Apple butter and sweet potatoes are two of my favorite fall flavors. I just never thought to add the two together!! But man oh man are these Apple Butter Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes so good!
My blogger friend Jackie from Syrup & Biscuits just released her second cookbook and it is all about sweet potatoes!! Sweet Potato Love is filled with all things sweet potatoes and her beautiful family, including her adorable basset hounds!
Jackie gives us all the ins and outs of sweet potatoes. From planting, harvesting, and storing, everything you could possible know about a sweet potato. Then each season is broken down into the best recipes to enjoy that season - Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer!! Sweet Potatoes are not just for fall y'all!!
These Apple Butter Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes were super easy to make. Especially since I had a jar of Crock Pot Apple Butter in the freezer that I made a few months ago. Now I have another amazing recipe to add to our Thanksgiving day menu.
And because I love this book so much, I have a copy to give away to one of our readers so you can enjoy all the sweet potatoes too! Make sure to enter below!
Wrap the sweet potatoes in aluminum foil. Bake at 400 degrees for one hour or until
soft.
When they’re cool enough to handle, remove the aluminum foil
and split them in half lengthwise. With
a spoon, gently scoop out the flesh, leaving a thin layer in the shell, and put it in a bowl. Add apple butter, melted butter and stir
until smooth.
Refill the potato shells with the mixture. Lightly sprinkle with ground cinnamon. Place back in the oven for 10 minutes or
until reheated.
My cast iron skillet is my favorite pan to cook in. It cooks so many things so beautifully and there is just something so nostalgic about it. A timeless classic that never goes out of style.
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This Pumpkin Skillet Cake with Pecan Streusel is to-die-for good y'all. This one starts with a cake mix too.
Most of the cakes you see on here are usually baked from scratch but sometimes I just need a helping hand and I have no problem whipping out a cake mix. Just keeping it real here folks.
Okay so I know you are asking, how in the world can you make apple cider any better than it already is? By adding caramel of course. Caramel Apple Cider is super easy and only takes minutes to prepare.
With every sip, I kept hearing myself say "mmm" and then another "mmm" and it kept on going. Apple cider is so good on its own but the caramel takes it over the top. Now this can get a little on the sweet side but it is so worth it.
Fall is my favorite time of year in so many ways but my most favorite is all the fall inspired foods. Baking is my happy place so any chance I get to come up with a new cake recipe I am all in. My bundt pan is my favorite baking pan so I knew this was the pan I would use.
When I was younger, we took a vacation to the Amish country in Pennsylvania. My parents were not big into beach vacations. Being a family of 5 we didn't take too many vacations anyway but the few I remember were certainly memorable. I loved traveling to Amish country and seeing how they do things. We frequented many stores while we were there and my favorite was going to all the places you could buy their homemade goods.
I am a huge fan of apple butter. I remember as a little girl spreading apple butter all over my toast and enjoying it for breakfast. So now, with that first bite, I instantly get transported back to my parent's house as if I was still a little girl. It is funny how something so simple can make such an impact on your life.
This cake smelled amazing while it was baking but eating it was even better. This was a huge hit with my family and will be made for many years to come.
Apple Butter Bundt Cake
2 cups
all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons
baking powder
1/2 teaspoon
baking soda
1 teaspoon
ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon
freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon
ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon
salt
1 cup
unsalted butter, at room temperature (2 sticks)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan
and set aside. Whisk together the flour,
baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter
and sugar on medium speed until light, fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the
bowl. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Scrape down the bowl. Reduce the speed to
low and mix in the apple butter (may look curdled-this is okay) Mix in the
chopped apples. With the mixer still running on low speed, stir in the dry
ingredients gradually.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, bake for 50-55
minutes or until a toothpick comes clean.
Let cool on a wire rack for about 10-15 minutes before unmolding it onto
the rack to cool completely. Place on a cake plate to glaze.
To make the glaze- place the confectioners sugar in a bowl
and whisk in the cinnamon until evenly distributed. Stir in the milk. This will
be thick so add a little at a time to get the consistency you prefer. Drizzle
over cooled cake and sprinkle chopped pecans on top.
Who doesn't love chocolate covered pretzels? I am more of a fan of the white chocolate ones myself, my daughter prefers the chocolate ones. Maybe it's the sprinkles that make them so attractive. I love the salty and sweet combo.
I had bought these Halloween sprinkles back in August at Party City at a really great deal. Both of these were $1 each! I just knew that had to be a mistake. I grabbed a couple each and when I checked out I made sure to ask how much they were. My Mom was with me and she said there was no way that was right. I was in total shock when it came up $1 each. I am kicking myself for not buying them out that day. I didn't want to "forget" to make sure of price and pay way too much for them and not realize it. There were only a few more left so I didn't miss out on too much right?
Seriously, this is super easy to do. You could also use this same idea and make the smaller pretzel twists. I like to do them for Christmas gifts too. In fact, I may do some for teacher gifts this year. These can be made for any holiday, school function, bake sale, or any birthday party themes.
