Apple Cinnamon Crepes

Crepes are one of my favorite things to make. They're a great weekend breakfast, dessert, or snack.

They can be filled with healthy stuff like fruit (or veggies for a savory crepe) or good stuff like chocolate. When I make them for breakfast I try to be a little healthy and go the fruit route. Sometimes the fruit and the nutella route, but always a little fruit :).

This past Sunday I made apple cinnamon crepes. I used my favorite basic crepe recipe and filled each one with a few spoonfuls of apple pieces coated in cinnamon and sugar.

This recipe makes about 8 large crepes....which is enough for 2-3 people. Or just yourself if you're having a rough morning.

apple donut muffins

A few weeks ago, I stopped into Azucar, one of my favorite places in San Diego for a treat. They have the best cookies and scones and coffees and everything.  I am a little addicted to the place.  Anyways, when I was there I saw something called a "donut muffin" and I had to try one. Well, my mind was blown.  Amazing.

The next day I decided to try my own donut muffins.  I looked around online and put together a recipe that is a slightly dense muffin.  After baking you roll the mini muffin in melted butter and cinnamon-sugar.  You can make this recipe in a traditional sized muffin pan but I love the mini's.  The denser texture combined with the butter-cinnamon-sugar coating gives these little muffins the perfect donut taste.  SO good.

apple donut muffins (makes about 30 mini muffins)
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup cider
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 medium apple - peeled and grated
2 teaspoons cinnamon + 1/4 cup sugar + 4 tablespoons melted butter (for after baking)

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a mini muffin pan.
2. In a larger bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and brown sugar).  Set aside.  In a different bowl, mix the 3 tablespoons of melted butter, cider, egg, vanilla extract, and the grated apple.
3. Combine the wet and dry ingredient and spoon into the muffin pan.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes.  Remove the muffins from the pan and dunk first in the bowl of melted butter, then in the bowl of cinnamon-sugar.
5. Set the coated muffins on a plate to cool.  I found that these muffins tasted more "donut like" when they had cooled for about 15 minutes.  When they were piping hot, the texture was more muffin-esque. Try it, you'll see what I mean :).  Also, depending on how buttery and sugary you want your muffins to be, you might need more than the amounts of cinnamon, sugar, and butter that I recommended for the topping.

apple-cinnamon-sugar pancakes

I made these last weekend and they're my new favorite pancake.  Super easy, quick, and perfect for Fall.  

apple-cinnamon-sugar pancakes (this recipe will make about 12 pancakes)

-1 cup of four

-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

-1/4 teaspoon salt

-1 egg

-3/4 cup of milk

-1 apple (grated with a cheese grater)

-2 tablespoons of melted butter (cooled)

-cinnamon and sugar (for dusting the pancakes)

1. In a bowl, whisk together all the flour, baking soda, and salt.  

2. Stir in the remaining ingredients (except the cinnamon and sugar for dusting).

3. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and rub with butter or spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Pour 1/4 cup of the pancake batter in the pan (I did three pancakes at a time).  Wait for bubbles to form, flip, and cook for another minute.  Remove from pan and repeat until all the batter is gone.

4. Fill a small bowl with 1/4 cup white sugar and cinnamon (I used about two teaspoons).  Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the pancakes.  This cinnamon-sugar coating gives the pancakes the nicest, sweetest crunch.  It's so perfect.

Enjoy!

the best apple cake

I am not sure if it's the fact that I am on vacation/holiday eating mode or that I successfully made this cake without any measuring cups/spoons, but it is the best apple cake ever.  It calls for four eggs, which gives the cake a nice light texture.  

Even my husband loved this cake and he always claims to not like cake {seriously?}.  The recipe I used was from Smitten Kitchen and followed it as best I could...guessing cups and teaspoons and all of that.  I have a feeling this apple cake will become one of my go-to recipes.

Apple Cake {from Smitten Kitchen}
6 apples, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon cinnamon
5 tablespoons sugar

2 and 3/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
2 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a baking dish.  I used a rectangle one because that's all I had.    
2. Peel and dice the apples and toss in the cinnamon and 5 tablespoons of sugar.  Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, orange juice, and vanilla until well combined.  Add in the eggs, one at a time and then fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones.
5. Pour half the batter into the greased baking dish and top with half the apples.  Pour the remainder of the batter oven the apples and finish off with the second half of the apples.  
6. Bake for about an hour and a half or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Enjoy your new favorite apple cake :).

CrockPot Apple Butter

After picking apples in Julian last week, I had a million pounds of apples that needed to be made into something.  One thing I decided to make was apple butter.  I looked at various methods and decided upon the easiest one - crock pot apple butter.

This recipe could not be easier and it makes your whole house smell like apple and cinnamon.  So delicious.

Crockpot Apple Butter

**Chop up about two pound of apples {leave the peel on but remove and discard the core}.  Rinse the apple pieces and toss in the slow cooker.   

**Cover the apples with 2-3 tablespoons of honey, a teaspoon of nutmeg, three teaspoons of cinnamon, the zest from one lemon, and 1/3 cup of water.  Stir all together, set the crockpot on low, and cook for about five hours.

Depending on how large or small you chopped your apples, it might take more or less time.  Check here and there and give the mixture a stir so it doesn’t scorch.

**Once the apples are cooked and cooled, dump the mixture into a food processor or blender and process until smooth.  If you prefer lots of texture, skip this step.

Store the apple butter in airtight containers in the refrigerator for a few weeks.

Apple butter can be spread on toast, waffles, etc.  Or, go crazy and spread it on cracker topped with a slice of good parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Roasted Apple + Butternut Squash Soup

This soup is so easy and delicious and as a bonus, it is also super healthy.  It is full of vitamin rich squash, it's very low fat, and has a nice sweet flavor.  I topped my soup with a tablespoon of low fat sour cream.  It was the perfect accompaniment. 

Roasted Apple + Butternut Squash Soup {makes about 5 servings}
-5 heaping cups of butternut squash, cut into large pieces {I'/ lazy so I just used 2 bags of pre-cut squash from Trader Joe's}
-1 large apple, cut into large pieces
-1 large onion, cut into large pieces
-6 cups of vegetable broth
-1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
-1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
-salt, pepper, and about a tablespoon of olive oil


1. Set the oven at 400 degrees and lay the squash pieces, apple pieces, and onion pieces out onto a large baking sheet.  Sprinkle the cinnamon, ginger, a little salt and pepper, and one tablespoon olive oil over the squash, apple, and onion,  Use a large spoon or your hands to toss all together.
2. Roast for about 45 minutes.
3. Remove pan from oven and dump everything into a large soup pot.  Cover with 6 cups of vegetable stock and simmer for about 20 minutes.  
4. Turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool for a little before blending.  If I have time, I like for the soup to completely cool before I blend.  Blending hot liquids can be a little risky...if you decide to blend while the soup is still hot, crack open the lid of the blender and cover with a dish towel.  This will allow steam to escape and will prevent the soup from popping the lid off the blender....and burning you in the face {I had this happen once, it is not fun :)}.
5. Serve with sour cream on top and/or with a few crackers.

Enjoy!

p.s. If you are looking to lose a few pounds before Spring, this recipe is Love Food: Lose Weight approved!