Fake Ginger

apples

Paleo Apple Pie Ice Cream

Paleo Apple Pie Ice Cream – the best dairy free fall ice cream! It tastes like frozen apple pie!

Paleo Apple Pie Ice Cream - the best dairy free fall ice cream! It tastes like frozen apple pie!

Does everyone look forward to apple season as much as I do?

I really don’t care about apples all year long but as soon as fall rolls around, I’m checking my grocery store every day to see if the honeycrisps are under 5 bucks a pound. So far this year I’ve made an upside down apple cake, a grilled cheese, and I’ve currently got 4 different varieties of apples in my fridge.

You know, just in case I need a gala apple instead of a pink lady.

As if I can really tell the difference.

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Apple Upside Down Cake

Simple and delicious Apple Upside Down Cake! Moist cinnamon-spiced cake topped with apples in a buttery brown sugar sauce. 

Apple Upside Down Cake - simple and delicious apple cake! Moist cinnamon-spiced cake topped with apples coated in butter and brown sugar.

Hi guys, happy almost Friday!

Not to be dramatic but this Apple Upside Down Cake is my favorite thing I’ve made in forever.

And you know that I don’t usually like any dessert with fruit.

But see, I’ve been craving pineapple upside down cake for literally months now and I was too lazy to make one so I finally broke down and bought one last week while I was in the middle of a week long argument with the boyfriend.

And then I couldn’t even enjoy it because I was too busy saying things like, “I keep dreaming about these giant bugs and google tells me that means I have anxiety and you won’t kill them for me!”

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Carrot Apple Salad

Carrot Apple Salad is the perfect quick, healthy side dish! It’s a kid favorite and so easy to put together. Thinly sliced carrots and apples with raisins in a creamy sweet and tangy dressing. 

Carrot Apple Salad - sliced carrots and apples with raisins in a sweet and tangy dressing! So easy and so delicious! My kids love this!

You guuuuys.

It’s finally the first day of school around here!

Y’all know I love summer but man, this was a long one. This was the first summer in years that we didn’t take several roadtrips so it was just me and 3 boys.

All summer.

In central Texas. Where from the hours of 9 am to 7 pm, it’s too hot to play outside most days.

ANYWAY.

So now we’re transitioning to school and soccer and football and whatever else the boys plan on getting into. I’m anticipating a very busy fall.

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Apple Spice Cupcakes

Apple Spice Cupcakes – yummy apple cupcakes topped with spiced vanilla frosting and cinnamon apple chips! Perfect fall cupcakes!

Apple Spice Cupcakes - yummy apple cupcakes topped with spiced vanilla frosting and cinnamon apple chips! Perfect fall cupcakes!

Happy almost Friday! I made cupcakes!

Guys, I am sick.

Ugh.

It’s about time since the kids have been in school for a few weeks and have all sneezed once or twice. Seriously though, weakest immune system ever.

If you need me, I’ll be Dayquil wasted (I don’t care what anyone says, that stuff makes me useless for hours) and watching Dawson’s Creek all day.

But cupcakes!

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Easy Apple Butter

Easy Homemade Apple Butter recipe - only 5 ingredients!

Happy Monday!

How was your weekend? Ours was good. Found all the Lay’s Do Us a Flavor chips. Spoiler: the Truffle Fries one tastes just like sour cream and onion chips. Laaaaaame. However, the Reuben one? Amazing.

I also decided that it’s too hot in Texas. I’d really like to go anywhere with snow right about now. The dogs end up looking like this at the end of our walk, no matter how early or late we go. Seriously, 95 degrees at 7 pm is stupid.

Dear Army gods, please send us far away from here. Colorado would be fabulous. Thanks.

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Apple Fritters

Easy Apple Fritters made by dipping sliced apples in a quick batter and frying until golden and delicious! You won’t believe how easy and delicious these are!

Easy Apple Fritters - sliced apples dipped in batter and fried until golden and delicious! The easiest apple fritters you will ever make!

Do you want to know how sad my life is? Yesterday I took a nap (don’t judge me) and dreamt that I was on weather.com and saw snow in the forecast. And I woke up so excited.

Like, it wasn’t even snowing.

It was just the weather forecast. In my dream.

And I was excited.

Another more real life thing that has been exciting me recently is apple recipes. It’s quite weird because I really don’t like apples much.

I think I’ve eaten two apples this year and both times I covered them in chocolate PB2. Which is one of my favorite things on earth and if you aren’t covering your apples in it, what are you doing with your life?

But yeah, I’ve been pulling apple recipes out of magazines like it’s my job.

Cakes, bars, battered and fried.

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Apple Butterscotch Blondies

You know how I’ve been putting jalapeños on literally everything for the past couple months? I think I’m over that finally.

But guess what I’ve moved onto.

Canned green beans. I had an entire can for dinner last night and the night before. A whole can. By myself. And I’m kind of freaking out because I’m officially out of canned green beans and I’m trying to hold off on going grocery shopping until Friday because our Trader Joe’s is finally opening!

Hallelujah!

(However, ours will sell no wine. Because this is Colorado. Boo.)

