It is exactly that time of year. Apples galore, cool days in need of a little extra warm, meaning a warm oven is welcome, if not needed. It%u2019s the best time of year, or at least one of them.
And so I bake bread. Sometimes just a roll, and sometime a loaf, almost everyday. I love bread baking because, well just because. Plus it%u2019s what people want to eat and will always eat because I guess bread=love. Makes sense to me.
This bread was made from a small dip in the 2 gallons of applesauce I made the night before. (We had sooooo many apples). The mr isn%u2019t the biggest fan of applesauce, says he would rather eat a fresh apple. I kind of get it, but dude, warm, chunky, slightly cinnamon-y applesauce%u2026 I mean, that is happiness right there. Right? Anyway, I am trying not to eat all the applesauce to my face by myself at once (it has been a challenge) and plus I needed to make the mr some bread, so I figured what the hell. I%u2019ll just use applesauce as my liquid in the bread. And so I did and that is that and now that mr really like applesacue (when it is baked into bread)
This bread is a basic sandwich type bread. The apple taste is there but not overwhelming so it can be used for sandwiches of all kinds, toast, just eating with a smear od something, or not. Just a overall good loaf of bread with a little extra from the apple. And braided because I was feeling classy. It%u2019s amazing what at little braiding of bread dough can do for your self esteem. Made me feel like I was the coolest person in the world. Haha!
Now to the bread.
The stuff. A few apples, regular all purpose and white whole wheat flour, salt, applesauce, maple syrup, yeast, and warm water.
Applesauce, shredded apple, maple, yeast, and a little water get mix up and let to sit for a few minutes to activate yeast. Then the salt gets mixed in, along with all the flour. Stir until dough forms. Dough should be slightly sticky, ut not wet. IF wet, add a handful more flour. To dry, add more water.
Dump the dough onto a floured surface, cover your hands in flour, and knead dough for about 5 or so minutes, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking, until the dough is a nice and cohesive texture.
Nice looking dough. Now roll dough into a ball.
Place dough in a clean wet or oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth for one to one and a half hours or until dough doubles in size.
Dump dough onto floured surface.
Cut dough into 3 equal pieces and roll out into long longs.
Braid logs together. You can stop here bake it this way or%u2026
After placing it on a parchment lined baking sheet, tuck the ends of the braids underneath each other and make it like this. Either way. And once you have the dough on the baking sheet, brush a little water or plant milk on top and let dough rest for 15 minutes of so while the oven preheats.
Before oven and after oven. Classy, right?
Then for shin and soft crust, rub warm loaf with some plant butter.
And for the hard part. Let it cool before slicing it. Ok sure, a little warm is fine, but wait at least 20 minutes (an hour would be best) and then eat you some bread.
Eat you some bread. That%u2019s a t-shirt right there.
Happy Fall friends!
-C
makes pretty one loaf
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour plus more for kneading
1 cup unsweetened room temperature applesauce
1 large or 2 small apples ( about 2/3 cup shredded apple)
1/4- 1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
2 teaspoons active yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon or so plant milk or water
1 tablespoon plant based butter (optional for rubbing on finished bread)
Grab the apples and shred them until you have 2/3 cup shredded apple. In a large bowl, mix together the applesauce, shredded apples, yeast, 1/4 cup warm water, and sweetener.and let yeast activate for a few minutes. Add in salt, the all purpose flour and the 1 1/2 cups white wheat flour. Stir together until dough forms. The dough should be a little bit sticky so if the dough seems to dry, add in 1/4 cup more warm water. If it seems really wet, add in a handful more flour.
Dump dough out onto a well floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes adding a little bit of flour to the counter as needed to prevent it from sticking. Once dough is cohesive in texture, roll into a ball and place into a clean wet or oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel and allow the dough to double in size. Should take between an hour and an hour and a half.
Once dough doubles in size preheat oven to 400
Dump risen dough back onto a well flour counter. Cut the dough into 3 equal sizes and roll each piece into long logs about 20 inches or so long. Place each roll next to each other and braid. Grab a baking sheet and line with a piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle with a bit of flour and place braided dough onto sheet, either as a braid or if you want, like I did, wrap the braid around itself into a rounded braid situation. Tuck ends into each other and under the loaf. Brush the top gently with a little plant milk or water and let rest for about another 15 minutes or so.
After the rest, place dough into preheated oven. Bake for 35-45 minutes (Less if left long braid, more if wrapped braid) or until the top is a deep golden brown and when tapped on the bottom, it sounds hollow. Also can use an insta read thermometer and check temperature. You want it to reach 190 degrees.
Once bread is baked, remove from oven. If you want the top to stay a little crispy, don%u2019t do anything but let it cool. For a softer, shinny crust, rub the top while it is still warm with some plant based butter.
Let bread cool completely before cutting.
Then eat it like you would eat bread. Any and every way.
Store cooled loaf in a airtight bag on counter for 2-3 days but if not eating that fast, slice and place into freezer. That way you can pull out individual pieces and toast as you want.
