Cinnamon Apples

Oh my goodness, these apples are amazing! Who cares that it's 89 degrees outside still and iced tea is the drink of the day instead of hot apple cider? I care....but not enough that it stopped me from making these delicious apples. These are so simple to make and the blend of cinnamon and apple together is perfect. I like to use the actual cinnamon spice in my foods, but this is the first time that cinnamon candies have ever been involved. I am usually not a big fan of cinnamon candy, but I made the exception for this dish. So glad I did!!

4 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1/4 cup butter
1 bag cinnamon red hot candies

Place your peeled and sliced apples (you can chop them if you want bite size pieces) into a large skillet. Add the butter and cinnamon candies. Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently, until all the candies have melted. Then put a lid on the skillet and cook until apples have achieved the softness that you desire. You can serve these hot, warm or cold if you choose. The more they cooled, the more the cinnamon taste came through.

Caramel Apples

Ok so I admit that I have been known to go buy Caramels and melt them to make caramel apples. But I found this recipe for home made caramel on Pinterest and made it this morning. It may still feel like summer outside, but I am just pretending that it feels like Fall  and it's time for caramel apples. These are really yummy. The caramel  may be a bit more "chewy" than store bought, but it sure was much more fun making them. You are probably thinking, "why doesn't she just go buy caramels?" Well...I truly think it takes just as long to unwrap all those individually wrapped caramels as it does to whip up your own, besides, nothing is better than home made! I know mine don't look very "professional" but hey I'm just a mom that likes to bake and cook. I can cook it up, I just need someone else to come over and make them look pretty. I made 6 of them and none of them are the same!
Caramel/Milk Chocolate/Peanut
Caramel/White Chocolate
Caramel/White Chocolate/Milk Chocolate
Caramel/ Peanut Butter/Chocolate/Peanut
Caramel/Roasted Marshmallow

Here is the link to the home made caramel recipe!
http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/grandma-bettye28099s-caramel-apples/

Slow Cooked Apples

Cooking this today made my home smell absolutely wonderful. Now if the weather would just cooperate and make it actually seem like it's FALL instead of an extended summer like we are having here in So Cal. I admit that a few times today, I actually went over to the crock pot, lifted the lid and took a big whiff. Ok...Ok...so my spoon actually went in it also to taste test. These didn't need to be taste tested, but it sounded like a reasonable way to explain away why I was constantly lifting the lid. I mean if I'm going to let that kind of steam escape from the pot, just to smell the darn stuff cooking, then I might as well take a taste while I'm there, right? Don't answer that ;)

8 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced into 8 wedges each
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
6 Tbsp melted butter

Spray your crock pot THOROUGHLY with Pam. Coat it at least twice. Place the apples into the bottom of the crock pot. Drizzle the lemon juice over them and stir. In a bowl, mix up the sugar, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir it and then pour it over the apples. Stir to coat all the apples with the sugar mixture. Drizzle melted butter over the apples and stir again. Cook on low for 3 hours or high for 2 hours. Serve warm!

Applewiches

Applewiches? I guess that might lead to a question like that! What else do you call an apple sliced and filled like a sandwich? There are many versions out there on the web, but I tried to put my own spin on this by adding some cinnamon and sugar! It was super delicious and I can't wait to have this again. It's really a light dessert and takes only a few minutes to make. No cooking needed for this one!!

1 apple, sliced into thick slices
Cinnamon/Sugar mixture
Peanut Butter
Dark Chocolate Chips

Slice the apple into fairly thick slices. Sprinkle all slices with whatever ratio of cinnamon and sugar that you like. Spread peanut butter onto one slice. Place chocolate chips on top of the peanut butter and place another apple slice on top. Enjoy!!