Apple Cranberry Crumb Pie

This is another recipe from recipegirl.com. This pie was oh so good. It will make a great gift or serving for company.

TOPPING:
1 cup flour
½ cup packed golden brown sugar
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

PIE:
4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¾” pieces (should be approximately 5 cups)
16 oz can whole-berry cranberry sauce
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
One 9 inch deep-dish frozen pie shell
vanilla ice cream

1. To prepare topping: Mix flour, brown sugar, oats and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add butter; cut in with pastry blender or use your fingertips. Keep cutting until mixture resembles coarse meal. Set aside.

2. To prepare filling: Place baking sheet in oven and preheat to 350° F. Toss apples, cranberry sauce, sugar and cornstarch in large bowl until well blended.




3. Transfer apple-cranberry filling to frozen pie shell, mounding in the center. Sprinkle topping over pie. Set pie on baking sheet in oven. Bake until apples are tender, juices bubble thickly and crust is golden, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer to rack. Cool 15 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.







Servings: 8
Recipe Source: Adapted from Bon Appetit

Maple-Drizzled Apple Muffins

Fall has arrived and that means apple season! We are fortunate enough to have our own apple trees and usually get a good amount of apples from them. We do like to make a trip to the mountains in the fall for apples too. Fuji is our favorite! I came across this wonderful website, www.recipegirl.com . I love it! That is where I found this muffin recipe. I hope you will try it and enjoy it too!



MUFFINS:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ cup milk
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
¼ cup maple syrup
1 large egg, slightly beaten
2 cups chopped, peeled apples (I use Granny Smith)
12 pecan halves

GLAZE:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbs maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper liners.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

3. In a small bowl, mix milk, butter, syrup and egg; stir into dry ingredients and mix just until moistened. Fold in apples.

4. Fill prepared muffin cups ¾-full (this is easiest to do when you use an ice cream scoop). Top each with a pecan half. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

5. For glaze, mix sugar and syrup; drizzle over cooled muffins.

Apple Pie

We have apple trees in our back yard. This year we had the most apples we've ever had. Each fall I make apple pies. I've had to freeze apples too because we've had so many. To me, the best part of an apple pie is the homemade flaky crust! I like to use Granny Smith apples, but any apple will work fine..you just might need to adjust the amount of sugar used.

So, are ya ready? Here it is...

APPLE PIE

Pie Crust
2 cups flour
1/2 Tbsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 small egg, beaten
1/2 Tbsp. vinegar
5 Tbsp. cold water

In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar and salt. With a pastry blender (or two knives), cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix together egg, vinegar and water, then add to flour mixture. Mix until dough is moist enough to form a ball. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes. Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll one half into a 12 inch circle. Press dough into pie plate (I like to use deep dish). Crimp edges or use a fork to make a decorative border, then prick bottom with a fork. Put the plate in the freezer while preparing the pie filling. The other half of crust will be used on top.

Apple Pie Filling:

5 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples
4 Tbsp. flour
1 1/3 cup sugar (remember I use granny smith apples, you may want to decrease the amount of sugar if using a sweeter apple)
1 tsp. cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir gently. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Dab with butter and pour milk over filling. Roll top crust same as bottom and lift onto filled pie. Crimp edges again and cut an X in the center of pie w/ sharp knife..pull the edges at the center of the X back some to open the center of the pie a little. You can also make a woven lattice top with the top pie crust. Bake for 40-45 minutes.