Ryan's in the Kitchen-Caramel Apples Kiddie Style

I love caramel apples and this was a perfect project for Ryan to help me with.

Here are all of the ingredients we used to make this treat.

Ryan loved his job of unwrapping all of the caramels. He did a little, "criss cross applesauce" as he put the wrappers in one bowl and the unwrapped caramels in the other.

Mmmm...Caramels are so delicious even when they are not melted!  To melt them, add 2 tablespoons of cream to a pot on a low heat and mix continuously for about 25 minutes. Eventually, the caramels will be runny like syrup.

In the meanwhile, Ryan prepared the apples by placing the sticks into each apple. We used popsicle sticks that came with the caramels but you could also use rounder, thicker sticks purchased at Michael's or any craft store. Dip the apples one at a time into the pot of melted caramel. Allow excess caramel drip back into the pot. Place directly onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and decorate immediately.

The fun had begun. Ryan chose all of the decorations for his caramel apple: mini m&m's, Oreo cookie crumbs, and some mini chocolate chips.

And carefully decorated his apple. After he was done, I decorated the rest.

Sometimes, simple is best...

But for you chocolate lovers...this apple may be preferred.

Chill apples in the fridge for a minimum of an hour before serving.

Enjoy.

Apple Cranberry Cake

What a fabulous weekend! Was it really October?  Did anyone else spend time enjoying the gorgeous weather?  I couldn't help but peel the apples for my apple cranberry cake outside while enjoying the sun hitting my back as though it were a warm summer day!  (Hence the grass underneath the bowls.)

I was also a little sad when making this cake since my apples came from the grocery store and not an apple farm. Nevertheless, the courtland apples tasted as yummy as ever, and with an addition of fresh cranberries to my apple cake recipe, doubled, this dessert was delicious!

Remember; do not discard of the apple peel!  The nutrients are good for you and apple chips are yummy!  Link to this post and scroll down to learn how to make apple chips.

Another tip...to prevent apples from browning, use the juice of one lemon and immediately roll peeled apples in the juice.

An apple corer or this kitchen aid apple slicer contraption works well to core and cut up the apples.

Once cut, discard of apple cores.

Or, take a picture, and then discard!

Next, pile up all of the apple pieces into the food processor and let it slice away. Follow the recipe from this post to make this cake. Remember, I doubled the recipe for the dough.

Since I doubled the recipe for the dough, I used a 9 x 13 inch dish to make the cake. Spray it with a cooking spray so the cake will slide out easily.

Spread the first batch of the cake mixture PLUS a quarter if the second batch over the surface of the pan. Next, alternately layer the apples and fresh cranberries. I used about half a bag of cranberries. I placed the cranberries on top of the sliced apples by hand. By placing them, they were evenly distributed throughout the cake. Continue to layer apples and cranberries. Pour remaining cake mixture and spread over fruit. Sprinkle with additional sugar and cinnamon if desired.

Bake at 350 for about 50-60 minutes or until golden brown.

I loved the tartness of the cranberries combined with the sweetness of the sugar and cinnamon coated apples.  Mmmm...The aroma created in the house when this cake was baking made my mouth water. And it will when you make it too! Enjoy.

Pumpkin Muffins

I love carving pumpkins. And I love roasting and eating pumpkin seeds.  But that's about all of the baking, I that I have ever done with anything from a pumpkin...until I tried these delicious pumpkin muffins last year at our annual "Thanks'oween Dinner." I knew that I had to try them myself to see if they would taste just as good as I remembered them to be.

So, I e-mailed my friend Julia for Camille's recipe.  Thanks Camille for sharing it!  All of the delicious flavours of Fall in one bite.  Pumpkin, clove, ginger, cinnamon, brown sugar and chocolate chips!

I used an ice cream scoop to evenly scoop out the batter into a muffin tin.

And set the muffins on a rack to cool.

How about a little pumpkin butter to compliment the pumpkin muffin?

Mmmm....

Oh my goodness!  I totally forgot about the Wilton Halloween Cupcake Pack that I bought to make these look pretty!

Better late than never! I guess!

Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup mashed cooked pumpkin
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F. In a medium bowl, use a fork to stir together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger (make sure that there are no lumps).

In a large bowl, whisk together oil, eggs and vanilla. Stir in brown and granulated sugars, mashed pumpkin and chocolate chips until blended. Stir in flour mixture until just combined.

Spoon batter onto a lightly greased muffin pan. Bake in centre of oven until a cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean, about 18-20 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes; remove and let cool on rack.

Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!