Sunday was the first, and probably the biggest Thanksgivings we are going to this week. It was my family, which consists of my mom, 8 siblings (plus a few spouses) and 9 little%u2019s. A small little house bursting at the seems with a bunch of shit heads. There was a pumpkin pie food fight, secret Santa%u2019s name picking that had to be redone 3 times (because we cant count) and much to much time devoted to sister selfies.%u00a0 It was a blast.
%u00a0And my mom always requests everyone to bring something to diner so I of course wanted to contribute a pie.%u00a0One pie, something that would appeal to as many of those crazies with dietary restrictions as possible, that was a not gross, but still not full of crap, and that people would want to eat. So I went with an apple and acorn squash pie that happen to be vegan, gluten free, and a little on the less sweet side. (Look at me trying to be all nice an accommodating)
%u00a0But guess what. My mom, well she bought 5 other freaking pies from the farm stand to supplement my pie. And yeah, when the time came for dessert my pie got a few nibbles, and I was told that it was fantastic, but they all went for the super sugary, full on butter and fat, custard pies%u2026 Dietary restrictions thrown aside. And I am ok with that because my pie got divided up between a few of the ladies and they ended up easting it for breakfast. So my pie turned out to be the day after thanksgiving breakfast pie. And that might even be better then being the night of pie cause everyone knows that left over pie eaten for breakfast is the best kind of pie!
So if you are looking for a good pie that is great the day of Thanksgiving and be good for breakfast the next day, this is the pie for you.
The stuff. Apples, an acorn squash (only going to need half), some old fashion oats, earth balance, brown sugar and a lemon. Also need a little bit of cinnamon, ginger, and salt. oh, and a bit of water.
Oats, earth balance, some sugar, a pinch of salt and a bit of cinnamon all go into a food processor to blend.%u00a0While its blending, add in a tablespoon or two of water to help all the stuff come together. %u00a0Once it starts to pull away from the sides, turn off and call it ready.%u00a0
remove about 1/2 a cup of the crumb and set aside for topping and dump the rest into a pie plate. Press into the dish until it looks like a pie crust.
Stick into the oven to pre bake.%u00a0
The crust is in the oven and the apples and the squash are not going to cut themselves up so you are going to have to do it. And personal preference here, peel the stuff or don’t (I wouldn’t usually but I know the people eating %u00a0the pie and they are peeled people) So remove all seed and stems and slice both the apple and squash intto 1/2 inch slices. Cut the squash into pieces that are similar to the apple,%u00a0
Earth balance into the skillet first then topped with all the chopped stuff, the spices and some sugar and stick it on the stove to cook down. You want to get the pan hot with a medium high heat then turn it down to a low heat, stirring and them placing a lid on the stuff until the squash and apples are slightly tender (not falling apart)%u00a0and the sugar has caramelized.
And note.. If you notice that the sugar is caralized before the squash and apples are tender, just add in a splash of water and mix around to prevent the sugar from burning.
Filling all ready to go, just add in the juice of the lemon here.
The left over crust crumble, some more earth balance, cinnamon, oats and sugar get mix together to make a little crumble to sprinkle on top.%u00a0
And now all there is left to do is to put it all togehert. Filling goes into pre-baked crust.
And gets topped with the crumble.%u00a0
Into the oven it goes (give it about 45-50 minutes to bake)
And pulled out when the top is all golden brown and smelling pretty.
Left to cool for a few minutes, then sliced into thinck pieces and shared all around!
Now thats a pie that’s meant for breakfast!
-C
Apple Acorn Squash Pie with an Oat Crust%u00a0
Makes 1 pie
The Crust%u00a0
3 cups %u00a0old fashion oats
2 tablesppon brown sugar
4 tabelsoons earth balance
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1-2 tablespoons water
Filling
1/2 %u00a0acorn squash (about 3 cups chopped)
4-5 %u00a0apples (any kind will do)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 lemon
4 tablespoons earth balance
6 tablespoons brown sugar
Crumb topping
1/2 crumb that is set aside
1/2 cup old fashion oats
2 tablespoon earth balance
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3-5 tablespoon brown sugar (more if you like it sweeter)
Start by making the crust. This crust is going to be prebaked so preheat the oven to 375.
Stick the oats, some super soft or even melted earth balance, brown sugar, a pinch of salt and cinnamon, and a splash of water into a food processer and pulse until a fine crumbly crumb is made. Remove about 1/2 %u00a0cup of the crumb and dump the rest into a pie plate. Press into the dish evenly and once you are happy with the looks of the crust, stick it into the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the crust is just starting to brown.
