Things have been a little quiet on the blogging front these days, but I have been hard at work in the kitchen. Tis the season (at least for me) to work on the masses of Christmas cookies that I make. More on that later. For now, I thought that I would sneak in a quick recipe for something healthy and fall like, and good to kep the munchies at bay while you are doing all your holiday food prep. These granola bars are great — very harvest like. Yummy.
It’s not often that I have to serve pie to 30 people. I think that happens maybe once ever few years, actually. But tonight is an occasion that I need to present some of my goodies in front of a large group of people. I thought about just making cookies or brownies, but then I thought that a pie would be more impressive. Also, I thought that this might give people occasion to see a recipe that will work for Thanksgiving, if you are serving a whole lot of people. You will need a rimmed half-sheet pan, but I think that most home bakers will have that. Maple extract adds a lot to this recipe; my flat smells absolutely wonderful because of the boost of the maple syrup flavor.
Here is one for all you arts and craftsy minded people out there: making mini-pies in jam jar lids. They are the perfect size, are oven safe and if you buy the pretty colored ones, are even great for presenting the little pies. The bottoms come off the Mason-jar style, so it’s also super easy to pop the pie out for those 1-2 bites. In theory, they are reusable, but because they are so cheap, who cares if one or two go missing!
These muffins just scream “Autumn!” to me. Apples are self explanatory, but blackberries — the last of the seasonal berries — are always an early fall thing for me too (ok, it isn’t “early” fall anymore, but nevertheless). I also think they are a completely underused berry in the food world (I’ve even had people tell me that they are poisonous … errr, whatever). They are a little tart, but if you don’t like overly sweet breakfasts, then they are lovely addition to these muffins. Apple Blackberry Muffins … it’s what for breakfast.