Halloween Chocolate Covered Pretzels
1/2 pound of white almond bark
1/2 pound of chocolate almond bark
1 package of pretzel rods
sprinkles of your choice
Melt the almond bark in a heat proof container in the microwave. Please follow manufacturer's instructions on the package for melting. I used glass measuring cups to melt in and placed them side by side in the microwave. Once melted, dip the pretzel rod into the melted almond bark. Drip off excess before adding sprinkles. I held the pretzel over a paper plate to catch the runaway sprinkles, Place upright in a coffee cup until hardened. Use crumpled paper, paper towels, or anything sturdy to hold the pretzel rods away from each other while hardening. You can lay them on wax paper but they will have a flat surface. I use the excess sprinkles on the last of them so they didn't get wasted.
Cooks Notes:
1. Bigger sprinkles will be heavy on the melted almond bark. May need to let it set just a bit before adding.
2.The chocolate almond bark is a little more "runny" when melted and you may need to let it set a little before using sprinkles.
3. Almond bark will separate if there is any water present. Make sure all containers are free of any moisture.
I love using my crock pot to make dinner super easy for me. When I was working full time outside the home, I used it as much as I could. Sometimes even preparing everything the night before and placing it in the fridge in the crock to put on in the morning. This was a huge time saver on busy mornings, which honestly they all were. Even though I am not working outside the home anymore I am still super busy and need that helping hand any chance I can get.
The day I made this recipe I had thought it all out and decided to put it all together. Something told me to make sure I had all the ingredients needed but I forged on anyway. Once I placed everything in the crock pot I went to grab the taco seasoning. There was none to be found. How in the world did I run out? I always have this on hand since we eat some kind of taco recipe at least once a week. I kind of panicked a little. There was no way I was heading to the store to just get taco seasoning! So I did the next best thing, I made my own. It worked out really well and no one had a clue it was not the normal taco seasoning I use.
You can customize this recipe to your taste. We do not care for black beans so I always sub them out for another bean. If you would rather have ground beef instead of chicken, change it up. There are no rules here, do what works for your family.
Author: Served Up With Love
Crock Pot Chicken Taco Soup
prep time: 5 MINScook time: 6 hourtotal time: 6 hours and 5 mins
Crock Pot Chicken Taco Soup is full of so much flavor the family will come running to the table.
Place the chicken breasts in the crock pot (mine were still frozen.) Add all the remaining ingredients and stir. Depending on the size of your crock pot you may need to add just a little more chicken broth or water depending on how thick or thin you want the soup. Cook 6- 8 hours on low. Once done remove the chicken breasts, shred, and return to the pot. Serve with your favorite toppings.
So I decided to make caramel apples on Saturday for my photo shoot on Sunday. In my photo shoot I was going for a apple cider stand concept for props. The family I was photographing was huge, 12 people all together. I decided that it was best to not add too many props since it was such a huge group and it was a little warm too. So now I have caramel apples hanging out in my fridge calling my name. I mean really calling my name all day long. Our family is trying to cut out sugar AND eat a lower carb diet. This is torture I tell you.
I have never made caramel apples before and opted for an easy option. I could have done the whole making my own caramel and stuff but I wanted it to be quick. We were heading out to do a little shopping so I didn't want to spend my too much time on it.
I seriously wanted to just eat the caramel all by itself. I may or may not have done so a time or two. No, I didn't burn my tongue, well maybe just a little. It was totally worth it though.
The only thing different I would have done was use a more sturdy stick. These are pop sticks but more like a thick straw. When eating the apples they didn't hold up as well.
(taken by cell phone)
Easy Caramel Apples
5-6 small apples
pop sticks or any sturdy stick
1 package Kraft Caramel Bits
2 teaspoons water
Stick pop stick in apple about half way. Place the caramel bits in a sauce pan with the water. Heat on medium heat, stirring constantly, until melted. Dip the apples in making sure to cover, shake off excess and place on waxed paper sprayed with cooking spray. Cool in fridge for about an hour. Keep in fridge to keep the caramel from melting.Enjoy
A party is just not a party without the dip! This Toffee Apple Dip is THE party dip of FALL that will fly right off of the table!
When I was a little girl I used to spend much of my time at my grandparents house. My grandfather passed away when I was only 12 and my grandmother was already sick with Alzheimer's and in a nursing home at that point.
Our activities always included a ride to the post office to get the mail and a stop at the local grocery store to drop off coca cola bottles and pick up more to drink. It is funny how those simple little things bring me so much joy looking back.
On one occasion my grandfather said we were going to get some apples and I just assumed we were going to the local grocery store but we didn't stop there. He kept driving and we ended up at someones house that he knew. They had a bunch of apple trees and so we loaded up on apples. The details are rather blurry as to where it was or what we did with the apples after we took them back home.
For all I know it could have just been a dozen apples but at that age it seemed like we picked the entire tree. I carry that memory in my heart and cherish that I was able to spend that time with him. I can still hear his voice, see his face, and feel his love all around me. What an honor to have such a great man as my grandfather.