While crust is prebaking, peel (if you want),%u00a0core and slice apples into %u00bd inch pieces. Now grab the squash while you are at it and cut it in half, remove seeds, peel (if you want) and slice into %u00bd inch pieces (make them about the same size as the apple pieces.) Get yourself a big skillet and add in the earth balance, all the chopped up apples and squash, the spices and the sugar and stick on the stove one medium high heat. When the skillet is nice and hot, the butter all melted and the sugar is starting to melt, turn heat down to medium low, stick a lid on the pan, and cook for a few more minutes (like 7 minutes) until the squash and apples are slightly fork tender , but not falling apart. If the sugar starts to caramelizes before the stuff is tender, add in a splash or two of water to stop the sugar from burning.%u00a0Remove from heat, add in the juice of the lemon,%u00a0and set aside.
%u00a0And for the crumble. Just add all the crumble ingredients together and mix around (I used my fingers).
So crust is pre-baked, filling is precooked, and crumble is ready. So now all you need to do is put it together.
Dump the filling into the crust and then top with the crumble. Stick the pie into the oven and bake for about 45-50 minutes or until the filling is fork tender and the crumble on top is nice and golden brown.
Remove from oven and let cool for at least 5 minutes (15 minutes is even better), and serve it on up!
A simple little artsy craft project to get down with%u2026 apple printing. ALmost the same as potato print, except smells better and your apple comes with an interior fun shape to print with. And you have to use apple this time of year cause its apple season and there are apples everywhere!
I usually do things like this with a little or two, but at the time, I had no littles in my possession, so I went it did it all by my lonesome.%u00a0(which was actually a lot of fun)%u00a0I made myself big cup of hot coffee, put on some tunes, and zoned out and did a bunch of prints. It was a great little afternoon project that anyone, little or not so much, can do. And the best part about printing is%u2026 you can’t screw it up
And I know that this is going to be a cold dreary weekend%u2026 so this might just be the perfect indoor project to do!%u00a0
Things you are going to need..
apple(s).. And the apple that I use are fallen apples.. so I don’t feel bad about using them.
paper
a knife (or something sharp enough to cut the apple)
paint ( I used cheap-o acrylic paint, but any paint would work)
paint-brush
Cup of water (to rinse brush)
rag (to wipe hands)
Start by slicing your apple. If you cut in in half, you get the cool star shape in the middle, or just chop it into cool shaped pieces.%u00a0
Apply paint to the apple. I found that if I dipped the apple, then remove to much excess paint with a paint brush to work the best for me.. My suggestion is to play around with what works best for you.
Apple goes paint side down on paper%u2026 and that’s how it goes. Now repeat, either with the same shape, or use a new one. OR change up the color.. it’s all how you want to do it.%u00a0
If%u00a0
. I got a little excited with my fist print turned out a little chaotic(note print above)%u00a0but then I rained myself in.%u00a0
And did a few more simpler designs. %u00a0%u00a0
But do it anyway you want cause it’s going to look cool no matter what.
Have fun!
-C
Fall is all up in here!. The air is so nice and crisp and the leaves are changing to the prettiest colors.%u00a0I gots my pumpkins, an abundance of apples and squashes (our table is forverver overflowing with some type of squash) and am wearing all of my favorite sweaters.%u00a0
I am a happy lady here!
And this happy lady just wants to sit on her butt and knit.
But first, dinner. And my thought are. “What to do that doesn’t include doing much of anything (especially dishes) and maybe even has the oven on for a little extra warmth?” See here, I am a thinker. I knew I %u00a0had a single pie dough in the freezer (you should always have a pie dough in the freezer), a table full of the loveliest produce. So this happened. And the mr ate it, and he was all like “Whoa”.%u00a0 And I was like,”yeah dude, I know.”
A Ssuper fall galette.. and I still had time for my knitting and my butt.%u00a0
Like Whoa!
The stuff. A single crust pie dough, a butternut squash, an onion, and a honey crisp apple.(there are 2 shown, but I only needed on1)%u00a0%u00a0Also going to need a tiny bit if olive oil and a pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 375.
Roll your chilled dough out %u00a0on a lightly floured surface and place onto a large baking sheet. Stick it in the fridge to rest for a few minutes.
And slice them up into 1/4 inch-ish thick srounds.
Time to compile%u2026 A layer of overlapping squash. (Make sure to leave inch-ish boarder)%u00a0%u00a0Then a layer of the apples, and lastly the onion, which I think looks so pretty as ringlets, but you could keep in rounds if you wanted.%u00a0
Fold the sides and pinching dough to keep it secure. Drizzle the top, and the crust, with a tiny bit of olive oil and sprinkle with a picnh of salt.
Now into the oven it goes!
And %u00a0after about 45 minutes when the dust is perfectly golden and the stuff inside is nice and tender. Remove (turn off the oven) and let cool
And there you have it.. A ode to fall in flavors and colors..
Have a great day%u2026 Eat lots of fall food!
-C
1 single pie dough (recipe here)
1 small butternut squash
1 medium sweet onion
1 large honey crisp apple
olive oil
salt
Preheat oven to 375.
Roll out chilled pie dough %u00a0on a lightly floured surface to about a 12-14 inch round (ish) and place on a large baking sheet and stick in the fridge.
