Caramel Apple Dip

We are always looking for new ideas about what to bring to our weekly small group meeting for church. My husband found this recipe at howdoesshe.com. I must say, I'm not a huge fan of caramel, but this recipe changed my mind. It has also worked well so that my 2 year old will eat more fruit without any complaints. In fact, he is often found liking up the last of the dip with his fingers!

Click here for the original recipe.

Caramel Apple Dip

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/3 cup butter

2/3 cup whipping cream (I used the whole 8 oz container)

*Makes 2 1/2 cups

In a medium saucepan combine sugars, syrup and butter.

Cook over medum heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a full boil, about 5 – 6 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes.

Stir in whipping cream.

Pour into a jar and store in refrigerator.  It will thicken when cold.

Crock Pot Oatmeal

I love oatmeal in the winter. There's something about the warm heartiness that I've always enjoyed. Plus, it's usually a fairly quick thing to make in the morning.

Well, it just got even easier...

I found this original recipe for raisin nut oatmeal in the October-November 2012 issue of Healthy Cooking. I changed a few things to make it even yummier to me. Instead of an apple, I used a pear (bartlett is my favorite), instead of raisins I used craisins, I omitted the pecans, and I added more cinnamon.

Crock Pot Oatmeal

3 1/2 cups skim milk

1 large pear, chopped (I keep the peel on for added fiber)

3/4 cup steel-cut oats

3/4 cup craisins

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

In a 3 quart slow cooker coated with cooking spray, combine first eight ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until liquid is absorbed. Spoon oatmeal into bowls; sprinkle with pecans.

**You may substitute 1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats for the steel-cut oats and increase the milk to 4 1/2 cups. However, the steel-cut oats hold their texture in the slow cooker better than quick-cooking oats, which take on a smoother consistency.

Chocolate Cappuccino Crumb Muffins

This is a recipe I had to beg from a friend because I loved it so much. I'm not a coffee fan but I could eat about a million of these muffins. Even my 2 year old son loved these "cupcakes".

Chocolate Cappuccino Crumb Muffins

1 1/2 cup milk

1 cup butter, melted

1 egg

2 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon instant regular coffee (I double this to 3 teaspoons)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

10-12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (minis work best for this muffin)

Crumb Topping (makes enough for a double batch of muffins)

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup cold butter cut into chunks

Combine all ingredients and stir with fork until well combined.

Directions

Blend milk, butter, egg, and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside. 

Blend in a large bowl flour, sugars, baking powder, coffee, salt, and cinnamon. 

Add liquid ingredients all at once to dry ingredients.

Mix on low speed just to blend. Do not over mix.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Place approximately 1/3 cup of mixture into each muffin cup. Sprinkle each with crumb topping.

Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes.

Yield: 15 muffins

Upside Down Apple Pie

Yet another amazing excuse to bake...our church's now annual chili and pie bake off. I participated with an apple pie 2 years ago that didn't place. So I knew I had to find something to stand out among the other entries. I'm not a huge pie fan myself but when I came across the recipe for upside down apple pie at nobblepig.com, I had to try it. Click here for the original website.

So, how did I do with my pie you might ask? I received second place (technically it was a tie). Not too bad if I say so myself. A couple of the judges came up to me afterwards raving about it. It really is that good and it's really very easy.

Upside Down Apple Pie

6 Tablespoons butter, melted & divided
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 refrigerated pie crusts
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice 
5 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored & cut into 1/2" slices

Coat a pie plate with nonstick cooking spray and line it with parchment paper. Coat the paper with cooking spray also. Now,I ran out of parchment paper and used aluminum foil instead. It worked okay but parchment paper would be best to keep the sugar from sticking to the foil.

In a small bowl combine 4 Tablespoons of melted butter, brown sugar and pecans. Mix well and spread evenly over the bottom of the pie plate, on top of the parchment. Place one of the crusts in the pie plate, pressing it firmly against the nut mixture and up the sides of the plate. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon and the remaining 2 Tablespoons of melted butter. Mix well. Add the apples in and toss gently to coat. Spoon into the pie crust.

Place the second crust over the apple mixture. Trim and fold the edges together to seal and cut some slits in the top of the crust for venting.  (I sealed the edges the best I could. I really couldn't fold and seal but it didn't matter at all.)

Bake 1 to 1-1/4 hours or until crust is golden brown in a 375 degree oven. Make sure to place a cookie sheet on the bottom oven rack to catch any drips from the pie.

Let the pie cool for 5 minutes and then place a plate that is larger than the pie on top of it and flip it over. Use oven gloves as it will still be hot. Remove the pie plate and gently lift the paper. Allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Blueberry Muffins

I've been craving blueberry muffins for awhile and finally decided to make them for a play date (I love finding a good excuse to bake). The original recipe came from allrecipes.com, click here for the website.

A couple of things I changed. I did double the recipe and it made 21 muffins. I added 3 cups of frozen blueberries (I rolled them in some of the flour first to prevent them from bleeding into the batter). I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour. I added some vanilla into my batter.

Blueberry Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  3/4 cup white sugar
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  2 teaspoons baking powder
  1/3 cup vegetable oil
  1 egg
  1/3 cup milk
  1 cup fresh blueberries
  
  
  Crumb Topping
  1/2 cup white sugar
  1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  1/4 cup butter, cubed
  1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Mix together the vegetable oil, egg and milk (I added a 1/2 tsp vanilla). Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Banana Bread

I've made this banana bread recipe about 3-4 times so far and have yet to try it since I usually give it away as gifts. Well, I had some leftover ripe bananas and decided it was finally time to try it. This is a very quick and easy recipe that I would recommend. I found the original recipe at the Simply Recipes website.

Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• I often sprinkle a little cinnamon sugar on the top to give it a little more sweetness and taste

METHOD

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Yield: Makes one loaf.

Homemade Finger Paints

 One of my friends found this recipe on Pintrist. I'm not sure how much I like it because it turned out more like jelly than paint. My son enjoyed using it and it was fairly easy and quick to make. It might be a good science experiment for older children.

Homemade Finger Paint

3 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup corn starch

2 cups water

Combine ingredients in small saucepan. Warm until mixture thickens. Cool and pour into containers. Add food coloring to create desired colors.

I would recommend using the egg carton for little ones. This recipe makes quite a bit of paint. Putting a small amount into the carton made clean up much easier. Also, I was impressed that the paint didn't stain anything.