I’ve consumed more apples over the past month than I can count. Other than the apple pie a few weeks ago, they have been raw and eaten as a snack or as a lazy breakfast on a Saturday morning. After I picked up another half dozen at the market over the weekend, I decided it was time to make another standard of apple cookery: applesauce. And not just plain applesauce, cinnamon applesauce.

Applesauce is one of the absolute easiest things you can make. All you need is a saucepan, 4 or so apples, and a little bit of sugar, spices, and cider. 

Cinnamon Applesauce
-4 large apples, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes 
-1/2 cup apple cider
-1/4 cup granulated sugar
-1 tsp. cinnamon
-1/2 tsp. nutmeg
-1/2 tsp ground cloves

1.  Pour cider into a large saucepan and add chopped apples. Add sugar and spices and stir with a large spoon until all apples are coated. 

2. Cover and cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 4 minutes or so. 

3. Once apples are soft, remove from heat and mash with a potato masher until it reaches your desired chunky or non-chunky texture. 

4. Store in a covered container in the fridge or use your favorite canning technique.

After making the pumpkin muffins in my last post, I was left with about six cups of roasted pumpkin puree in a tupperware container in the fridge. I wasn’t sure what to do, but after the dozen muffins I made Sunday morning were almost gone by Monday morning, I decided to make two loaves of pumpkin bread with a modified version of the muffin recipe. The results were pretty good, evidenced by the fact one loaf is almost gone, while the other has been safely stored in the freezer. There were still four cups of pumpkin puree left, but those were also placed in the freezer as well to wait for a mid-winter pumpkin craving. 

Spiced Pumpkin Bread with Golden Raisins
Makes 2 loaves in standard loaf pans (anywhere around 9x5x3)
-2 cups pumpkin puree
-3/4 cup granulated sugar
-1 cup brown sugar
-3 eggs
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
-2 tsp. cinnamon
-1 tsp. ground ginger
-1 tsp. nutmeg
-1 tsp. ground cloves
-3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-2 tsp. baking powder
-1 tsp. baking soda
-1/2 tsp. salt
-2 cups golden raisins

1) Preheat oven to 350º

2) Mix pumpkin, sugars, eggs, oil, and spices in a large bowl.

3) Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl and add to the pumpkin mixture in three equal parts, stirring thoroughly between each addition.

4) Fold in raisins once dry ingredients are mixed into the batter.

5) Grease two loaf pans and divide batter between them. Top each loaf with a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar (Mo Note: I forgot to add the sugar and cinnamon when I first placed my loaves in the oven, so the picture above is a bit misleading. If added before baking and not halfway through, the sugar should melt and crystalize properly). Bake them for one hour, or until a wooden stick comes out clean.

The fall harvest was in full swing at the farmers’ market this weekend. A pumpkin patch was one of the main draws and toddlers were walking around picking out their jack-o-lanterns for Halloween.   I didn’t pick one up at the time, but as I was walking home later in the day, I decided that I needed to make some pumpkin muffins from scratch. I stopped at the grocery store and grabbed the last sugar pumpkin they had and a few supplies.

Roasting the Pumpkin
To roast a pumpkin, you can either:
1) cut it in half, place on a rimmed baking sheet with the flesh side down, cover with aluminum foil and roast at 400º for about an hour, or…
2) coat the whole pumpkin with a little bit of olive oil, place on a baking sheet, and roast it whole for 1-1 1/2 hours (or until a knife slides through the flesh easily) at 400°. 

I chose technique number 2 because it’s easy on my arms and my knife. For both techniques, you have to let the pumpkin cool for about 20 minutes before scooping out the seeds and stringy bits (save the seeds if you want to roast them), and then the flesh. You can then puree the pumpkin using a food processor or with a potato masher. 

Pumpkin Muffins
Makes 1 dozen
-1 cup pureed pumpkin (or canned pumpkin)
-1/2 cup golden raisins
-1/3 cup oil
-2 large eggs
-1/2 cup sugar
-1/2 cup brown sugar
-1 tsp. cinnamon
-1/2 tsp. ground clove
-1/2 tsp. ground ginger
-1/2 tsp. nutmeg
-1 tsp. baking powder
-1/2 tsp. baking soda 
- 1 1/2 cups flour 
-1/2 tsp. salt 

1) Preheat oven to 350°

2) Mix the pumpkin, sugars, oil, eggs, and spices in a large bowl until smooth. 

3) Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a smaller bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture in three parts.

4) Place liners in the muffin tin, or coat lightly with oil. Fill each cup just above 3/4. Top with a sprinkling of sugar and a dash of cinnamon. If you want a crunchy topping, add a few pumpkin seeds as well. 

5) Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and a wooden stick poked in the center comes out clean.