Fun fall foods that add a sweet twist to your season
December 3, 2015
The leaves are falling, the temperature is falling, snow is falling; it must be fall. As more time is spent inside, a perfect opportunity for baking is created. Here are some tasty fall treats with recipes inspired by Allrecipes.com, with additional notes by Morgan Rose.
The first recipe is pumpkin apple streusel muffins. What better way to embrace fall than baking delicious muffins combining the crisp moistness of apples with the warm, hearty taste of pumpkin garnished with a sweet and crunchy streusel on top. This recipe makes 18-20 muffins, depending on how much batter is in each muffin cup.
Muffin Ingredients: Streusel Ingredients:
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar 1/3 cup white sugar
1 1/4 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice 4 teaspoons butter
1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 1/2 cups peeled and chopped apple
Recipe:
1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Lightly grease 18-20 muffin cups, or use paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, white sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt.
3. In another smaller bowl, mix together eggs, pumpkin puree and oil. Stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture until it is moist. Stir in apples. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
4. In an even smaller bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and cinnamon for the streusel. Add butter and whisk together until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Sprinkle streusel evenly over muffin batter. The batter should be almost, if not completely, covered.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or when you can remove a toothpick cleanly after baking.
The next recipe is a double layer pumpkin cheesecake. This is a mega crowd pleaser that everyone will be dying to grab a slice of. The cream cheese layer perfectly distributes the rich pumpkin flavor, deeming this a perfect treat to eat in front of the fire on a chilly fall night. Garnish with whipped cream for added sweetness!
Ingredients:
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust (Normal pie crust works just as well)
Recipe:
1. Preheat oven to 325º F
2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside.
3. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. The cheesecake is firmer and the flavors blend together better the longer the cheesecake is refrigerated.
The third recipe is apple dumplings. These are incredible right out of the oven when the apple is just warm enough to melt in your mouth but not burn it. Drizzled with a thick caramel-like sauce, the dumplings are perfectly sweet. This recipe makes eight per can of crescent roll dough.
Ingredients:
3 Macintosh apples
2 cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
3/4 cup of butter 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar 1/4 cup brown sugar
About 8 fl. oz. of Mountain Dew™ 1 teaspoon vanilla
Recipe:
1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Line a baking dish with tin foil making certain that no ingredients can get underneath it and stick to the pan.
2. Cut apples into 8-10 wedges and set aside. Separate the crescent roll dough into triangles.
3. Coat apple wedges in cinnamon sugar. Place 2-3 apple wedges at the smallest end of the crescent roll dough and wrap the apples up in the dough. Pinch the ends together to seal and place in the baking dish.
4. Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in the white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Once it forms a thick caramel and begins pulling away from the edges, take off the stove.
5. Allow the caramel sauce to cool briefly before pouring it over the dumplings. Once the caramel sauce has set slightly, pour Mountain Dew™ over and around them.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes in preheated oven or until golden brown.
The last recipe is for a variation of the classic Rice Krispie® Treat dessert. Perfect for Thanksgiving, these Rice Krispies® are shaped and decorated to look like drumsticks.
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter Peanut butter (about 1/2 jar)
1 10 oz. package of marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies® Cocoa Krispies®/other chocolate cereal
Recipe:
1. Melt butter in medium-sized saucepan. Add in marshmallows a few at a time and stir until completely melted. Take off stove.
2. Without allowing to cool, stir in Rice Krispies® one cup at a time.
3. After letting cool for about 3 minutes, rub hands with butter and shape into drumsticks.
4. Spread peanut butter on the large part of the drumstick and then coat in chocolate cereal. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Best if served on same day, but can last for 2-3 days after.
The Ghostwriter staff recommends these recipes to add fun and flavor to your palette this fall. Whether you are preparing an elaborate Thanksgiving dinner, or you just have a lazy Sunday afternoon, these treats will surely spice up your autumn.
