Apple Pie and Gingerbread
Parts of this past week were pretty busy, as my meetings that happen on the first Monday of the month were this week. This coming week is proving to be a busy one for me as various appointments are creeping up on me! We have still had no rain and it’s nearly as dry here as it is in Devine, and that’s pretty dry. I really have to water some of my plants every day. One thing that I did discover, was that my bougainvillea really kicked into action sprouting “blooms” when I put it out in full sunshine, that partial stuff just wasn’t doing the trick. It’s a beautiful color that looks like a combination of yellow and something, it’s not bronze, but it’s a really different color!
One of the most delicious smells to have in your kitchen is the fragrance of cinnamon as it bakes into something luscious and tasty. Some of the things to bake that come to mind are such as an Apple Crisp, Apple Pie, baked apples and of course let’s not forget good, old-fashioned Gingerbread. During the holidays last year, my daughter had stopped at a Brookshire Brothers store and came to the house with some really delicious oatmeal cookie. It was called Orange, cranberry, oatmeal cookies. There are dried cranberries rather than raisins in them and you can taste a faint flavor of orange, and maybe a hint of cinnamon. Yummy to the last bite. Any type of oatmeal cookie usually has a teaspoon or so of cinnamon amongst the ingredients, snickerdoodles are rolled in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar before baking and molasses cookies are full of wonderful smelling spices.
Gingerbread is something that my family has always loved. My recipe is one that came from a cookbook that Mother used when I was growing up. It smells so spicy and wonderful when it is cooking and is really not difficult to make. Many years ago, when I was hostess for the bunco group I was in at the time, one of my substitutes was a young woman who had never tasted gingerbread in her life. Of course, she was teased that she must have had a deprived childhood, when in reality, she simply had a mother who didn’t like to cook as much as some of the rest of us did!
Here are a few recipes for you to try, apples are pretty plentiful at this time, even though some varieties are pretty pricey, there are good tasting can be used in many ways.
Quick Homemade Apple Crisp
5 cups peeled, sliced baking apples (Granny Smith, Rome Beauty or any tart apple)
3 tablespoons sugar
TOPPING:
¾ quick cooking oatmeal (not instant)
½ cup brown sugar (packed)
¼ cup flour
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
6 tablespoons butter
¼ cup chopped pecans (optional)
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Mix apples and sugar and place in a 2-quart baking dish. For topping: in a medium bowl, combine the oatmeal, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; add pecans if used and mix to combine; sprinkle over apples in baking dish and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until apples are tender and topping is golden.
This apple cobbler is truly a simple one.
Apple Cobbler
¼ to ½ cup margarine
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
1 can apple pie filling
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Cinnamon/sugar for sprinkling on top
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Melt margarine in 9×9 baking pan and set aside. Open can of pie filling and stir cinnamon into apples, set aside.
Combine flour, sugar and baking powder, add milk and vanilla and stir to combine. Pour dough into melted butter in pan. Pour and spoon pie filling on top of dough. Bake for 20 minutes sprinkle with about 2 to 3 tablespoons of sugar and then sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes or until done. Serve warm or cold, with or without whipped topping or ice cream.
Grandma’s Gingerbread
½ cup shortening
2 eggs
½ cup granulated sugar
2½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon nutmeg or cloves
1 cup boiling water
1 cup molasses
Sift together: flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices; set aside. Cream together shortening, sugar and eggs until fluffy; and add sifted ingredients with the molasses. Add boiling water last and stir in gently, just until mixed. Pour into 9×13 pan and bake for 45 minutes or until done. If you like, sprinkle the top of the dough with a tablespoon or two of sugar before baking, or when cake is done, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Apple Hand Pies
2 tbs. butter
3 medium Granny Smith apples, finely chopped
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. lemon juice
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 package (14.1 oz) refrigerated pie pastry
Topping:
¼ cup coarse sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted.
Vanilla ice cream, optional
In a large skillet heat butter over medium heat. Add apples; cook and stir for 5 minutes. Mix together brown sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon; add to apples and cook and stir for about 7 to 8 minutes or until apples begin to soften and caramelize. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice and vanilla. Cool.
Preheat oven to 400ºF. On a lightly floured surface, unroll pastry sheets to a 1/8-inch thickness; cut 5 circles 4-inches each in diameter. Place about 2½ to 3 tbs. filling on one half of each circle. Moisten pastry edges with water and fold pastry over filling. Press edges with a fork to seal or, if desired pinch edges to seal and flute. Place on lightly greased baking sheets, prick tops of pastry with a fork and bake 20to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks. For topping, mix sugar and cinnamon and brush tops of pies with melted butter and sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture over them. Serve warm or at room temperature, with ice cream if desired.