Apples

A friend of ours in Riverton has apple trees.  A few weeks ago he gave us a box of windfall apples. We were grateful, and immediately thought, “Apple butter!” He was apologetic about them. Some were a little bruised; some had a worm hole in them. It didn’t really matter much, since we would be cutting off all the bad parts anyway. We pressed on, and made the best apple butter ever. There’s probably a lesson here. None of us is perfect. We all have a few bruises and worm holes of our own. But with a little work, we can be wonderful – just like this apple butter!

APPLE BUTTER

4 lbs of good cooking apples – Granny Smith or any other variety

1 c. apple cider vinegar

2 c. water

About 4 c. sugar (see cooking instructions), or honey

Salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. cloves

½ tsp. allspice

Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon 

Cut the apples into quarters – you don’t need to peel or core them (much of the pectin is in the cores and flavor in the peels), cut out the damaged parts.

We had so many apples, we did two pans.

Put in a large pot, add vinegar and water. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer. Simmer until apples are soft – about 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat.

Ladle mixture into a sieve or foodmill. Use a pestle or potato masher to force pulp into a large bowl below. This takes a long time! But it’s worth it. Really.

Measure resulting puree, add ½ c. sugar or 1/3 c. honey for each cup of apple puree. Add dash of salt, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, lemon rind and juice. Stir well and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Bring to simmer, and cook, stirring frequently. Scrape the bottom of the pan so it’s not sticking to the bottom. Cook till thick and smooth – about 1-2 hours. Your house smells fabulous by this time. A small bit spooned onto a chilled plate will be thick, not runny. The thicker it gets, the more you have to stir and taste. This is not a bad thing!

Pour into hot, sterilized jars and seal with sterile lids. Process in boiling water bath 10 minutes. While they are processing, get a piece of bread and slather it in apple butter. Sit and pat yourself on the back.

There are many, many things to do with apples. Have you ever had fried apples? Peel, core and slice some apples. Melt some butter in a pan, add the apples. Sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar, or drizzle on some honey. Stir over low-medium heat till they are soft.

Here are some other favorite apple recipes. You’ll want to use Granny Smith or another cooking apple for these recipes.

This first makes lovely bread at Christmas to give as gifts, or for a Christmas breakfast. 

APPLE BREAD

1 c. butter              

2 c. sugar          

½ tsp. salt       

2 tsp. vanilla  

4 eggs       

½ c. milk

2 large peeled, cored and chopped apples

4 c. flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1 ¼ tsp. cinnamon

1 c. chopped nuts 

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs. Add salt, vanilla and milk. Add dry ingredients. Stir in apples and nuts. Bake in 2 greased and floured loaf pans at 350˚ for 50-60 minutes. When still warm, pour on:

1 c. powdered sugar

1/4 c. melted butter

2 tbs. water 

Fruit crisps are about the easiest desserts to make after you’ve peeled the fruit. I’ve had this recipe forever and it’s a great, basic fruit crisp.

FRUIT CRISP

6 cups sliced, peeled, cored apples, or pears, peaches, etc.   

3 tbs. sugar             

1 c. rolled oats       

1 c. brown sugar

½  c. flour

½  tsp. cinnamon, or nutmeg   

½  c. butter      

½  c. chopped nuts      
                                         

Prepare fruit. Place in 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with sugar.

Combine oats, brown sugar, flour, and spice.

Cut in butter. Stir in nuts, if desired. Sprinkle over fruit.

Bake at 375˚ for 30-35 minutes. If desired, serve warm with ice cream. And why wouldn’t you desire it?

Here are some variations: 

MAPLE PECAN APPLE CRISP

2/3 c. flour           

1 c. packed brown sugar        

2/3 c. rolled oats         

½  tsp. cinnamon       

½  c. butter

1/3 c. chopped walnuts or pecans

about 10 peeled, sliced baking apples

½  c. maple syrup or honey

1 tsp. cinnamon 

Combine flour, brown sugar, oats, and ½ tsp. cinnamon. Cut in butter with pastry blender, 2 knives or your fingers. Add nuts. Set aside. Peel and slice enough apples to fill 9x13” baking dish. Sprinkle on 1 tsp. cinnamon and pour maple syrup over apples. Sprinkle with crumb mixture. Bake at 375˚ for about 45 minutes. Serves 15. (This can be cut in half for a 9x9” pan) 

I love the topping on this one: 

SPICY AUTUMN CRISP

TOPPING:

9 gingersnap cookies        

1/3 c. sugar              

1/3 c. packed brown sugar

2 tbs. flour

1/3 c. butter 

Place cookies in food processor; pulse till coarse crumbs form. Combine cookie crumbs, sugars and flour, cut in butter.  

