TWD::Apple-Apple Bread Pudding

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen  by Elizabeth of Cake or Death.  I have to say, I was really excited about this one, too.  Though you wouldn't have guessed it by how late I am at posting it.  Sorry about that.  Time completely got away from me this week.  I also couldn't find Apple Butter or Brioche to make it.  So, I kept hunting and finally was successful, albeit late.  I ended up making my own bread as suggested by a fellow TWD blogger. The bread recipe was seriously amazing!  Like making my own croissant rolls at home, in the bread machine, and in a bundt pan.  I'll definitely be making those again and posting all about it!  Just watch out!

While I really enjoyed this bread pudding recipe, I'm not in love with it.  Then again, I don't like apple pie and this tasted fairly similar to that for me.  So, neh....will I make it again.  Probably not.  Now if I were to tweak it a bit.  Use some of that delicious cinnamon burst bread from Great Harvest THEN add some raisins...and top it with a gooey caramel sauce.  Yeah.  That's what I'd make.

If this recipe sounds like it will suit your fancy, then by all means, swing on over to Elizabeth's blog to get your copy of the recipe.

{Apple-Apple Bread Pudding Recipe}

You can also see how other TWD bakers did with their bread pudding by going to the TWD Blogroll.

TWD::Cran-Apple Crisp

First of all, thank you everyone for all your well-wishes. I'm not 100% yet, but my tastebuds almost are. I've been sick for the past month and just went back to the Dr. today because I'm STILL not feeling in tip top shape. Verdict: Persistent Bronchitis. Well, Duh! I could've told him that! At least he did give me two medications that should hopefully knock this gunk out of my system for good this time...crossing my fingers. I just hope that I've done my time with illnesses this winter and can be healthy for the rest of it. Well, I can be a little bit hopefuly, right!?

So, now that I'm somewhat on the mend, I decided to bake my family a treat. They've been dying for some baked yummy goodness to come from our kitchen again and I thought the best way to start that out would be with this Cran-Apple Crisp.

This crisp is seriously so delicious! I used five small apples instead of four. Three of which were granny smiths. Did I remember that cranberries have a tendency towards tartness also while whipping this together...NO! So, we had a few bites here and there that were doubbly tart. I probably should have added a bit more sugar to counteract that. Oh well. We loved it, regardless! The coconut in the topping was a pleasant surprise, too. It added somewhat of a tropical feel while the apples and cranberries brought it down to home and balanced everything beautifully. One perfect bite of tartness and sweetness in perfect harmony! Well done, Dorie!

The best part...It's incredibly easy, too! My 5 year-old daughter wanted in on the baking action, so I let her play along with me. Being that there were only a handful of ingredients, made our "play time" much less stressful for me, too. Whew! I needed that!

I just couldn't help posting a photo of my two cuties since they were both LOVING this crisp. Though, it definitely makes it taste better when you're five and get to help in the kitchen!

If you'd like to make this crisp too, head on over to Em's blog (our host for this recipe) at The Repressed Pastry Chef . Or better yet, buy the book; Baking: from my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan! You'll love it as much as I do!

You can also see what other TWDers thought by going to the TWD Blogroll HERE.

Perfect Apple Crisp

Recently, we moved into a new home and with this move, we were lucky enough to inherrit a couple of fruit trees.  One apple and one plum.  The bad news is that we don't understand enough about fruit tree maintenance just yet, so we only resuced ONE plum oNe, but that plum was the best I've ever eaten (the rest were either devoured by birds or fell off with a big windstorm onto our roof then into the gutter...dumb, I know!)!  With our apple tree, we just let it do its thing...grow apples.  Well, these apples LOOK like they're probably golden delicious, but they taste so much better! 

This apple tree has produced SO many apples and they're not ity bity small ones either.  They're pretty BIG, baseball-sized apples and so crispy and good!  Well, minus the WoRmS!  Yup, we didn't spray it, so probably 50% of the apples have worms.  Arugh!  *No worms made it into this apple crisp.*  So, with our new apple tree that we completely {HEART}, we've resigned to make sure we spray and do everything necessary to ensure we get that percentage of worms DOWN next year! 

In any case, I've been making a lot of recipes that include APPLES lately.  One of my All-time favorites is my apple crisp.  I have no idea where I got this recipe, but I've used it for YEARS and years and every time I make it for someone, I get oodles and oodles of praises and requests for this recipe. It's sweet, cinnamony and nutty and above all DELICIOUS! 


Apple Crisp
from the kitchen of Lisa Jensen, Gourmified

Apple mixture:
8c. Apples (any kind), GRATED
2 Tbsp. flour
1c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Topping:
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. old fashioned oats
1/2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1c. salted, melted butter
1/2 c. chopped pecans, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a Large bowl, combine apple mixture ingredients.  Mix well & put into greased 9x13 pan.  Combine topping ingredients and mix well.  Sprinkle evenly over apples.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and sides are bubbly.

Serve warm with whipping cream or vanilla ice cream.

Apple-Snickers Salad

Apple Snickers Salad

This looks so much like potato salad when mixed together that it makes for a fun "surprise" salad to share!

3 Granny Smith Apples
3 Gala Apples
3 Red Delicious Apples
1 small package Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
1 small tub Cool Whip
3 Snickers Candy Bars

In a medium to large mixing bowl, mix the Vanilla Pudding and the Cool Whip together. Cut the Snickers into bite size pieces and blend them up in a blender. Stir some of the Snickers into the pudding/Cool Whip mix. Save some to sprinkle on top. Cut up all the apples into bite size pieces and stir them into the mix. Mix it well. Sprinkle the rest of the Snickers on the top.