Tag Archives: fall baking

Sep 30

Pear Bread

As excited as I am about the abundance of apples this time of year, there’s another fruit that I’ve also gotten pretty stoked about lately: the pear. I wasn’t always a huge fan of pears, but over the past year I’ve grown to really like them. And now that pears are in season, I’ve been trying to take advantage by incorporating them into my fall baking routine. To that end, I recently whipped up this wonderfully delicious pear bread.

If you enjoy pears, I highly recommend making this pear bread, which, really, might as well be called pear cake. The recipe couldn’t be easier to follow and the end result is a moist, light bread (er, cake) that’s perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack. Actually, you could eat this anytime of the day. Have it for dinner, in fact. I won’t judge you…especially since that’s what I did a few nights ago.

pearbread

Pear Bread
Recipe from Bake or Break

Ingredients:

3 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups peeled and finely grated ripe, firm pears
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a two 9×5 loaf pans.
  2. Mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Scoop out about 1/4 cup of this mixture and combine it with the pecans to coat, and then stir back into the flour mixture.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, eggs, sugar, pears, and vanilla. Add the pear mixture to the flour mixture, stirring just until the flour disappears and the batter is evenly moistened.
  4. Pour the batter into your prepared pans and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until the bread is browned and firm on top and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
  5. Cool completely before cutting and serving.
Sep 17

Allspice Crumb Muffins

I know I’ve already gone on and on about how much I absolutely love the flavors of fall, so bear with me as I say it once again, this time in the form of praise for these allspice muffins. If you’re a fan of cinnamon, sugar, and warm, buttery crumb-topped muffins, go ahead and make yourself a batch of these.

allspicemuff

Allspice Crumbs Muffins
Recipe from Eva Bakes

Ingredients:

For the crumb topping:

½ cup AP flour
½ cup light brown sugar
½ tsp ground allspice
5 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

For the muffins:

2 cups AP flour
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
¾ cup whole milk
¼ tsp vanilla

Method:

For the crumb topping:

  1. Mix the flour, brown sugar, and allspice in a small bowl. Add the chunks of cold butter and mix with your hands by pinching the mixture between your fingers until you have uneven, pea-sized crumbs. (Tip: To avoid having the mixture stick to your hands, try coating your fingers with a bit of cooking spray.)
  2. Place the topping in the refrigerator until ready to use (it can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored, covered, in the fridge).

For the muffins:

  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a muffin pan with 12 muffin cups.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, allspice, baking powder, and salt. Add in the brown sugar and stir until no lumps remain.
  3. In a separate large bowl, mix together the melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla until well-combined. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, whisking gently but quickly to combine. The batter may be lumpy, and that’s okay.
  4. Evenly distribute the batter into the muffin cups. Sprinkle the crumb topping over each muffin, and then use your fingertips to gently press the crumbs into the batter.
  5. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
  6. Let the muffins cool in their pan for about five minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Although these muffins can supposedly last up to five days when stored in an airtight container at room temp, I found that they started to dry out after two or three days. My advice is to cut the recipe in half if you don’t think you’ll finish yours within a couple of days. Yes, it may seem like a lot of work for such a small amount of muffins, but trust me, these are well worth it.

Sep 16

Apple Spice Bars

Yesterday I went apple picking for the first time this season, and while it was a touch early for some of the varieties I like to have on hand, I managed to stock up on one of my all-time favorites: the McIntosh. There’s just something about McIntosh apples that I really like. I could sit there and munch on them all day, especially if I have a nice jar of peanut butter on hand. But if there’s one thing I absolutely love about McIntosh apples, it’s the fact that they’re the perfect addition to many of my favorite fall baking recipes, including these apple spice bars.

This recipe really embraces all the wonderful flavors of fall. You’ve got cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar combining with fresh, juicy apples to form one of the most perfect concoctions you could ever imagine. If you decide to make them, do yourself a favor and spend some time in your kitchen while these babies are baking up. You’ll be overwhelmed by the warm, comforting aroma of spices as you stand there anticipating how good they’ll taste fresh out of the oven.

Of course, you’ll need to wait a little while to let your bars cool. And you should be warned that once they’re ready, you may have a hard time eating just one. I find that these soft, moist cake bars pair perfectly with a nice warm beverage, be it a strong cup of coffee or a mug of chai or herbal tea. And if you happen to be lucky enough to taste them while they’re still slightly warm, you’ll pretty much be in heaven.

applespicebars

Apple Spice Bars
Recipe very slightly adapted from Beantown Baker

Ingredients:

2 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled to room temp
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
2 cups diced and peeled McIntosh apples
Brown sugar for topping, optional

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 baking pan and set aside.
2. In medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.
3. In a large bowl, combine the sugars and butter. Whisk thoroughly until well-combined. (Note: The original recipe suggests using a stand mixer. I didn’t want to bust mine out, and the power whisk method worked just fine for me.)
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating or whisking well to combine. Add vanilla extract and mix thoroughly.
5. Fold in the flour mixture a little at a time until just combined. Stir in apples and mix well.
6. Spread the batter into your prepared pan and sprinkle the top with brown sugar.
7. Bake for 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. The top should be very slightly browned and springy.
8. Remove the bars from the oven and let them cool completely in their pan. Since they’re very soft, I recommend being patient and waiting a good two hours before cutting and serving. However, feel free to keep walking over and smelling them as they cool. It’ll be somewhat torturous, but trust me, the aroma is all part of the experience.