Grab the squash and cut the neck off the bottom.%u00a0Save the bottom for later (maybe soup?)%u00a0and slice up the neck into 1/4 inch thick rounds. %u00a0Now take the onion and apple and slice those into 1/4 inch thick rounds too. (the seeds and the stem will just fall our.. but if they don’t, just poke them out with a knife)
Grab the dough from fridge and start to layer. First a layer of squash, leaving around an 1.5 inch boarder. You want the pieces to overlap,but don’t double layer. Next the apples go on top of the squash, again overlapping. Finally the onion. I liked the look of the individual ringlets%u2026 but you can do thick rounds if you want.%u00a0Fold over the sides of the dough, pinching it in wherever it needs to be pinch until all the stuff is snug. Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil %u00a0and rub a little oil on the outside crust as well. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and stick into oven.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until crust is a nice light golden brown and the stuff inside is tender.
Remove, let cool for a few minutes and eat your heart out.
I am a firm believe in the healing power of food. Whenever anyone (that I like) gets some sort of medical percedure, I like to bring them something home cooked, weather it be dinner or a baked good,%u00a0%u00a0you know, so they don’t have to worry about starving to death. ( no one I have ever visited was ever starving)%u00a0Food helps you heal and food makes you happy so bringing a healing person some food only makes sense to me.%u00a0So when the mr’s aunt recently had part of her knee drilled out, cleaned out and stuffed with human cadaver bone marrow (%u00a0pretty cool))%u00a0%u00a0I baked her,%u00a0her husband, and her kiddos some muffins.
Why muffins? Well I was thinking soup or a casserole, but the mr suggests I do a baked good instead. I was going to go with a cake, but then that can get kind of annoying and troublesome with a couple of kids. Cupcakes are to cheesy and don’t send the right message of get well, (cupcakes say, run around.. sugar high!), a pie would have been nice, but I am not sure if the kids like pie. Then there are muffins.. muffins are perfect. Not terribly packed full of sugars and crap. A little more hearty, can be eaten as a snack, a dessert, or a quick breakfast, and keep for a good while. %u00a0I made them apple cause I gots a shit ton of apple and peanut butter cause protein is good and it just makes sense.%u00a0
Apple+peanut butter are BFF’s and really, what human doesn’t like peanut butter?%u00a0
So his aunt and family got the muffins, and the mr only got 1. I think he was really disappointed that I didn’t save him another one or make more. %u00a0
Oh well. I guess I can make them again, if he is lucky.%u00a0
And I feel like I should say get we’ll soon Sarrh, but this last is a badass and is already doing great,so I will just say,%u00a0Hi Sarah, looking good!
Now to the muffins!
The stuff. Dry ingredients are flour, baking packing soda cinnamon and salt. Then we have applesauce, breon sugar, oil, vanilla extract and vinegar.%u00a0For the streusel…. peanut butter, brown sugar, flour, salt and earth balance. (you could use butter if you want)
The streusel stuff goes into a bowl and gets mixed until it turns into a crumbly, soft dough and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in one bowl, then in another bowl, mix together he applesauce, oil, vanilla, %u00a0sugar and lastly, the vinegar.%u00a0
Fold the wet into the dry, mixing just enough until incorporated. And remember%u2026.DON”T OVERMIX!
Now scoop batter into muffin pans. Use liners, or not%u2026 I usually don’t but figured that lined muffins travel and keep a little better%u2026 plus I just found a bunch when I was cleaning out a kitchen drawer.
Streusel top those muffins!
A view from the side%u2026 Use it all, don’t be shy, the crumble is there to be eaten%u2026 Oh, and lesson learned by me.%u00a0Next time I make these I will give the streusel a little pat into each muffin, to really secure it to the tops.%u00a0So yeah, you should do that.
Now into the ove they go!
Pull out to cool when the streusel is browned, the muffins are poofed, and a tester poked comes out clean.
The smell alone will make your mouth water and you tummy growl.%u00a0
A muffin win!
Happy Friday!%u00a0%u00a0Do lots of fun fall stuff this weekend!
-C
Makes 12 muffins
%u00a0Muffin Stuff
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups applesauce*%u00a0(recipe here)
2/3 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 tablespoons apple-cider vinegar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Peanut Butter Streusel Stuff
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup peanut butter
3 tablespoon %u00a0brown sugar
2 tablespoons %u00a0earth balance
* IF you are using homemade applesauce (you should!) A little chunky is good. Just make sure that there are no huge chunks. Also, if you applesauce is really thick, just add a bit of water to think it would. It doesn’t have to be pourable, but it should have a bit of water content to it.%u00a0
Turn oven on to 350 and either grease or line a 12 hole muffin pan
In a bowl, combine all of the streusel stuff unit it becomes a kind of crumbly dough and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mix together the applesauce,, brown sugar, oil, vanilla,, and vinegar. Pour the wet into the dry and fold in until %u00a0just fully incorporated, br careful to not over mix the batter.
