Guest Post: Aunt Apple’s Apples

My sister makes these delicious apple treats all the time for my kiddos (and everyone else). Think an awesome healthy version of an apple pie. Since they are such an unbelievable hit (they have even caused a name change ;)) we wanted to share them with you! Perfect time for the Autumn and Jewish Holidays too! My kids will eat these at any meal, any time of day! Enjoy!!!

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Aunt Apple’s Apples

I’m Marisa’s sister Jillian, but my wonderful niece and nephew know me as Aunt Apple. I started making my special apple dessert about two years ago, and they love it so much, I give it to them for every family get-together. It’s vegan, very low fat, low sugar, low carb, high fiber, and most importantly, it’s delicious!

Ingredients:

  • 6 apples (I like using organic Fuji or Gala, but any type will do)
  • 1 tbsp of cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup of sugar
  • 1 tbsp of brown sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup of raisins
  • 1 cup of Bisquick
  • 1/4 cup of butter flavored Crisco (or other vegan butter substitute)
  • 3 tbsp boiling water

The very first thing you want to do with this recipe is make the dough for the crust; the more time it has to hydrate, the easier it will be to work with. Mix the Bisquick with the Crisco and boiling water, then knead it all together. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator.

The next step is to plump the raisins. You can do this really easily by microwaving the raisins for two minutes with half a cup of water, then draining whatever water is left. If you want the raisins to be even sweeter, you can use fruit juice instead of water to plump them.

Then, you take the apples and cut them in half horizontally. Then, using a sturdy melon baller, scoop out the core, making sure not to puncture the skin of the apple. After you’ve thrown away the core, use the melon baller to scoop out as much of the fruit as possible, and set it aside for the filling.

When you’ve hollowed out all the apples, roughly chop all the scooped out pieces, and mix them with the sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and raisins. Toss everything thoroughly to combine.

Now, fill each of the apple with the filling up to the brim.

(If you want to make your dessert gluten-free, your prep work is over, and you can just skip down to the baking specifications.)

Next, take your chilled dough out of the fridge, and roll it out on a non-stick surface or a floured surface. Slice it into thin pieces about three inches long for your lattice crust. And then make a little hashtag on each apple half. Gently press the ends of each dough strip on to the apple.

When these are all completed, put them in a casserole dish. Now, pour a tiny bit of water on the bottom of the dish between the pies, cover the whole thing with tin foil, and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Then uncover the pan, and cook the apples for another 20 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned.

You now have your very own Aunt Apple’s Apples! There will probably be some water left at the bottom of the pan, so move those treats to another vessel, and enjoy!

 

Cinnamon Apple Pancakes

We have been all about weekend pancakes lately and are always all about apples! And seriously who doesn’t love pancakes!! These were super easy and quick to whip up. Just had the urge and then 20 minutes later we were all eating pancakes.

Cinnamon Apple Panca

Cinnamon Apple Pancakes
Makes 12-15 pancakes

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 – 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup water
1 cup almond milk (or any non-dairy milk)
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

  1. Combine dry ingredients, then add the rest and mix well
  2. Spoon batter (~ 2 tablespoons) onto a hot griddle. Cook until pancakes have a bubbly surface and slightly dry edges (1-2 minutes). Flip pancakes and let cook for an additional 1-2 minutes until golden.
  3.  Serve with Maple Syrup and Enjoy 🙂

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Layered Lentil and Butternut Appetizers

I hope everyone had a great holiday!!! The season is just beginning! This is a great dish that can be an appetizer or easily adapted into an entree. Perfect seasonal food to keep you toasty & warm! Plus it was AMAZING!

The only thing I would do differently next time is make more and make some of them in kid-friendly serving-ware as they love love loved this dish! The lentils are so easy and similar to what I make often for us as a staple. And the butternut was so amazing and smooth with the coconut milk added to it. YUM!

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Layered Lentil and Butternut Appetizers

Adapted from Eatwell101.com 

Mashed Butternut

  • 1lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded & chopped
  • 1/3 cup coconut milk
  • 1 pinch of cinnamon
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Put butternut squash into a pot or a large saucepan and soak up with water, cover and cook until the squash pieces are tender.
  2. Drain the butternut keeping the cooking water.
  3. Then blend it with coconut milk and cinnamon adding a little cooking water to obtain the desired consistency.
  4. Adjust seasoning and pour into the bottom of the glasses.

