Fall Apple Crisp

My favorite month of the entire year is October, and maybe that's because it starts out with my birthday and ends with Halloween! I also love the leaves changing color, cooler temps, and pumpkin/apple flavored everything.

At my job, we bring in a treat on our birthday to share with the team. I decided to make an apple crisp, a favorite treat of mine and perfect for the fall weather. My dad used to make an amazing apple crisp with wheat germ. It was my brothers and my favorite breakfast. I couldn't find that recipe and i didn't have any wheat germ in the house, so I went on a search for other options.

I had plenty of apples in my house and found a recipe to use as a template before having some fun on my own with the flavors.  I really wanted it to taste like you are eating fall (haha)

I started by doubling the recipe so I would have enough to feed everyone at work (and have a few leftovers for myself to enjoy).

My Aunt bought me this awesome apple cutter a few years ago for Christmas. It cuts in either 8 or 16 pieces. I realized that by using the 16 piece option, I didn't need to really slice the apples any thinner and just had to remove the peel from each piece. I love time savers in the kitchen.

Here are my alterations to the recipe: (remember I doubled it)

Filling edits:
- I used 9 apples - I like a lot of apples in my crisp!
- I used 5 Tbsp. butter instead of 6 (trying to cut back on fat)
- replaced the vanilla with Maple Syrup as I didn't have any vanilla at home
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 2 Tbsp Flour and 2 Tbsp. Chai Protein Powder

Topping edits: 
- I used 3/4 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of Chai protein powder in the crumb topping
- I used 1/4 tsp cinnamon and a 1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- I used only 8 tbsp of butter for the topping (tried to but back a bit)

And after those edits, I followed all the mixing ingredients to a T. Even with less butter in the filling and more apples, I felt there was still plenty of coating on all the apples.

I am so glad that I purchased a pastry blender as doing this with a fork would have taken forever. 

 There was plenty of crumb topping to generously cover the apples. 

Voila! The end result was bubbling at the edges when I pulled it out of the oven. I let it cool uncovered for about an hour and then covered it until the next morning. The topping did get a little soggy but by removing the lid at work, it crisped up again.

My coworkers raved about it. They warmed up their pieces in the microwave for just about 10 seconds and someone even told me it was like something from a restaurant! I brought home the last bits for my guy to try and his words were "you can make this anytime you want."

So I would say this is an overwhelming win for me in the baking department. And I just happen to have more apples at home that are ready to be baked with :)

Harvest Time - Apple Cake

Fall is in full swing in Wisconsin and I am seeing apple picking and pumpkin farm trips on a lot of my Facebook friends' feeds these past weeks. I don't think I'll be making it to a pumpkin farm this year, but it was a great time last year. There are two pumpkins that my mom told me I could carve if I wanted to, so I'll work on those next week.

But I was able to use a few apples from a local orchard (Patterson's in Greenfield). I came across this recipe from Lui in Cucina through my blog searching and Pinterest and although this was called a cake, it looked like bread to me and that drew my interest.

It was a recipe that sounded simple enough that I would make it for my boyfriend while he recovers from rotator cuff surgery. I didn't remember the small step of using an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar, so I attempted it by hand.

I think I did a great job because the batter ended up looking normal.

 Mixing up the brown sugar and cinnamon was much easier :)

 And I almost forgot the flour the pan - that could have been disastrous!

Then it's as simple as combining the rest of the dry with the wet and getting it in the pan.

You put half the batter in the pan, then add half the chopped apples and half the cinnamon mixture.

 And repeat!

 On this layer you have to push in the apples a bit more so they cook into the batter.

40 minutes later and I was able to have a bite of the best apple cake I have had! It was moist and solid like a pound cake but juicy like cake.

It was gone in just a few days!

I am so thankful for places like Pinterest and blogs so I can try new recipes that I wouldn't have thought of on my own. Visit Lui in Cucina for the complete recipe. You won't regret it!