Contest winner’s party. Judging the contest was at least ten times more difficult than making these muffins, but you can read about that on the Triad Goodwill Blog.
Applesauce Muffins:
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp all spice
- 15 oz can applesauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Blend half a minute on low, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Blend 3 minutes on high, scraping sides occasionally.
- Pour into 9×13 pan, 24 muffin cups, or 48 mini muffin cups (filling muffin cups about 3/4 full).
- Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.
My family has never been big on desserts. Our favorite thing about ice cream: the cone. Our favorite thing about pie: the crust. For a greater crust to filling ratio, my mom always made apple pizza. So, of course, I always make apple pizza. Until last weekend when Glenn put his foot down and said, I’m making my mom’s apple pie.
Lesters and Toppens will always debate who makes the better apple pie: Glenn’s mom or his grandma. Well, there’s a new challenger. As you can see, this pie was so delicious that there was only one piece left by the time I got my camera out.
The number one, most important thing that makes this pie awesome: drain the apples before you fill the pie. I was a little skeptical of using oil instead of shortening or butter in the crust, but, in the interest of authenticity, we used oil and it turned out tasty (more toothsome than flaky). The recipe is below, courtesy of Glenn’s mom.
Filling:
- 5-6 tart apples, peeled and sliced
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- Mix together and let sit while making the crust.
- Drain the liquid before filling the pie.
Crust:
- 1 cup + 2 Tb flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup oil
- 2 Tb water
- Whisk together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Stir just enough to form dough.
- Roll crust into 9″ round and place in pie pan.
- Fill with drained apples
Topping:
- 2/3 cup flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup butter, room temperature
- Cut butter into flour and sugar.
- Sprinkle over pie.
Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and bake 35 minutes more.