Mashed Lentil Curry

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1/2 lb green or brown lentils
  • 2 1/2 cups water
  • Salt and pepper
  1. In a large pan, sauté the onions in olive oil.
  2. When the onion is softened , add the lentils, water and curry. Cover and cook until lentils are tender, add a little water during cooking if necessary.
  3. Once the lentils are cooked, drain them keeping the cooking water.
  4. Immersion Blend half of the lentils and add more water depending on desired consistency.
  5. Season to taste.

To create the layers. Pour the squash into the glass first, follow with the lentils and finish by topping your with a second layer of butternut puree. Serve warm or hot.

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VeggieGirl’s Banana-Butternut-Pecan Bread

Anything that I have ever made from VeggieGirl’s site always comes out super awesome! I figured as much when I doubled the recipe to make 2 loaves of this awesome dessert bread! It came out deelish and the second loaf froze great for later use 🙂

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VeggieGirl’s Banana-Butternut-Pecan Bread

(**Adapted from the Lower-Fat Banana Bread recipe in the Veganomicon cookbook**)

  • 3 overripe bananas
  • 2 cups steamed butternut squash cubes
  • 1/4 cup applesauce
  • 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons molasses
  • 2 cups flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 cup pecans, crushed (**plus more for sprinkling on top of the batter at the end)
  •  Nondairy “milk” of choice, added to the batter as needed

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Lightly coat a 9″x5″ loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, thoroughly mash three of the bananas along with the steamed squash. Then, add in the applesauce, grapeseed oil, turbinado sugar, and molasses. Mix well.

In the same bowl, add in the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and pecan pieces. As the mixture starts to thicken up/combine, add as much nondairy “milk” as you need (but not too much) so that the batter is mixable.

Pour mixture into the 9″x5″ loaf pan (coated generously with nonstick cooking spray), sprinkling some more pecan pieces on to of the batter (press them lightly into the batter so that they will stick better).

Bake for about 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

 

Thanksgiving: Vegan Apple Cranberry Cobbler

My husband’s favorite dessert ever is cobbler so it was pretty easy to decide what to make when we had so many CSA apples and cranberries! It was super deelish!!!

Have a wonderful and gentle Thanksgiving!!!

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Round 1: I used a pie pan. Loved the height but was so happy I used the baking sheet underneath!

 

Round 2: I used a cake pan so it wasn't as high up but barely made a mess :)

Round 2: I used a cake pan so it wasn’t as high up but barely made a mess 🙂

Apple Cranberry Cobbler  

Filling:
4 apples, peeled and chopped
2 cup cranberries
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cornstarch
juice of 1 lemon
dash of salt

8 tablespoons non-dairy butter (we used earth balance)

For the Cobbler Topping:
3/4 cup non-dairy milk (we used almond milk)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
dash of salt

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Combine the Cobbler Filling ingredients in a large bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the topping ingredients.
  4. Melt the butter in a pie dish in oven. Remove from oven and fill with the filling. Pour topping over the fruit.
  5. Bake for approximately 1 hour (helpful to use a cookie sheet underneath to avoid a mess!), or until the juices are bubbling and the cobbler is golden.

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Butternut Cranberry Oat Muffins

We recently moved to the country and it has been beyond amazing but now Michael has a bit longer commute. So I am trying to come up with some quick and healthy “grab as you run out the door” breakfasts 🙂 Green Juice, check! (thank you Blue Print Bottles!) But then something a bit more substantial for him throughout the morning. These were super yummy, kid & husband approved!

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Butternut Cranberry Oat Muffins
Makes 12

¾ cup organic cane sugar
1 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat pastry or spelt flour
½ cup oats
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup almond or other nondairy milk
1 cup cooked pumpkin or butternut squash, mashed
2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil
1 teaspoon white or rice vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
½ cup dried cranberries

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Spray regular sized muffin tins with cooking spray
  3. Combine the sugar, flours, oats, salt, baking powder and soda in a large bowl. Stir well to combine.
  4. In another bowl, mix the remaining ingredients except the cranberries. Stir until well mixed.
  5. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, along with the cranberries, and stir well but quickly to combine. Do not over-stir the dough otherwise the muffins will come out tough. . Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill about 2/3 of each cup.
  6. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until the muffins are golden brown and cooked in the middle. Let cool on a rack. Enjoy 🙂

Perfect Fall Soup: Butternut Squash, Carrot & Apple Soup

Today was that perfect Fall day. Super brisk yet still super sunny highlighting those gorgeous fall colors!! We spent the late afternoon crunching on all the fallen leaves and a messy outdoor art project!! It was a bit chilly and as it got later (and colder) I figured it was the perfect day for a warm & creamy soup. Yum!!