Scoop equal amounts of batter into you muffin tin. Grab the streusel l topping and evenly distipute that all over the muffins, giving the topping a soft pat to make sure it stays put while baking.%u00a0
Place muffins in oven and bake for about 30 ish minutes, or unlit the streusel is browning, the muffins are poofy and a test comes out clean.
Remove from oven, pop muffins from tin, and let cool on a rack.
Serve as soon as you want. A glass of milk (plan, nut or cow) or a big old cup of joe goes really well with this muffin situation.%u00a0
THE LOVELY CRAZY
October 15, 2019 by maximios • Blog
It is exactly that time of year. Apples galore, cool days in need of a little extra warm, meaning a warm oven is welcome, if not needed. It%u2019s the best time of year, or at least one of them.
And so I bake bread. Sometimes just a roll, and sometime a loaf, almost everyday. I love bread baking because, well just because. Plus it%u2019s what people want to eat and will always eat because I guess bread=love. Makes sense to me.
This bread was made from a small dip in the 2 gallons of applesauce I made the night before. (We had sooooo many apples). The mr isn%u2019t the biggest fan of applesauce, says he would rather eat a fresh apple. I kind of get it, but dude, warm, chunky, slightly cinnamon-y applesauce%u2026 I mean, that is happiness right there. Right? Anyway, I am trying not to eat all the applesauce to my face by myself at once (it has been a challenge) and plus I needed to make the mr some bread, so I figured what the hell. I%u2019ll just use applesauce as my liquid in the bread. And so I did and that is that and now that mr really like applesacue (when it is baked into bread)
This bread is a basic sandwich type bread. The apple taste is there but not overwhelming so it can be used for sandwiches of all kinds, toast, just eating with a smear od something, or not. Just a overall good loaf of bread with a little extra from the apple. And braided because I was feeling classy. It%u2019s amazing what at little braiding of bread dough can do for your self esteem. Made me feel like I was the coolest person in the world. Haha!
Now to the bread.
The stuff. A few apples, regular all purpose and white whole wheat flour, salt, applesauce, maple syrup, yeast, and warm water.
Applesauce, shredded apple, maple, yeast, and a little water get mix up and let to sit for a few minutes to activate yeast. Then the salt gets mixed in, along with all the flour. Stir until dough forms. Dough should be slightly sticky, ut not wet. IF wet, add a handful more flour. To dry, add more water.
Dump the dough onto a floured surface, cover your hands in flour, and knead dough for about 5 or so minutes, adding more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking, until the dough is a nice and cohesive texture.
Nice looking dough. Now roll dough into a ball.
Place dough in a clean wet or oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth for one to one and a half hours or until dough doubles in size.
Dump dough onto floured surface.
Cut dough into 3 equal pieces and roll out into long longs.
Braid logs together. You can stop here bake it this way or%u2026
After placing it on a parchment lined baking sheet, tuck the ends of the braids underneath each other and make it like this. Either way. And once you have the dough on the baking sheet, brush a little water or plant milk on top and let dough rest for 15 minutes of so while the oven preheats.
Before oven and after oven. Classy, right?
Then for shin and soft crust, rub warm loaf with some plant butter.
And for the hard part. Let it cool before slicing it. Ok sure, a little warm is fine, but wait at least 20 minutes (an hour would be best) and then eat you some bread.
Eat you some bread. That%u2019s a t-shirt right there.
Happy Fall friends!
-C
makes pretty one loaf
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour plus more for kneading
1 cup unsweetened room temperature applesauce
1 large or 2 small apples ( about 2/3 cup shredded apple)
1/4- 1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
2 teaspoons active yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon or so plant milk or water
1 tablespoon plant based butter (optional for rubbing on finished bread)
Grab the apples and shred them until you have 2/3 cup shredded apple. In a large bowl, mix together the applesauce, shredded apples, yeast, 1/4 cup warm water, and sweetener.and let yeast activate for a few minutes. Add in salt, the all purpose flour and the 1 1/2 cups white wheat flour. Stir together until dough forms. The dough should be a little bit sticky so if the dough seems to dry, add in 1/4 cup more warm water. If it seems really wet, add in a handful more flour.
Dump dough out onto a well floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes adding a little bit of flour to the counter as needed to prevent it from sticking. Once dough is cohesive in texture, roll into a ball and place into a clean wet or oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel and allow the dough to double in size. Should take between an hour and an hour and a half.
Once dough doubles in size preheat oven to 400
Dump risen dough back onto a well flour counter. Cut the dough into 3 equal sizes and roll each piece into long logs about 20 inches or so long. Place each roll next to each other and braid. Grab a baking sheet and line with a piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle with a bit of flour and place braided dough onto sheet, either as a braid or if you want, like I did, wrap the braid around itself into a rounded braid situation. Tuck ends into each other and under the loaf. Brush the top gently with a little plant milk or water and let rest for about another 15 minutes or so.
