Apple Coffee Cake

Coffee cake is one of the greatest desserts out there. Truth be told, I love most things with a crumb top (who doesn't love the combination of brown sugar, butter, flour and oats?) but this particular recipe is wonderful because it doesn't require any fancy gadgets and it's simple enough for my almost 9 year old to make entirely on her own. I've made this recipe four times in the last week; I've given away one, frozen one and helped to eat two. 

I handed over the recipe card, took out the ingredients and let my daughter do the rest. This is a three-part recipe: cake batter, crumb top and apple slicing. First, she measured the dry ingredients for the cake. 

Next, she made the crumb top and set it aside, chastising me occasionally for nibbling.

Next, she added the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mixed until a nice batter formed. We softened the butter in the microwave so that all was needed to make the magic happen was a spoon. 

When the batter was mixed completely, she poured half into a ceramic dish lined with parchment paper (easy cleanup!). 

My daughter sliced one apple, placed the slices in a layer on top of the batter and sprinkled with cinnamon. 

She poured the rest of the batter on top and spread it around and topped with the delicious crumb top. 

She baked it in the oven and the house smelled fantastic! The hardest part was waiting to eat it. I love bringing my kids into the kitchen and it's been delightful watching how skills and capabilities change over time. Once upon a time, she was only able to participate in cooking alongside an adult. Now there are dishes she can make entirely on her own! Added bonus: she rinsed all of the dishes, placed them all in the dishwasher and wiped the countertops. 

A whole new world is opening up in my kitchen and boy am I excited! 

Apple Coffee Cake
Crumb top:
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
dash of salt
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup rolled oats

Cake:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
 1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon plus more for dusting the apples
5 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk (we used unsweetened soy milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 apple, peeled and sliced (preferably granny smith)

Line a ceramic dish with parchment paper (ours is oval, about 8x13). Preheat the oven to 375. In a small bowl, combine all of the crumb top ingredients. Mix them together with your hands, so that the butter is evenly distributed and there's no clumps of flour. We softened the butter in the microwave to make this very easy. Set aside. 
Next, add the flour, baking soda and salt to a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, butter, egg, milk and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix completely. Pour half of the batter into the baking dish. Spread the apples on top in an even layer. Dust the top of the apples with cinnamon. Add the rest of the batter and spread evenly. Finally, add the crumb top. Bake in the oven at 375 for 25 minutes and reduce the heat to 350. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. Enjoy! 

Make Your Own Applesauce!

Now that we have a billion apples, we eat applesauce with almost every meal. I've been using a dozen apples for each batch but that lasts just a day or two! The hardest part of this recipe? Waiting. Great applesauce takes a long time because you have to cook them slowly to yield the best flavor and texture. My family likes it chunky and with cinnamon. We don't add sugar or sweetener of any kind because the natural sugar from slow-cooking, caramelized apples is perfect as is. 

Here goes: 

Peel a dozen apples. 

Hmm... probably a good idea to peel an extra apple or two to accommodate hungry apple thieves in your kitchen!

Cut the apples into chunks and place in a pot. Smaller chunks will yield a smoother sauce. 

Add 1-2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon and the juice of 1/2 lemon. Stir well. 

Simmer and cook slowly for approximately 60-90 minutes (or longer!) until the consistency is to your liking. Want to add other fruit? Here's a great recipe for apple-mango sauce. 

Enjoy!

Apple Picking & Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

We had our family's annual apple picking day yesterday - one of my favorite things to do in early fall. I hadn't realized until yesterday that in the 9 years that we've been doing this, we always go before Columbus Day weekend. Unfortunately for us, pretty much all of the apples on the trees at the orchard where we've been going for years had already been picked! They had giant bins with loads of different apples, separated by variety for latecomers like us. 

Frankly, October 12 doesn't seem particularly late in the season and this was a big disappointment for my adventurers who like to wield the heavy apple picker each year and carefully inspect their findings before adding them to our bag. Rather than go straight to the bins, my crew checked out what still remained on the trees and apple-picked the old fashioned way. When we exhausted our on-the-tree options, we headed for the bins.  

For the next week or so, it'll be round-the-clock apples. This morning, we began the day with Apple Cinnamon Pancakes and there's enough batter left over for tomorrow morning. 

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes (makes enough for about 6-8 servings, depending on size)

1 cup plain kefir
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1 large egg
2 tablespoons coconut oil, plus more for frying pancakes (or use butter)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 large apple, shredded (I used a cheese grater) 

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well, making sure to eliminate flour lumps. Fry with coconut oil or butter and serve with fresh apple chunks for extra apple goodness!