Three Apple Deserts To Try This Fall

Hello adventures, welcome back to another post. Fall is finally in full swing and nothing says fall deserts to me more than apples! Although some people like pumpkin flavored anything, I’m not a fan. So apple it is!! I enjoyed making all three of these delious deserts, although I might have had a few bumps in the road it’s all part of the learning experience. Now enough gibber gabber, on to the recipes.

Recipe 1: Apple Fritters

Yields: 8 servings

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook Time: 10 Minutes

Total Time: 25 Minutes

Apple fritters are pretty much apple donuts but better. With the chunks of apple and cinnamon sugar coating, these fritters are little pieces of heaven on a chilly fall morning. This recipe is originally from Pioneer Women, one of my favorite bloggers.

Ingredients

2 cups All-purpous Flour
1/2 cup Sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 1/4 teaspoons Salt
2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
2 Whole Large Eggs
3/4 cup Whole Milk
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 teaspoons Melted Butter
2 whole Granny Smith Apples, Peeled and Diced
Powdered Sugar (optional for dusting)
3 tablespoons Sugar and 2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon (optional for coating)

GLAZE (optional)

1 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 cup Milk

Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, then add the milk, melted butter and vanilla.

I put all the wet ingredients in the bowl at once. I guess I didn’t really follow the recipe. Oops.

Gently fold dry and wet ingredients together until just combined (don’t overmix.)

Peel and cut the apples into chunks. Add to the batter until very chunky (you don’t have to use all the apples.) You do want the apples to shine through!!

Two apples and a lesson in oil safety later.

Heat a couple inches of canola oil over medium-low heat. When it gets hot (375 degrees is the sweet spot,) drop a little drop of batter into the oil. If it sizzles immediately and rises to the top, the oil is ready; if it burns quickly, turn down the heat.

I prepared a drying station for the fritters when they are fresh out of the oil. A couple layers of paper towels over a cookie sheet works great.

Drop a teaspoon of batter into the hot oil, six or eight at a time. (If you are new at frying like me, try one or two at a time until you get the hang of it.) Sometimes they will flip over by themselves; sometimes you have to flip them. Just watch them and make sure they don’t get too brown, but cook them long enough to make sure the batter is cooked through, about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes total.

I used a tablespoon cookie scoop for evenness.

Once cooked remove and drain on a paper towel. Then you can either dust it with powdered sugar, roll it in cinnamon sugar or dip the fritters in a light donut glaze (mix all the ingredients together, then dunk the warm fritters).

Serve warm.

Sadly I am not sure the exact number of fritters this recipe makes because Taylor, Dad and myself were eating them almost as soon as they got on the platter.

Recipe 2: Apple Crisp

This apple crisp recipe is a family favorite and perfect for a chilly fall evening, or whenever you want to eat it. This is a family recipe from my Great Uncle Phil, that I adapted to be gluten free. My Mom is gluten free and has been for six years, and I try to make desserts she can eat as well.

Ingredients:

4 cups Peeled Sliced Apples (I used Granny Smiths)
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
1/3 cup Flour (I used gluten free flour)
2/3 cup Brown Sugar
3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
3/4 cup Oatmeal
1/3 cup Melted Butter

Directions

Place apples in a greased 8 x 8 x 2 inch pan. Sprinkle lemon juice over the apples.

Combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, oats and melted butter; mix until crumbly.

Spread over apples. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

Serve warm with ice cream, to make it extra yummy!

Recipe 3: Rose Apple Tart

This tart is a beautiful and delicious alternative to an apple pie. With its beautiful layering of honey crisp apples and sweet crust it is a delicious treat to share with your loved ones.

Ingredients

Tart Crust:

1 1/2 cups Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
1/8 teaspoon Salt
10 tablespoons Butter Cold Unsalted
2 Egg Yolks
1 tablespoon Heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Apple Filling:

2 tablespoon Lemon Juice
1/2 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
5 Honey Crisp Apples
Apricot Preserves (optional)

Directions:

Tart Crust: I got this wonderful tart crust recipe from Julia’s Album. A wonderful cooking blog with great recipes.

Using a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, and salt combine thoroughly.

Cut the cold butter into small cubes.

Add the butter into the food processor. (which already has the dry ingredients combined from step 1)

Pulse this mixture in the food processor until the consistency becomes that of a coarse meal.

In a small cup, combine the egg yolk, heavy cream and vanilla and stir well together. Add the egg mixture to the food processor and pulse to combine.

Shape the dough into a disk on parchment paper. I put the dough between two pieces of parchment and used a rolling pin to roll it out a couple inches bigger than the tart pan I used. Then grease the 9.5 inch tart pan. Then, I take the parchment paper and ease the round into a tart pan, press it into the bottom and up the sides. Carefully remove the parchment;

If some pieces of crust fall off, just gently press them back. If your parchment gets stuck to the dough, don’t remove it and refrigerate the tart shell. After your crust has been refrigerated for at least a hour, you will be able to remove parchment easily.

Extend the dough slightly about the rim to compensate for any shrinkage during baking.

Cover tart pan with plastic. Then put the tart pan in the refrigerator for at least an hour. (I let it sit in the refrigerator over night.)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Poke some holes in the dough with a fork to prevent air bubbles. Line the cold tart pan with parchment paper, with the edges just over the sides of the tart pan.

Place some pie weights into the shell. In my case, I used black beans.

Bake the tart shell for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, lift the foil with weights out of the pan.

Continue baking the tart shell without weights and parchment for 15 minutes, until golden brown color. Let it cool.

Apple filling and how to make the apples into a rose shape:

Use a mandolin with the smallest setting, to cut 5 honey crisp apples, cored but not peeled. After the apples are cut add the lemon juice to prevent browning.

Add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg to the apples, and mix delicately as to not break the apples.

Once the tart crust is ready start layering the apples overlapping each other in a circular motion and move in. Making sure the apples are standing straight up. Repeat until there is no more room to put the apples.