After the rest, place dough into preheated oven. Bake for 35-45 minutes (Less if left long braid, more if wrapped braid) or until the top is a deep golden brown and when tapped on the bottom, it sounds hollow. Also can use an insta read thermometer and check temperature. You want it to reach 190 degrees.
Once bread is baked, remove from oven. If you want the top to stay a little crispy, don%u2019t do anything but let it cool. For a softer, shinny crust, rub the top while it is still warm with some plant based butter.
Let bread cool completely before cutting.
Then eat it like you would eat bread. Any and every way.
Store cooled loaf in a airtight bag on counter for 2-3 days but if not eating that fast, slice and place into freezer. That way you can pull out individual pieces and toast as you want.
Sunday was the first, and probably the biggest Thanksgivings we are going to this week. It was my family, which consists of my mom, 8 siblings (plus a few spouses) and 9 little%u2019s. A small little house bursting at the seems with a bunch of shit heads. There was a pumpkin pie food fight, secret Santa%u2019s name picking that had to be redone 3 times (because we cant count) and much to much time devoted to sister selfies.%u00a0 It was a blast.
%u00a0And my mom always requests everyone to bring something to diner so I of course wanted to contribute a pie.%u00a0One pie, something that would appeal to as many of those crazies with dietary restrictions as possible, that was a not gross, but still not full of crap, and that people would want to eat. So I went with an apple and acorn squash pie that happen to be vegan, gluten free, and a little on the less sweet side. (Look at me trying to be all nice an accommodating)
%u00a0But guess what. My mom, well she bought 5 other freaking pies from the farm stand to supplement my pie. And yeah, when the time came for dessert my pie got a few nibbles, and I was told that it was fantastic, but they all went for the super sugary, full on butter and fat, custard pies%u2026 Dietary restrictions thrown aside. And I am ok with that because my pie got divided up between a few of the ladies and they ended up easting it for breakfast. So my pie turned out to be the day after thanksgiving breakfast pie. And that might even be better then being the night of pie cause everyone knows that left over pie eaten for breakfast is the best kind of pie!
So if you are looking for a good pie that is great the day of Thanksgiving and be good for breakfast the next day, this is the pie for you.
The stuff. Apples, an acorn squash (only going to need half), some old fashion oats, earth balance, brown sugar and a lemon. Also need a little bit of cinnamon, ginger, and salt. oh, and a bit of water.
Oats, earth balance, some sugar, a pinch of salt and a bit of cinnamon all go into a food processor to blend.%u00a0While its blending, add in a tablespoon or two of water to help all the stuff come together. %u00a0Once it starts to pull away from the sides, turn off and call it ready.%u00a0
remove about 1/2 a cup of the crumb and set aside for topping and dump the rest into a pie plate. Press into the dish until it looks like a pie crust.
Stick into the oven to pre bake.%u00a0
The crust is in the oven and the apples and the squash are not going to cut themselves up so you are going to have to do it. And personal preference here, peel the stuff or don’t (I wouldn’t usually but I know the people eating %u00a0the pie and they are peeled people) So remove all seed and stems and slice both the apple and squash intto 1/2 inch slices. Cut the squash into pieces that are similar to the apple,%u00a0
Earth balance into the skillet first then topped with all the chopped stuff, the spices and some sugar and stick it on the stove to cook down. You want to get the pan hot with a medium high heat then turn it down to a low heat, stirring and them placing a lid on the stuff until the squash and apples are slightly tender (not falling apart)%u00a0and the sugar has caramelized.
And note.. If you notice that the sugar is caralized before the squash and apples are tender, just add in a splash of water and mix around to prevent the sugar from burning.
Filling all ready to go, just add in the juice of the lemon here.
The left over crust crumble, some more earth balance, cinnamon, oats and sugar get mix together to make a little crumble to sprinkle on top.%u00a0
And now all there is left to do is to put it all togehert. Filling goes into pre-baked crust.
And gets topped with the crumble.%u00a0
Into the oven it goes (give it about 45-50 minutes to bake)
And pulled out when the top is all golden brown and smelling pretty.
Left to cool for a few minutes, then sliced into thinck pieces and shared all around!
Now thats a pie that’s meant for breakfast!
-C
Apple Acorn Squash Pie with an Oat Crust%u00a0
Makes 1 pie
The Crust%u00a0
Filling
Crumb topping
Start by making the crust. This crust is going to be prebaked so preheat the oven to 375.
Stick the oats, some super soft or even melted earth balance, brown sugar, a pinch of salt and cinnamon, and a splash of water into a food processer and pulse until a fine crumbly crumb is made. Remove about 1/2 %u00a0cup of the crumb and dump the rest into a pie plate. Press into the dish evenly and once you are happy with the looks of the crust, stick it into the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the crust is just starting to brown.
