Autumn..Covered in Brown Sugar and Cinnamon

The leaves are falling all around me here in middle Tennessee and the colors are glorious! It's time for pumpkin spice lattes, butternut squash soup, and harvest breads. I've got a delicious apple crisp recipe I want to share with you, perfect for this time of year, and it's just like my mommy used to make. Probably my most favorite dessert!

Apple Crisp

5-6 tart apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (Granny Smith work best)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons lightly packed brown sugar (light or dark)
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Topping
3/4 cup flour plus 2 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons oatmeal (not instant)
7 tablespoons sugar
7 tablespoons lightly packed brown sugar (light or dark)
12 tablespoons butter, cut in small pieces (don't scrimp!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375F
Put apples, sugars and cinnamon in a lightly greased 1-1/2 quart casserole dish
Stir to combine
Let sit about 20 minutes until some juice is released from the apples
In a separate bowl, combine flour, oatmeal and sugars
Mix in the butter until it resembles course crumbs
Pour melted 2 tbsp butter over apple mixture in the casserole dish
Sprinkle with topping mixture
Bake 30-40 minutes until topping is browned and filling is bubbly
Serve warm or at room temperate

Serve it plain, with fresh whipped cream, or warmed topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream

You can also bake your crisp inside of apples for a beautiful individual dessert. Yummy!

Harvest Pumpkin Cupcakes with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

Ok all you Cupcake War fanatics (that's me!), in the spirit of Fall and Halloween, I've been looking for a great pumpkin/harvest time cupcake recipe to try this season and wanted to share this one with you.  There's nothing like the smell of baking and spices of the season to cozy up your home.

Harvest Cupcakes

Ingredients

2-1/4 cups all purpose flour, sift before measuring
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, softened
1-1/3 cups sugar
2 eggs, beaten until frothy
1 cup mashed cooked or canned pumpkin
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg into a bowl. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in eggs. Blend in mashed pumpkin. Stir in the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk, blending until batter is smooth after each addition. Stir in nuts. Spoon batter into well-greased and floured, or paper-line muffin tins. Fill about 2/3 full.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool completely before frosting. Highly recommend my Fluffy Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting!

Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes

Fluffy Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup purchased thick caramel sauce (in ice cream aisle usually)
1 teason vanilla extract
3-1/2 to 4 cups confectioners' sugar

Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Add the caramel sauce and vanilla, beat until well blended. Add 3-1/2 cups of confectioners' sugar and beat on low speed until blended. Add more confectioners' sugar if needed for thickness. Increase mixer speed and beat on high speed for 2 minutes.

Makes about 3 cups of frosting, enough for 24 cupcakes

Don't forget to dust with cinnamon or some festive black and orange sprinkles! Yum!

Handmade fondant pumpkins! Cute!