I was thinking Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk. Then I decided to add carrots from the CSA and apples we picked last weekend. I figured this was going to be a winning combination and it was!

I used pre-chopped butternut squash which made this meal a breeze and done within 30 minutes!

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Butternut Squash, Carrot & Apple Soup

  • medium butternut squash, peeled and chopped
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 apples, peeled and chopped
  • bag of carrots/parsnips, peeled and chopped
  • 4 cups (water & broth)(I used 2 of each) 
  • olive oil
  • salt & pepper
  • 1 can of coconut milk (all I had was light and it still came out creamy)
  • dash of nutmeg & cinnamon

In a large pot sauté onions in olive oil while peeling and cutting the squash, carrots & apples.
Turn the heat down and add the veggies, stirring until they are all added.
Add liquid and salt &pepper.
Cover and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer until the squash and carrots are soft.
Using an immersion blender puree completely smooth in the same pot.
Add coconut milk, nutmeg & cinnamon, taste and season, stir (I used the blender again) and enjoy!

Apple Cider Caramel Dipped Apples

No I am not joking with this! SOO good! This is one of those awesome desserts that no one would believe is actually vegan 🙂 Perfect for this beautiful Autumn Apple Season!

I whipped up the caramel sauce, sliced some apples and deelish!

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This is just a basic recipe that you can then play around with for many variations.

  • You can change up the cider to another liquid (chai, vanilla soy, pear juice, coconut milk, tea, etc)
  • Use 1 tsp to up to 3 Tbsp corn starch – the more you add, the thicker the sauce will become. (I am going to use more next time since as it warms up out of the fridge it became a bit runny – see picture below)
  • The lemon juice is optional but really complimented the warm apple cider flavors quite nicely.

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Vegan Apple Cider Caramel sauce
recipe from kblog.lunchboxbunch.com (love this site!!!)

1/2 cup apple cider
1/2 cup vegan shortening (I used Earth Balance shortening sticks)
1 cup vegan dry sugar
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1-3 Tbsp corn starch (I used 1Tbsp – next time more – see above)
1 tsp ginger powder
Dash cinnamon
2 Tbsp lemon juice
pinch of salt (opt’l)
1 tsp molasses (opt’l)

1. Dissolve the corn starch into the cider.
2. Add the cider/starch to a sauce pan with the other ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil – stirring constantly. When the bubbling becomes intense, reduce to medium heat and continue stirring until the mixture thickens a bit. Optional – use a food processor or (better) an immersion blender to add some air into the sauce.  If you don’t have anything to whip the caramel with it will still turn out fine – just a bit less airy.
3. Remove from heat. Pour the sauce into a bowl and chill in the fridge for at least an hour. Once chilled, use sauce as you wish in recipes!

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Super Simple and Fast Chia Pudding

I always love Chia and the kiddos adore it! Such a great breakfast or snack! I normally get a little fancier with the recipes (here are a few of them that I have made Chia Seed Pudding, Sweet Double Coconut Chia Pudding, Holiday Chia Pudding, and Banana Date Chia Pudding.) but this one is still super good and really fast and easy to make 🙂 Love that too!

Super Simple and Fast Chia Pudding
1 cup chia seeds
3 cups nut milk, coconut milk, or hemp milk
3 to 5 tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 /4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of sea salt

Place the chia seeds, vegan milk, agave, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a bowl and stir well with a fork, so there are no clumps and all the chia seeds are coated in milk. Let this sit at room temperature for 10 and stir again. Then cover and refrigerate. This pudding will keep well in the refrigerator for days.

Banana Date Smoothie & Oatmeal

This recipe started off as me making the kiddos’ food which is funny because often they are eating what we make for us. But as I was making this (and tasted it!) I really wanted some too 🙂

So the babies had the oatmeal version and I had the smoothies (although I am sure they and I would have loved both!)

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Banana Date Smoothie & Oatmeal

  • 10 or so dried dates (I steamed them to make them extra soft, but not really necesary)
  • 3 bananas
  • dash of cinnamon
  • 1 cup of almond milk (less for oatmeal, more for smoothie)

Super simple, just blend and either combine with cooked oatmeal or add extra almond milk for a smoothie.

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