Fall Recipes

Happy First Day of Autumn! It's hard to imagine that it's already fall given the temperature around here is still in the 80s. Nonetheless, I dug up a few fall goodies from the archives for some inspiration.  I definitely will be revisiting the following as well as adding a few new ones like apple pie, pumpkin muffins, cinnamon rolls, and pumpkin snickerdoodles this season.

Snacks:

Caramel Popcorn with Roasted Almonds

Pies:

Pecan Topped Pumpkin Pie


Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake

Cookies, Bars, Brownies:

Pecan Pie Bars


Snickerdoodle Cookies

Specialties:

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Frosting


Oven Baked Apple Doughnuts

Cupcakes:

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Frosting


Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Best of 2010

Seeing everyone's best of 2010 posts this week inspired me to take a trip down memory lane myself.  For my year end round up, I decided to feature a few of your favorites as well as a few of my favorites for 2010.

Fans Favorite Five Posts

1. Oven Baked Apple Donuts

2. Hello Kitty Cake

3. Best Brownies

4. Chocolate Cupcakes - Two Ways

5. Banana Pudding Pie

My Five Favorite Posts

1. Chocolate Peppermint Whoopies: Chocolate and peppermint is one of my favorite dessert pairings.  This post was only my second tribute to Whoopie Pies.  I definitely need to tackle more Whoopie Pies next year.


2. Little Mermaid Cake: This cake led the way into cake decorating for me.  I knew nothing about how to stack a cake, how to fill a cake, nor how to work with a timeline when I cranked this cake out from start to finish in less than 24 hours.  It's crazy to think about how much I have learned and am continuing to learn since then.


3. Pralines and Cream Ice Cream: Receiving an ice cream maker for my birthday along with the Perfect Scoop changed my life.  Pralines and Cream was the house favorite but I've made everything from Mint Cookies and Cream to Rocky Road to Horchata Ice Cream.


4. Strawberry Rhubarb Pie:  After discovering the best pie crust ever, I finally tackled my first fruit pie.  It was the most amazing thing ever.  I couldn't stop making fruit pies for a straight month, almost.  I can't wait for next summer!


5. Lego Cake: This was one of my favorite Cake4Kids.org cakes.  Looking forward to more cake requests through Cake4Kids for foster children and children in need.

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Oven Baked Apple Donuts

My mom dropped off some apples the other day and the first thing I thought of was what can I bake with them.  I wasn't sure I had enough apples for an apple pie so I settled for the next best thing; the oven baked apple donuts I saw awhile ago.  I've been hoarding quite a few donut recipes since my last attempt at them.  These aren't quite the cake donuts which I'm in love with but they are pretty good in their own kind of way.


Oven Baked Apple Donuts
slightly adapted from Chocolate Shavings
Makes about 24 mini donuts


1/4 cup of lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
1-1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1-3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup of cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg
1/4 cup of milk
1-1/2 cups of bite size chunks of apple, peeled and cored

For the Coating:
1/4 cup of butter, melted
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder

Preheat your oven to 350F.  Grease mini muffin pans.  Set aside.

Whisk the sugars, flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a bowl.  Add the cold chopped butter. Using a pastry cutter, work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg. Mix in the milk and fold in the chopped apples. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Stir until incorporated, using a spatula or spoon, making sure not to overmix. Place a tablespoon of batter into each mold of a greased mini muffin pan.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the donuts are just golden. Remove from the oven, unmold and lightly brush each donut with the melted butter. Dunk in a bowl with the sugar and cinnamon mixed in. Shake off excess sugar and serve immediately.