While crust is prebaking, peel (if you want),%u00a0core and slice apples into %u00bd inch pieces. Now grab the squash while you are at it and cut it in half, remove seeds, peel (if you want) and slice into %u00bd inch pieces (make them about the same size as the apple pieces.) Get yourself a big skillet and add in the earth balance, all the chopped up apples and squash, the spices and the sugar and stick on the stove one medium high heat. When the skillet is nice and hot, the butter all melted and the sugar is starting to melt, turn heat down to medium low, stick a lid on the pan, and cook for a few more minutes (like 7 minutes) until the squash and apples are slightly fork tender , but not falling apart. If the sugar starts to caramelizes before the stuff is tender, add in a splash or two of water to stop the sugar from burning.%u00a0Remove from heat, add in the juice of the lemon,%u00a0and set aside.
%u00a0And for the crumble. Just add all the crumble ingredients together and mix around (I used my fingers).
So crust is pre-baked, filling is precooked, and crumble is ready. So now all you need to do is put it together.
Dump the filling into the crust and then top with the crumble. Stick the pie into the oven and bake for about 45-50 minutes or until the filling is fork tender and the crumble on top is nice and golden brown.
Remove from oven and let cool for at least 5 minutes (15 minutes is even better), and serve it on up!
A simple little artsy craft project to get down with%u2026 apple printing. ALmost the same as potato print, except smells better and your apple comes with an interior fun shape to print with. And you have to use apple this time of year cause its apple season and there are apples everywhere!
I usually do things like this with a little or two, but at the time, I had no littles in my possession, so I went it did it all by my lonesome.%u00a0(which was actually a lot of fun)%u00a0I made myself big cup of hot coffee, put on some tunes, and zoned out and did a bunch of prints. It was a great little afternoon project that anyone, little or not so much, can do. And the best part about printing is%u2026 you can’t screw it up
And I know that this is going to be a cold dreary weekend%u2026 so this might just be the perfect indoor project to do!%u00a0
Things you are going to need..
Start by slicing your apple. If you cut in in half, you get the cool star shape in the middle, or just chop it into cool shaped pieces.%u00a0
Apply paint to the apple. I found that if I dipped the apple, then remove to much excess paint with a paint brush to work the best for me.. My suggestion is to play around with what works best for you.
Apple goes paint side down on paper%u2026 and that’s how it goes. Now repeat, either with the same shape, or use a new one. OR change up the color.. it’s all how you want to do it.%u00a0
If%u00a0
. I got a little excited with my fist print turned out a little chaotic(note print above)%u00a0but then I rained myself in.%u00a0
And did a few more simpler designs. %u00a0%u00a0
But do it anyway you want cause it’s going to look cool no matter what.
Have fun!
-C
Fall is all up in here!. The air is so nice and crisp and the leaves are changing to the prettiest colors.%u00a0I gots my pumpkins, an abundance of apples and squashes (our table is forverver overflowing with some type of squash) and am wearing all of my favorite sweaters.%u00a0
I am a happy lady here!
And this happy lady just wants to sit on her butt and knit.
But first, dinner. And my thought are. “What to do that doesn’t include doing much of anything (especially dishes) and maybe even has the oven on for a little extra warmth?” See here, I am a thinker. I knew I %u00a0had a single pie dough in the freezer (you should always have a pie dough in the freezer), a table full of the loveliest produce. So this happened. And the mr ate it, and he was all like “Whoa”.%u00a0 And I was like,”yeah dude, I know.”
A Ssuper fall galette.. and I still had time for my knitting and my butt.%u00a0
Like Whoa!
The stuff. A single crust pie dough, a butternut squash, an onion, and a honey crisp apple.(there are 2 shown, but I only needed on1)%u00a0%u00a0Also going to need a tiny bit if olive oil and a pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 375.
Roll your chilled dough out %u00a0on a lightly floured surface and place onto a large baking sheet. Stick it in the fridge to rest for a few minutes.
And slice them up into 1/4 inch-ish thick srounds.
Time to compile%u2026 A layer of overlapping squash. (Make sure to leave inch-ish boarder)%u00a0%u00a0Then a layer of the apples, and lastly the onion, which I think looks so pretty as ringlets, but you could keep in rounds if you wanted.%u00a0
Fold the sides and pinching dough to keep it secure. Drizzle the top, and the crust, with a tiny bit of olive oil and sprinkle with a picnh of salt.
Now into the oven it goes!
And %u00a0after about 45 minutes when the dust is perfectly golden and the stuff inside is nice and tender. Remove (turn off the oven) and let cool
And there you have it.. A ode to fall in flavors and colors..
Have a great day%u2026 Eat lots of fall food!
-C
Preheat oven to 375.
Roll out chilled pie dough %u00a0on a lightly floured surface to about a 12-14 inch round (ish) and place on a large baking sheet and stick in the fridge.
