Since I made pumpkin I had to make a pie that I would like as well. Since I was making the pumpkin pie from this book I decided I would do the apple pie too.

Sadly I was less then impressed with this recipe, it just wasn’t as good as the other dutch apple pies I have made. Adam said it was much better cold then it was warm. I can’t really say what we didn’t like about this, just wasn’t a favorite.

Sour Cream Apple Pie (From: Pillsbury Thanksgiving Book Nov. 2008)

• 1 regriderated pie crust
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 egg
• 6 cups sliced peeled baking apples (6 medium)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping

• 3 tablespoons cold butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I omitted)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• dash of salt

Heat oven to 400. Place pie crust in a 9 inch glass pie plate.

In large bowl, beat all filling ingredients except apples with wire whisk until well blended. Stir in apples. Pour into crust-lined plate. Cover crust edge with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning.

Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350and bake 30 minutes longer.

Meanwhile, in medium bowl, mix all topping ingredients except butter. Cut in butter, using pastry blender or ford, until mixture looks like coarse crumbs refrigerate until ready to use.

Sprinkle topping over pie; bake 20 to 25 minutes long or until topping is golden brown cool completely on cooling rack, about 2 hours, before serving. Store covered in refrigerator.

Adam came home with a paper bag full of pears and apples last week from a customer that had apple and pear trees in his backyard. I knew I wanted to do some baking with them as there was NO way we would be able to eat all the fruit before it went bad. I wanted to do something different then apple pie. Muffins are so simple to grab and go and also easy to give away and with all the baking I was going to do I planned to give lots away.

I made these into mini muffins for no reason other then I ran out of regular size paper liners and didn’t want to fuss with spraying the pan. But these are cute and yummy.

Apple Muffins (From: Ellie Krieger)

• Cooking spray
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown  sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole-wheat pastry  flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup natural applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
• 1 Golden Delicious apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-capacity muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar, the pecans and cinnamon.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and oil until combined. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, whisking well after each addition. Whisk in the applesauce and vanilla.

Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined. Gently stir in the apple chunks.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with the pecan mixture. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen them and unmold. Cool completely on the rack.

I do not like fruit, it’s the texture of most of them, I love the flavor but not the texture. Pears are one of the rare ones that I do not like the flavor of either. So when I realized I had a dozen pears to use up I had NO idea what to do with them.

I decided that muffins are a easy and simple way to use them up, and can be something Adam can grab and go for breakfast. I have to say the batter for these muffins tasted amazing, I love the nutmeg, and I made myself a muffin without pears and it was very good.

Autumn Pear Muffins (From: The Taste of Home Baking Book)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup cold butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup finely chopped ripe pears

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla; stir into crumb mixture just until moistened. Fold in the pears.

Scoop in muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick in center comes out clean. Cool.

Adam and I were just talking about going apple picking again this fall, it’s getting to be that time of the year. I figured I better use up the apples I froze from last year before buying new apples. I still have 2 bags left so I will be making more soon.

Adam loves pie, I am not so much a fan of fruit pie, dutch apple with a big old scoop of ice cream is about the only one I will do. So I knew that was what I wanted to make. This one was excellent and wasn’t over the top with apples.

Dutch Apple Pie (Adapted From: Taste of Home)

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 T. cinnamon
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
• 2 cups chopped peeled tart apples (about 3 medium)
• 1 unbaked pie shell (9 inches)

STREUSEL TOPPING:

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cold butter

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon. Stir in the egg, vanilla and sour cream; stir until smooth. Add apples; mix well. Pour into pie crust. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325° and bake for 30 minutes more.

For topping, combine flour and sugar in a small bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle topping over pie; bake 20 minutes longer or until filling is bubbly and topping is browned. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or chilled. Store in the refrigerator.

After our strawberry picking adventure I knew I wanted to bake a few things with strawberries. Adams work had a pot luck for 4th of July and I knew this would be a perfect way to use them up. I decided to make a pie.

Although I did not have any of this, Adam and I his co-workers raved about it. They said the base was nice and creamy and the strawberrys had the perfect flavor. This was simple to whip up too.

Strawberries and Cream Pie (From: The Way the Cookie Crumbles, Orginally From:Pillsbury’s Complete Cookbook)

• 1 cup cold heavy cream, divided
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup (2.33 ounces) sugar
• ¼ to ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 1 pie crust for a 1-crust pie, completely baked and cooled
• 2 pints fresh whole strawberries, hulled
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

In a medium bowl (or the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment), beat 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon of the cream on medium speed. When the cream is frothy, increase the speed to high and whip until the cream holds firm peaks.

In a separate large bowl (or the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), beat the cream cheese on medium speed until it’s soft and creamy. Add the sugar and extract and continue beating until combined.

Fold about 1/3 of the whipped cream into the cream cheese to lighten the mixture, then add the remaining cream and continue folding until it’s incorporated. Evenly spread the cream mixture in the pie crust. Arrange the strawberries, pointed side up, over the filling.

Melt the chocolate with the remaining 1 tablespoon cream over very low heat, stirring constantly, or in the microwave on medium power, or in a double boiler. Drizzle the chocolate over the strawberries. Refrigerate the pie until set, about 1 hour.