by J A Whiting
Bake pretzels for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from oven and serve warm with your favorite mustard or a nacho cheese sauce.
Pretzels may be stored for up to 3 days in a zip-lock bag or in a container.
Nutella S’Mores Pie
INGREDIENTS
12 graham crackers
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
½ cup butter, melted
2 cups Nutella spread
1 8-oz container of Mascarpone cheese
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cups mini marshmallows
Chocolate syrup
DIRECTIONS
Preheat over to 350°F.
In a food processor, pulse graham crackers and sugar until finely ground.
Add butter and pulse until mixed.
Press the mixture evenly into a greased 9" pie pan.
Bake for 15 minutes. Cool.
Beat Nutella, Mascarpone, and salt until fluffy.
In a separate bowl, beat whipping cream on high until stiff peaks form.
Fold whipped cream into Nutella mixture.
Spread the mixture over the pie crust, cover, and refrigerate for 4 hours.
Sprinkle marshmallows over the chilled pie.
Broil for 1-2 minutes until the marshmallows are golden.
Refrigerate for an hour.
Just before serving, drizzle with chocolate syrup.
Mac and Cheese Cups
INGREDIENTS
8 ounces elbow pasta
4 Tablespoons butter (2 Tablespoons for mac and cheese mixture and 2 Tablespoons for breadcrumb topping)
2 Tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup Italian bread crumbs
SERVE WITH:
Fresh parsley, finely chopped, spread over tops
Marinara sauce
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Place 12 liners in a muffin tin and lightly coat with cooking spray.
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and set aside.
In large saucepan, melt 2 Tablespoons butter.
Whisk in flour, salt, and pepper.
Stir until thickened (about 2 minutes).
Slowly add milk, heating until just boiling. Remove from heat and stir in cheese.
Add in cooked pasta and stir to coat. Divide evenly between the muffin cups.
In a small saucepan, melt the remaining 2 Tablespoons butter and stir in bread crumbs.
Spoon over tops of the macaroni in the muffin cups.
Bake 18-20 minutes until bread crumbs are golden brown.
Remove mac and cheese cups from muffin tin and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Serve warm with marinara sauce for dipping.
Apple and Spice Bundt Cake
INGREDIENTS
Butter for the pan
Flour for the pan
3¼ cups flour
1¾ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2¾ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¾ cup walnuts coarsely chopped
¾ cup dried cranberries
½ cup crystallized ginger, chopped
3 baking apples (Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, Pink Lady, Braeburn, or Jonagold), peeled, cored, and cut into ½ inch pieces
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1½ cups canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Make cinnamon-sugar for sprinkling = 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
Preheat over to 350°F.
Butter a 10" Bundt pan, dust with flour, tap out the excess.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves.
In another bowl, combine walnuts, cranberries, ginger, and apples.
In a third bowl, combine granulated sugar and brown sugar.
Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the eggs for one minute.
Add in the oil and beat for one minute.
Add half the sugar mixture, beat one minute, then add the remaining sugar mixture with the vanilla and beat for two minutes.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl with spatula.
With the electric mixer on low speed, add flour mixture, one third of it at a time. Scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition.
Remove bowl from mixer stand. Use a large spoon to stir in apple mixture.
Spoon the batter into the Bundt pan and smooth the top with the spatula. Tap the pan on the counter 2-3 times to settle air pockets.
Bake for 65-70 minutes or until a skewer or toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean or with only a few crumbs on it.
Set the pan on a rack to cool - about 15 minutes.
Turn the cake out and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.
Cool completely.
Cut into slices and serve.
Autumn Fruit Pie
INGREDIENTS FOR CRUST
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter – cut into 8 pieces
⅓ cup shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
4 Tablespoons ice water
INGREDIENTS FOR FILLING
1 stick butter
3 Granny Smith apples
2 Golden Delicious apples
2 D’Anjou pears (better if a little hard)
7 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
INGREDIENTS FOR TOPPING
6 Tablespoons softened butter
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
DIRECTIONS FOR CRUST
In a food processor, add flour, salt, cold butter, cold cheese, sugar, and egg yolk and pulse ten to twelve times.
Add four Tablespoons ice water and pulse as you add. Mixture will be crumbly.
Pour the mixture onto a piece of plastic wrap and use the sides of the wrap to pull mixture into a ball. Wrap with the plastic wrap and press into a disc shape. Refrigerate for one hour.
DIRECTIONS FOR FILLING
Peel and core apples and pears and cut into ¼ inch sections.
In a heavy saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
Add apples and pears to the butter in the saucepan.
Add the cranberries to the saucepan.
Add the sugars and the flour, and stir.
Cover the saucepan and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Remove cover, gently stir, cook 5 more minutes. Avoid letting mixture stick to the bottom. Mixture should be thick and creamy; the fruit will still be a little hard.
Pour the filling onto a cookie sheet to let cool.
Preheat over to 425°F.
Dust counter with flour. Roll out the dough – should be 2 inches wider than a 10" deep dish pie plate (2 inches deep).
Place the dough in the pie plate; pinch overhanging dough along the rim, then remove any hanging excess. Flute the edge using thumb and forefinger.
Pour the cooled fruit filling into the pie dish.
DIRECTIONS FOR TOPPING
In a bowl, mix softened butter, flour, sugars, salt, and cinnamon. Spread topping over the filling.
Bake 15 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 350°F and bake 35-40 minutes or until the fruit is tender when tested with a knife and the top is golden brown.
Cool completely.<
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