Grab the squash and cut the neck off the bottom.%u00a0Save the bottom for later (maybe soup?)%u00a0and slice up the neck into 1/4 inch thick rounds. %u00a0Now take the onion and apple and slice those into 1/4 inch thick rounds too. (the seeds and the stem will just fall our.. but if they don’t, just poke them out with a knife)
Grab the dough from fridge and start to layer. First a layer of squash, leaving around an 1.5 inch boarder. You want the pieces to overlap,but don’t double layer. Next the apples go on top of the squash, again overlapping. Finally the onion. I liked the look of the individual ringlets%u2026 but you can do thick rounds if you want.%u00a0Fold over the sides of the dough, pinching it in wherever it needs to be pinch until all the stuff is snug. Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil %u00a0and rub a little oil on the outside crust as well. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and stick into oven.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until crust is a nice light golden brown and the stuff inside is tender.
Remove, let cool for a few minutes and eat your heart out.
I am a firm believe in the healing power of food. Whenever anyone (that I like) gets some sort of medical percedure, I like to bring them something home cooked, weather it be dinner or a baked good,%u00a0%u00a0you know, so they don’t have to worry about starving to death. ( no one I have ever visited was ever starving)%u00a0Food helps you heal and food makes you happy so bringing a healing person some food only makes sense to me.%u00a0So when the mr’s aunt recently had part of her knee drilled out, cleaned out and stuffed with human cadaver bone marrow (%u00a0pretty cool))%u00a0%u00a0I baked her,%u00a0her husband, and her kiddos some muffins.
Why muffins? Well I was thinking soup or a casserole, but the mr suggests I do a baked good instead. I was going to go with a cake, but then that can get kind of annoying and troublesome with a couple of kids. Cupcakes are to cheesy and don’t send the right message of get well, (cupcakes say, run around.. sugar high!), a pie would have been nice, but I am not sure if the kids like pie. Then there are muffins.. muffins are perfect. Not terribly packed full of sugars and crap. A little more hearty, can be eaten as a snack, a dessert, or a quick breakfast, and keep for a good while. %u00a0I made them apple cause I gots a shit ton of apple and peanut butter cause protein is good and it just makes sense.%u00a0
Apple+peanut butter are BFF’s and really, what human doesn’t like peanut butter?%u00a0
So his aunt and family got the muffins, and the mr only got 1. I think he was really disappointed that I didn’t save him another one or make more. %u00a0
Oh well. I guess I can make them again, if he is lucky.%u00a0
And I feel like I should say get we’ll soon Sarrh, but this last is a badass and is already doing great,so I will just say,%u00a0Hi Sarah, looking good!
Now to the muffins!
The stuff. Dry ingredients are flour, baking packing soda cinnamon and salt. Then we have applesauce, breon sugar, oil, vanilla extract and vinegar.%u00a0For the streusel…. peanut butter, brown sugar, flour, salt and earth balance. (you could use butter if you want)
The streusel stuff goes into a bowl and gets mixed until it turns into a crumbly, soft dough and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in one bowl, then in another bowl, mix together he applesauce, oil, vanilla, %u00a0sugar and lastly, the vinegar.%u00a0
Fold the wet into the dry, mixing just enough until incorporated. And remember%u2026.DON”T OVERMIX!
Now scoop batter into muffin pans. Use liners, or not%u2026 I usually don’t but figured that lined muffins travel and keep a little better%u2026 plus I just found a bunch when I was cleaning out a kitchen drawer.
Streusel top those muffins!
A view from the side%u2026 Use it all, don’t be shy, the crumble is there to be eaten%u2026 Oh, and lesson learned by me.%u00a0Next time I make these I will give the streusel a little pat into each muffin, to really secure it to the tops.%u00a0So yeah, you should do that.
Now into the ove they go!
Pull out to cool when the streusel is browned, the muffins are poofed, and a tester poked comes out clean.
The smell alone will make your mouth water and you tummy growl.%u00a0
A muffin win!
Happy Friday!%u00a0%u00a0Do lots of fun fall stuff this weekend!
-C
Makes 12 muffins
%u00a0Muffin Stuff
Peanut Butter Streusel Stuff
* IF you are using homemade applesauce (you should!) A little chunky is good. Just make sure that there are no huge chunks. Also, if you applesauce is really thick, just add a bit of water to think it would. It doesn’t have to be pourable, but it should have a bit of water content to it.%u00a0
Turn oven on to 350 and either grease or line a 12 hole muffin pan
In a bowl, combine all of the streusel stuff unit it becomes a kind of crumbly dough and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mix together the applesauce,, brown sugar, oil, vanilla,, and vinegar. Pour the wet into the dry and fold in until %u00a0just fully incorporated, br careful to not over mix the batter.
Scoop equal amounts of batter into you muffin tin. Grab the streusel l topping and evenly distipute that all over the muffins, giving the topping a soft pat to make sure it stays put while baking.%u00a0
Place muffins in oven and bake for about 30 ish minutes, or unlit the streusel is browning, the muffins are poofy and a test comes out clean.
Remove from oven, pop muffins from tin, and let cool on a rack.
Serve as soon as you want. A glass of milk (plan, nut or cow) or a big old cup of joe goes really well with this muffin situation.%u00a0