Fall is my favorite season. It is a time for apple and pumpkin picking and for sharing these special moments with family and friends. I love watching the leaves change from green to a deep orange or red. Also, I am a big foodie, so I really enjoy all of the fabulous food that this season brings.
When I think of Fall, my favorite food memory is of my Grandma’s apple cake; it’s like an apple pie, but so much better. I am a huge dessert fan, and have always had a strong sweet tooth. It especially shows during the months of September through the week of Thanksgiving in late November where apple and pumpkin are the popular flavors.
Apples or Pumpkins?
I have noticed that in most fall desserts there are typically either apples or pumpkins featured. When I asked my friends their opinion on fall and desserts, most of them favored pumpkin desserts over apple. Olivia Rose, current junior at Syracuse, said, “Eating pumpkin anything makes it feel like Fall. Give me pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cookies, and pumpkin pie, and I am set.” I asked my roommate, Amanda White, her opinion on fall desserts and she said, “Put anything apple in front of me and it will be gone in about 0.2 seconds.” It was true-- later that night we made an apple crumb and it was gone in under ten minutes. But, still, the apple or pumpkin debate continues...
One of my own favorite fall desserts is Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, it brings a whole new flavor to the typical chocolate chip cookie dessert, and it is a relatively simple recipe. All you need is canned pumpkin, white sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, an egg, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, salt, flour, semisweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips. The recipe is as follows:
1) In a bowl, add one cup of the canned pumpkin, make sure it is NOT pumpkin pie filling and not the whole can. Then add 1 cup of white sugar, ¼ cup of brown sugar, ½ cup of vegetable oil, 1 large egg and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract.
2) Stir the mixture until completely smooth.
3) Add in 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, ½ teaspoon of salt and two cups of white floor. Then mix.
4) Add both types of chocolate chips, 1 cup of milk chocolate chips and 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
5) Now beat together all the ingredients until the batter is smooth.
6) Cover the dough for one to ten hours depending how large you want your cookie to be.
7) When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and line tray with parchment paper.
8) Place 6 mounds of the dough on the cookie sheet. Use about 3 tablespoons to 1/4 cup of dough to get the larger style bakery cookies.
9) Make sure to not put more than 6 cookies on a tray or they will stick together.
10) Bake for 12-15 minutes and enjoy!
Another one of my favorite fall desserts is Apple-Blackberry Crisp. The combination of the two fruits and the flakey crust makes for a warm and sweet mixture of flavors that is truly delicious. The deep red color of the apple and blackberry mixture also makes for a beautiful looking dessert. This recipe is simple to make as well, and all you need is butter, 2 Gala apples. 2 Golden Delicious apples, 1 package of frozen blackberries, ½ cup of granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon of lemon zest, 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. For the crumb topping, all you need is 1 cup of all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt, ½ cup of cold unsalted butter, ½ cup of old-fashioned rolled oats and ¼ cup of Turbinado sugar. The recipe is as follows:
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2) Lightly butter a 9-inch pie dish.
3) Peel and thinly slice the apples ¼-inch thick.
4) In a large bowl, toss together the apples, blackberries, sugar and lemon zest and juice.
5) Transfer to the prepared dish.
6) For the crumb topping: in a large bowl whisk together flour, cinnamon and salt.
7) Then add butter and rub the mixture together with your fingers until thick crumbs form.
8) Toss with the oats and sugar and squeeze the crumble between your hands to form small clumps.
9) Cover and chill for 20 mins.
10) Spoon over the filling, breaking it up into large pieces and then bake until the fruit filling is tender and the top is golden brown, 60-75 minutes
I am looking forward to trying out new dessert recipes in my kitchen this Fall and sharing these recipes with my friends and family!