Sep 12

Apple Walnut Coffee Cake a/k/a Apple Disaster Cake

Last week, I discovered why it can sometimes be a problem to bake in somebody else’s kitchen. I was visiting my mom and decided that in honor of September and the fact that she’s awesome, I’d make one of her favorite cakes.

I stumbled upon this recipe several years ago and have been making it every September since then. The cake itself is moist, sweet but not too sweet, and full of so many of the fall flavors I absolutely love. And as an added bonus, when made correctly, it looks absolutely beautiful, especially with the baked apple pieces and walnuts adorning the top.

But as you can see, my most recent version of this cake didn’t turn out quite as lovely. And here’s why: When you use somebody else’s kitchen, you don’t always stop to think about how to handle equipment that’s different than yours. And whereas I have a tube pan that can be easily lifted from the top, my mom’s tube pan is the type where you insert the top into the bottom as sort of a separate, unattached piece.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

No sooner had I assembled a gorgeous, layered version of this fabulous cake when I foolishly decided to grab the tube pan from the top and bring it over to the oven. By doing so, I immediately managed to dislodge the top from the bottom, causing cake batter to spill rapidly out of the bottom of the pan and all over my mom’s countertop.

As you can imagine, I was not happy. But my mom, who’s a much sport than I am about these things, had a great idea: Instead of throwing out the spilled batter (which, by the way, constituted at least half the cake), wasting all those ingredients, and starting over from scratch, why not scoop it up, throw it into a 9×13 pan, and bake it as a non-layered, less pretty apple coffee cake?

The stubborn part of me initially tried to protest. After all, I wanted my cake in its original form, and I wanted to serve it to my mom the way she was used to having it. But not only is my mom a much better sport than I am, she can also be far more practical. And after spending several minutes consoling me (you know, her adult daughter who’s a mama herself and who was basically bordering on crying over spilled batter) and assuring me that this less spectacular version of the cake would no doubt turn out equally delicious, I agreed to proceed with Operation Cake Salvage.

And so we scooped up the spilled batter, dumped everything into a rectangular cake pan, and hoped for the best. And sure enough, the cake tasted incredible—moist, sweet but not too sweet, and full of the fall flavors that make it a winner, even when disaster strikes. And although I still recommend baking it in a tube pan as the original recipe suggests, if you don’t have one, you could always do what I did and make a less pretty but equally yummy version.

disaster

Apple Walnut Coffee Cake
Original recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients:
6 apples (the original recipe calls for McIntosh apples; I used Cortland and Gala this time around but have used McIntosh in the past)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
5 tablespoons sugar
2 3/4 cups flour, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a tube (or 9 x 13 baking) pan. Peel, core and chop apples into chunks. Toss with cinnamon and sugar and set aside.
2. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, orange juice, sugar and vanilla. Mix wet ingredients into the dry ones, then add eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the bowl to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.
3. Pour half of batter into prepared pan. Spread half of apples over it. Pour the remaining batter over the apples and arrange the remaining apples on top. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, or until a tester comes out clean.

 

 

Sep 9

Apple Pie Cookies

To me, Labor Day marks the official end of summer and beginning of fall. I know the calendar might say otherwise, but there’s just something about the start of September that puts me into a fall state of mind. And the string of cooler weather in New Jersey this past week definitely contributed to that effect. We had several days of what I’d describe as perfect weather—low 70s and sunny during the day, cooler and breezy at night without actually being cold.

Being a lover of all things fall-related, I decided to bake up a batch of one of my favorite cookie recipes. I found this recipe online a long time ago and at this point, I honestly don’t remember where it came from. What I do know, however, is that it works really well with all types of apples. This year, I used a combination of Gala and Granny Smith apples to make my cookies, but in previous years, I’ve used McIntosh, Delicious, and Braeburn apples as well. The key, I think, is to include at least one tart apple (like the Granny Smith) to balance out the sweetness a little.

While these cookies do take a little time to put together, they aren’t overly complicated and are well worth the effort. I love the fact that they come out soft, cakey, and incredibly moist. If you’re a fan of apples, pecans, and fall flavors, you should definitely give this recipe a try.

applepiecookies

Apple Pie Cookies

Ingredients:

3 cups AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
½ tsp nutmeg
1 cup butter, at room temp
1 and ½ cups brown sugar (I like to use half dark brown and half light brown)
2 large eggs
4 tbsp maple syrup (though I prefer to stick to the quality stuff, you could use your basic pancake syrup in a pinch)
2 and ½ cups fresh apples, peeled and diced
1 and ½ cup toasted pecans, chopped

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper (this recipe yields anywhere from four to six dozen cookies depending on how big you make them, so plan accordingly).
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
In a large bowl (I use a stand mixer), cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then blend in the maple syrup.
3. Gradually blend in the flour mixture at a low speed. Once incorporated, stir in the apples and toasted pecans by hand.
4. Drop by ¼ spoonfuls (or your desired size) onto your prepared baking sheets.
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

When stored in an airtight container at room temperature, these can last up to a week.