FILLING:

3 ½ c. chopped peeled Granny Smith apple 

3 ½ c. chopped peeled Bartlett pear      

½ c. chopped pitted dates or golden raisins       

¼ c. molasses      

¾ tsp. cinnamon      

½ tsp. ginger

1/8 tsp. nutmeg        

1/8 tsp. cloves                         

Combine apples and rest of ingredients; toss well. Spoon into 8“ baking dish. Sprinkle with topping. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes. 9 servings.  

Fall is not fall unless you have, at least once: 

BAKED APPLES

Core Granny Smith or any baking apples, peel around top, and place in baking dish. Fill with cinnamon, brown sugar, raisins, and 1 tsp. butter. Bake at 350˚ for 30-45 minutes, or microwave for 5-7 minutes till tender. 

These are easy for children to make and they really like them: 

APPLE ENCHILADAS

6 large apples, peeled, cored, sliced        

3 tbs. apple juice     

½ tsp. vanilla           

1 tsp. maple flavor

½ c. raisins

½ c. chopped nuts

12 tortillas

Cook apples in juice. When tender, add rest of ingredients except tortillas. Place ½ c. in each tortilla. Roll up, place seam side down in baking pan. Cover with:

16 oz. frozen apple concentrate     

2 c. water       

¼ c. cornstarch       

½ tsp. lemon juice

¼ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg                                                 

Mix in saucepan and cook till slightly thickened. Serve warm.

My grandmother made this old fashioned pudding nearly every Sunday in the fall. It’s just a great tried and true recipe.

GRANDMA'S SUNDAY PUDDING

1 c. brown sugar     

2 c. water       

1 tbs. butter        

½ c. chopped nuts       

1/3 c. raisins  

1 ½ c. peeled, cored, chopped apples

2 tbs. butter

½ c. sugar

1 c. flour         

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt        

½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg

1/3 c. milk 

Boil first 3 ingredients. Pour into 2 qt. casserole baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle fruit and nuts over liquid. Cream 2 tbs. butter and sugar. Add milk alternately with mixed dry ingredients. Pour over liquid and fruit. Set pan in another pan with 1" of hot water. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cover for ½ hour.  

There are nearly as many apple pie recipes as there are apples, but I like this one because it uses a variety of apples. 

APPLE PIE

2 c. thinly sliced peeled Granny Smith apple     

2 c. thinly sliced peeled Braeburn apple     

1 c. thinly sliced peeled Rome apple         

1 c. thinly sliced peeled McIntosh or Jonathan      

1 tbs. fresh lemon juice               

2 tsp. milk

1 tbs. sugar

½ c. sugar

¼ c. packed brown sugar

3 tbs. flour

½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. salt

Top and bottom pie crust  

Combine apples and lemon juice. Combine ½ c. sugar, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Sprinkle over apple mixture and toss to combine. Place the bottom crust in a 9” pie plate. Spoon apple mixture into crust. You can dot with butter if you desire. Roll out and place top crust over apples. Press edges of dough together, flute. Cut 6 slits in top. Brush top and edges of pie with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 450° for 15 minutes (place a cookie sheet on bottom rack to catch drips). Reduce oven temperature to 375° and bake 45 minutes till golden. Cool.  

This is a nice twist on caramel apples: 

CARAMEL APPLE CRUMB PIE

1 tbs. butter     

½  c. packed brown sugar     

½ tsp. cinnamon        

9 c. sliced peeled Granny Smith apple

3 tbs. flour

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 pie crust                                                                       

Melt butter in skillet. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Add sugar mixture and apples to skillet; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in flour and lemon juice. Spoon into prepared crust.  Top with: 
¼ c. flour          

¼ c. brown sugar

2 tbs. butter

¼ c. fat free caramel sundae syrup                                                                       

Combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter. Drizzle syrup over apple mixture; sprinkle topping over syrup. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes till apples are tender. Cool.

Another thing about apples? You can just eat them - there are so many delicious varieties right now. Enjoy!