And my other current food obsession is butterscotch chips. I’ve always liked butterscotch chips but it wasn’t until recently that I started shoveling handfuls of them into my mouth after every meal. You guys, it’s bad.

I added these Apple Butterscotch Blondies to my “must make” list as soon as I saw them, mostly because of my butterscotch obsession but also because I just love blondies of all types. I think I actually prefer them over brownies.

I love everything about these. They weren’t as dense as your typical blondie but they had a really great texture. And the butterscotch and the apple chunks were absolutely delicious together.

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Apple Butterscotch Blondies

Apple Butterscotch Blondies

Yield: about 16 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 23 minutes
Total Time: 38 minutes

from Food Network Magazine

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 small apple, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup butterscotch chips

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9-inch-square baking dish with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides; lightly coat with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder in a small bowl. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until it starts browning. Remove from the heat and whisk in the brown sugar and vanilla until dissolved; let cool slightly. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture, then the apple and butterscotch chips. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
  3. Bake the blondies until the edges are set and the top is lightly browned, 20 - 23 minutes minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely in the pan. Lift out of the pan using the foil overhang and cut into pieces.

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 134Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 35mgSodium: 89mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 0gSugar: 12gProtein: 2g

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© Amanda Livesay

Apple Crisp

I’m such a slacker.

I really had no intention of taking 2 weeks off the blog. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that my aunt was visiting and even though I really planned on getting posts up, it just didn’t happen. I even had recipes photographed and ready to go. I’m sorry, I’m a slacker.

If it helps, I didn’t even do laundry while she was here.

I did 7 loads of laundry yesterday.

Seven.

My aunt and I spent the whole week eating doughnuts, tracking down food trucks I’ve always wanted to try, and eating more doughnuts.

#LivingTheDream

Anyway, remember how the kids and I went to that apple farm a couple weeks ago? Well, it turns out my children threw a bunch of rurnt (ruined, bad, disgusting for those that don’t speak Alabama) apples into their bags.

What is wrong with my children?

Why would you pick an apple filled with holes?

I don’t understand.

The littlest’s bag was so bad that he had to have been taking bites of each apple before putting them in his bag.

I mean.

What.

But I somehow salvaged enough to make this Apple Crisp. I think I tell you guys every year around this time about how I hate making pies. I just hate it. Crust is just too fussy for me. So when I have apples, I always make crisps or crumbles.

What’s the difference, you ask? You should ask someone smarter. I have no clue.

But this particular crisp is special because it’s got a bottom crust! But not a fussy crust like a pie crust. It’s just the crumb topping pressed into the bottom of your dish!

It was absolutely delicious. And since it’s made with oatmeal, you can totally call it breakfast.

Right?

 

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Apple Crisp

Apple Crisp

Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

from Taste of Home: The Ultimate Guide to Fall Baking

Ingredients

  • 1 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 4 cups chopped, peeled apples
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • vanilla ice cream, for serving

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until crumbly. Press half into a greased 2 1/2 quart baking dish. Cover with apples.
  3. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thick and clear. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over the apples. Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.
  4. Bake 60-65 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve warm, with ice cream on top.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 445Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 114mgCarbohydrates: 79gFiber: 3gSugar: 57gProtein: 4g

Did you make this recipe?

Tag me in your Instagram photo - @fakeginger

© Amanda Livesay

Taffy Apple Pizza

Taffy Apple Pizza – sugar cookie crust with a peanut butter and brown sugar sauce, sliced apples, chopped peanuts, and caramel sauce. 

Taffy Apple Pizza - sugar cookie crust with a peanut butter and brown sugar sauce, sliced apples, chopped peanuts, and caramel sauce.

I don’t know if you guys have noticed but I am SO READY FOR FALL, SNOW, WINTER, SNOW, HALLOWEEN, SNOW, CHRISTMAS, and most importantly SNOW.

It’s like that scene in Knocked Up when the guy says he wishes he liked anything as much as his kids like bubbles. I imagine my husband probably says, “I wish I liked anything as much as my wife likes snow!”

We had a day last week where our high was in the 50s and I was in heaven. I broke out my boots, my winter coat, my big scarf that my mom made me. It was awesome. I’m sure everyone who saw me thought I was crazy pants but… I’m just excited, y’all.

And btw, it’s well into the hundreds in Afghanistan and my husband is not amused by the scarf selfies I send him. #bestwifeever

One of the great things about fall is, of course, apples. Oh man, I can’t even wait for the honeycrisps to show up. They are probably the thing I like most about fall.

After football.

Obviously.

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Puff Pastry Apple Turnovers

Do you have a go-to breakfast for mornings when you’re hosting overnight guests?

We are officially in that time of year where family is coming in and out of town and if you’re anything like me, you’re looking for delicious meal ideas that won’t keep you in the kitchen all day long.

I’ve got a great one for you that takes no time to throw together and only requires 2 ingredients!

You need a package of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets (thawed in the fridge overnight) and apple pie filling. Ignore the egg in the photo. I actually did an egg wash on the first batch and didn’t like how it seemed to weigh the puff pastry down. So I left it off the second batch and the puff pastry was much puffier.

