Homemade Applesauce

As a kid, I could eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and applesauce all day every day. (I must admit - not much has really changed). So when my mom told me she snagged a killer applesauce recipe from one of her friends, I had to give it a go. Mama Hanley, you did not let me down – it’s fantastic. It makes a ton and freezes well. I can’t wait to make it again around the holidays!

Ingredients:
3-4 lbs of apples (I used 6 medium/large apples)
Juice of 1 lemon
½ teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 cup water

First, peel and core your apples, and dice them into bite-size pieces. As you are chopping the apples, drizzle the lemon juice over them to keep them from turning brown.

In a pot over medium heat on your stovetop, mix together the apple pieces (coated with lemon) and all the other ingredients. Allow the mixture to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it thickens and the apples are tender.

Remove the pot from the heat and serve immediately or allow it to cool. If you want, you can mash up the apples for a different consistency. Otherwise - it's pretty tasty as-is!

There! That’s all there is to it!

Monkey Bread

Before I made this recipe, I thought the name “Monkey Bread” was a bit silly. What does syrup-covered, cinnamon-sugar goodness have to do with monkeys? Heck, it doesn’t even have bananas in the recipe! At least that I could understand…

This was all before I saw the effects this bread can have on any self-respecting human being. It will leave you speechless; unable to communicate except for grunts and groans. Your eating habits will quite literally reflect those of monkeys: stealing bites from the person/monkey next to you, licking the plate clean, and jumping up and down uncontrollably with a mouth full. After experiencing every one of these responses to Monkey Bread, I’ve come to fully embrace its name and origin. After finishing your Monkey Bread, you will want to make another one soon, as in right NOW! That’s why I made two in one week. It takes a monkey to know one. Don’t judge.

1-1/2 sticks butter
¾ cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 packages (5 count each) of Pillsbury Grands Buttermilk Biscuits

Preheat your oven to 350 degree.

Measure the white sugar and cinnamon into a large ziplock bag.

Pop open the buttermilk biscuits and slice each biscuit into eight bite-size pieces. Place the biscuit pieces in the ziplock bag and zip-it closed. Gently shake the bag (think shake and bake) until each piece is coated with the cinnamon sugar.

Place the pieces in the bottom of a bundt pan. (No need to prep the pan with butter or non-stick spray- the two tons of butter we are about to use will take care of that).

Meanwhile, in a small pan on the stove-top, melt the butter and brown sugar, stirring constantly, until the mixture starts to bubble slightly. Remove the butter/sugar syrup from the heat and pour it directly over the cinnamon sugar pieces of biscuit at the bottom of the bundt pan. Do not mix…

Place the bundt pan in the oven for about 40-45 minutes, until the top rises and turns golden brown. The syrup mixture will “sink” and leave the top pieces slightly crispy. This is a good thing. It means it’s done!

Remove the pan from the oven and allow it to sit for about five minutes. Invert the pan on a large plate and let the hot goo run down the bread. Break off pieces and enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

What? You expected a banana bread recipe calling for whole wheat flour and flax seed? I know it’s popular right now to substitute high-calorie ingredients for some that are more figure-friendly, but I’m sorry. If you are looking for that, you’ve got the wrong blog…

There really is no substitute for sour cream in this recipe. It’s the secret to moist banana bread. And since we are using sour cream, why not throw in some chocolate chips while we are at it? The way I figure it – if you are eating this for breakfast, you’ve got the whole day to burn off the extra calories. See how I justify my eating habits?!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
¼ cup sour cream
2 eggs
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
½ cup chocolate chips (okay, these are technically optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and set it aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt, and set this mixture aside as well.

In a large bowl, stir together the butter and sugar. Once incorporated, add the eggs and sour cream, and stir again.

Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir. Repeat with the rest of the flour mixture. Be careful not to over-stir the batter. Working the batter too much at this point can result in tougher bread.

Lastly, add in the mashed bananas and chocolate chips. Stir until just incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for approximately 50-60 minutes, until the top of the loaf cracks and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the top of your bread starts to get too dark and you still need to bake it a few minutes longer, cover the top of the bread loosely with foil and return it to the oven to finish baking. The foil will prevent the bread from darkening further.

Once the bread is done baking, remove it from the oven and then from the pan immediately by inverting it on a large plate. Allow the bread to cool and then slice as desired.

Lemon Drop Cookies

Sometimes shortcuts pay off; especially when the end product is just as yummy as the kind you’d get if you slaved over a recipe. Today’s post uses a boxed cake mix to produce soft, chewy cookies in half the time it’d take you to measure all your dry ingredients. By adding a few “extras” to this recipe, no one will ever be able to tell you used a cake mix. That is, unless they saw your grocery list! My advice: shred that grocery list and pretend to be Martha Stewart. That’s what I do anyway ;)

Ingredients

1 (18.25-ounce) boxed cake mix, lemon flavor
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
½ teaspoon lemon extract
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Zest of 2 lemons
½ cup powdered (confectioner’s) sugar

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper, and set them aside.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together all the ingredients except the powdered sugar. The dough will be extremely sticky. No worries – that’s the consistency you are looking for.

Next, place the powdered sugar in a shallow bowl. Drop the dough by the heaping-teaspoonful into the powdered sugar. At this point, use your hands to roll the dough in the sugar until lightly coated. Now you’ll be able to handle the dough without it sticking to your fingers. Place each dough ball on the parchment-lined baking sheets about two inches apart.

Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes. The cookies will crack slightly along the top when they are done. Unlike most cookies, these will not turn golden brown. So after 10 minutes, remove them from the oven and allow them to sit for 2 minutes on the cookie sheets, and then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

This recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Recipe adapted from www.browneyedbaker.com