I am always on the search for new and exciting dips to serve at parties and special occasions. Fall at its best.
Toffee Apple Dip is THE party dip of FALL that will fly right off of the table!
prep time: 5 minscook time: total time: 5 mins
ingredients:
8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup toffee bits
instructions
Combine cream cheese and white and brown sugars, mix well. Stir in vanilla and pumpkin pie spice. Stir in the toffee bits, reserving 2 tablespoons for the top. Serve with sliced apples or graham crackers.
My cast iron skillet has quickly become my favorite pan to cook in. I have a ton of apples sitting around just waiting to feel some love. I made a mixed berry cobbler (recipe here)in this pan this summer so I knew I wanted to make an apple cobbler in it. I thought I should have doubled the topping but once I tried it I realized that the topping sunk down and is all through out the apples. Almost like an apple skillet cake. So not having enough topping worked out really well in this recipe.
Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. I am a baker at heart and love to use the fall flavors any chance I can get. I have quite a few new recipes that include apples planned for upcoming blog posts. If you follow me on Pinterest (follow me here) you already know I have a board dedicated just to fall. Apparently I am not the only one who loves fall because each day I have more and more people follow that board alone. I just can't help myself.
Apple Cobbler
10 small granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 stick of butter
2 tablespoons of apple pie spice
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup of sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Peel, core, and slice your apples. Place in a baking dish or cast iron skillet. Sprinkle the apple pie spice over the apples. In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and stir to combine. Add milk, egg and 2/3 stick of butter.Place pats of butter over the apples before pouring the topping with the remaining 1/3 stick of butter. Pour the cobbler mix over apples and place in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until topping is browned. Great served warm with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream.
*Note-next time I will add a little cinnamon to the cobbler topping mix
I would love to know what is your favorite fall dish is, leave me a comment below.
There is nothing like some good ol' apple butter slathered on top of a nice warm biscuit. I remember when we were growing up Mom and Dad would buy apple butter all the time. We would have it on toast or biscuits in the morning for breakfast. I have always loved it. I still will buy it from time to time and it never lasts. My kids and husband enjoy it as much as I do.
I had been wanting to try and make my own for years. It always intrigued me at how easy it looked to make. How could something so scrumptious be so easy?
Better yet, it is made in a crock pot! You all know just how much I love using my crock pot. My house smelled wonderful the day I made this. When my family came home from work and school they were all asking questions as to what that wonderful aroma was. I wasn't sure if it was going to turn out the way I wanted to so I couldn't wait to take a sample. Oh my goodness, this was divine. Better than any apple butter I have had before. This will be made again and again and again. So run, don't walk to your nearest orchard, farmer's market, or the grocery store and grab some apples and pull out that crock pot. You will be glad you did!
Fill Crock Pot with apples. In separate bowl combine and stir, 1 cup of granulated sugar, 1 cup of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. (reserve the rest of the sugar for later) Pour mixture over apples. Turn Crock pot onto low and cook apples for 10 hours. After first 1-2 hours gently stir in the sugar mixture to coat the apples. Continue to cook. After 10 hours take lid off and stir. Your mixture will be very dark and cooked down by about half the capacity of your Crock pot. Stir in lemon juice, and vanilla. Taste your apple butter for sweetness. Add the additional 1/2 cup of granulated and 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar if its not sweet enough. You can adjust accordingly to your taste and the apples you are using. Continue to cook for 1-2 hours with lid off to absorb more liquid and to thicken.
Smooth apple butter with an emulsion blender.If you use a regular blender, allow mixture to cool before blending. Spoon into clean pint jars, and cover tightly with jar lid and ring. Be sure to leave room at the top of the jar if freezing.
I used my 6 quart crock pot and it made about 5 pints.
Finally I have gotten back in the kitchen and did some baking. I have been eyeing this recipe and have been wanting to try it out. You know how much I love a good pound cake. Recently, I won a Kitchen Aid mixer in my choice of color from a giveaway. I have been trying for years to win one of these and have entered numerous giveaways to try and win one. Imagine my surprise when I was notified that I won! I already had one but I have had it for quite a few years but I wanted one in my favorite color, Yellow!!
I felt like it was Christmas when I opened the box. I could barely contain my excitement. Can you blame me....look how bright and cheerful it is!
Pumpkin and Pound Cakes are two of my favorite things. Naturally, they would pair well together.
The house smelled so good while this was baking. I love fall!
Pumpkin Pound Cake
2-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
3 eggs
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons of milk (or more if too thick)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Mix powdered sugar with 2-3 tablespoons of milk. You may need to add more milk if too thick. Add vanilla and stir with a whisk until smooth. Pour or spoon over your cake.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a tube pan. I use shortening and then add flour. I have had a lot of pound cakes stick and this works wonders. Stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon,
nutmeg, and salt. In a seperate bowl whisk together your sugar, oil, eggs, and pumpkin.
Fold in the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Pour into your pan and
bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!
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