I am kind of a vanilla snob.
Or at least that's what I've been told by people who have seen inside my baking cupboard.
So I have a whole shelf dedicated to vanilla. I don't think that's so bad, do you?
Ok, sure it was a tad bit unusual that I had a friend ask her friend to stop at a certain place in Mexico when I found out they were headed there so I could have them get me more of my favorite vanilla that I can't find in the US or online, but hey, I like vanilla.
And run-on sentences.
And run-on sentences.
Anyway-
I am a huge fan of the blog goodLife {eats}, so when I saw that in conjunction with My Baking Addiction Katie was hosting a Holiday Recipe Exchange contest, I was intrigued.
When I saw that the first specified ingredient was Vanilla, I was totally in.
Though I've seriously slacked on the baking in the wake of all things crazy over the past year, I love love love to bake. I especially love when I have enough time to play around and really create something instead of just following someone's recipe. This was the perfect thing to motivated me back into creation mode.
With my arsenal of vanilla, a few fall-ish cravings and a late night stop by the grocery store courtesy of my wonderful husband, I put on a little George Winston (December) and went to work.
My submission for the Holiday Recipe Exchange Series:
Cinnamon Vanilla Baked Apples
(and it wouldn't be me without adding Vanilla Cream)
Ta-da!
I could not be more pleased with how these turned out.
Super quick, super simple, and super amazingly divinely yummy.
And can I just tell you that my house smells beyond incredible after baking these babies?
4 apples (I used honeycrisp and granny smith)
4 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp vanilla (yes, tablespoons!)
3/4 c dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 c finely chopped almonds
Core the apples, and take a little slice off the bottom so they sit nice and flat.
In a sauce pan, melt butter, vanilla and brown sugar until smooth. Add spices, stir well. Add almonds.
Spoon this mixture into the apples, bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
That's it! I told you it was quick and simple!
It's almost like your own little apple pie without all time and mess of pie.
This one makes for instant presentation factor too, so a nice one to wow those dinner party guests.
Voting on the submitted recipes begins Nov 21st, so of course I'll hit you up for votes come Sunday.
Seriously though, give these babies a try, let me know what you think!
6 comments:
what temp did you bake them at Catey? they look YUM! :)
Those look awesome! I've made something similar but w/o the sugar and stuffed w/ raisins. Your way makes it actually a real dessert! YUM!
Whoops! temp would be helpful, huh? fixed now to reflect the fabulous baking default, 350. :)
Im gonna have to try them!! I'll let you know how they turn out. Also, how did you core them without cutting them into pieces or did you just use the apple slicer that cores at the same time? and if so, how do you stuff them if they've been sliced? I know...too many questions, sorry!!
There is a corer that is just a small round tube like thing that just cores the apple without slicing it. A normal person would use that, but since I don't have one, I just cut the core out with a knife. :) It wasn't all pretty and round, it was more square-ish, but hey, it worked! and you couldn't see how not pretty it was once it was filled.
I probably could have rigged up my big fancy pampered chef corer/peeler/slicer thing to just core them without slicing them, but since I was just doing a couple and wanted the peel left on, i didn't bother to break that sucker out.
Those look delicious. I hope you win!
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