If you remember to thaw the puff pastry in the refrigerate overnight, these will seriously take about 5 minutes to assemble and about 15 minutes to bake. You can’t run out to the bakery for turnovers in 20 minutes! Plus, it’s too cold to be running around so early in the morning!

All I did was cut the puff pastry into 6 pieces and then put a couple pieces of apple with the delicious gooey filling in the center. I folded those up, making sure not to completely seal it so the steam can escape, and then baked them. Once they came out of the oven, I made a simple glaze with powdered sugar and heavy cream to drizzle on top.

They are so good! Like little apple pies but with flaky, airy crust!

Check out Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry and make sure you like them on Facebook!

Puff Pastry Apple Turnovers

Puff Pastry Apple Turnovers

Yield: 18 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 17 minutes
Total Time: 32 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 pack Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets
  • 1 can apple pie filling
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 – 1 tablespoon heavy cream, or milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or spray with oil.
  2. Lay out one sheet of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry. Following the lines on the pastry, cut into 3 strips. Cut each strip in half to make 6 rectangles.
  3. Spoon a heaping spoonful of pie filling onto each rectangle.
  4. Fold up gently, pinching to seal. Place folded turnovers on prepared sheet.
  5. Bake 15 – 17 minutes or until golden brown.
  6. While turnovers are baking, whisk together powdered sugar and heavy cream. Once turnovers come out of the oven, glaze immediately.
  7. Look cool slight on a wire rack before serving.
  8. Repeat with remaining sheet of puff pastry.

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As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 18 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 41Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 16mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 0gSugar: 5gProtein: 1g

Did you make this recipe?

Tag me in your Instagram photo - @fakeginger

© Amanda Livesay

I’m always looking for ways to spark new creative ideas with my recipes.  I hope you enjoy this recipe and don’t forget to check out more recipes at www.puffpastry.com.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry. The opinions and text are all mine.

 

Caramel Apple Crisp Pizza

Man, I am ready for the weekend. How ’bout you?

It has been nonstop for us this week and thankfully school lets out early tomorrow for MANDATORY ACTIVITY DAY! Woooo! I really can’t complain much about living on an Army post. I keep telling myself that I just have to get through today and then it’s all downhill to the weekend.

The highlight of my week was this Caramel Apple Crisp Pizza. I wanted something quick and easy to make for a special afterschool snack but I had no idea that it would be such a hit. There wasn’t a single piece left at the end of the day. 

My favorite part of any fruity pie-type dessert is the crust/crumble/crisp/whatever so to have crust plus crisp in one dish? Heaven! I’m kind of obsessed with this recipe now and I can’t stop thinking about it. The good news is that the pie crust I bought comes in packs of 2. The bad news is that it comes in packs of 2.

If I’m up 5 pounds by next week, you’ll know why.

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Caramel Apple Cider

It’s been a year since Nicole and I started this Thirsty Thursday thing. Crazy, right? We’ve thrown around ideas of what to do next – do we continue with drinks? Switch to something else? Stop completely? We’re still trying to figure it out.

Our final theme was apples! I am officially obsessed with honeycrisps right now and just about cried when I couldn’t find any yesterday. It’s so hard to go from honeycrisp to the regular ol’ red delicious!

I made a caramel apple cider because it’s one of my absolute favorite Starbucks drinks ever. And the homemade version is even better since you can use real cider instead of apple juice like Starbucks does. Plus you can be like me and put half a container of Cool Whip on top.

What’s the only thing that’s better than hot apple cider? Frozen apple cider! Check out Nicole’s Apple Cider Floats!

Caramel Apple Cider

Caramel Apple Cider

Yield: 1
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon caramel sauce, plus more for drizzling
  • 1 1/2 cups apple cider
  • whipped cream

Instructions

  1. Put tablespoon of caramel in a coffee mug. Set aside.
  2. In a small pot, heat apple cider over high heat until apple cider is at desired temperature. Pour into mug, over the caramel. Stir to melt caramel.
  3. Top with whipped cream and a caramel drizzle.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 231Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 85mgCarbohydrates: 54gFiber: 1gSugar: 48gProtein: 1g

Did you make this recipe?

Tag me in your Instagram photo - @fakeginger

© Amanda Livesay
Caramel Apple Cider - Starbucks copycat recipe! This is so comforting and delicious!

 

Sparkling Apple Cider Sangria

Happy Thursday! We have almost made it to Friday and you know what that means: drink time!

This week Nicole and I are celebrating the 75th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz because the IMAX version comes out this weekend. I’m not much of a movie person and I am forever getting The Wizard of Oz confused with Willa Wonka. Isn’t that weird? Like, they are nothing alike but I always have to stop and think about which is which.

I do know that there are ruby slippers in The Wizard of Oz and I never miss an opportunity to make something red and sparkly. I decided to put an apple cider sangria in my sprinkle-rimmed glasses because it’s just the perfect time of year for cider. Plus honeycrisps showed up in my grocery store this week! Yeeeesss!

The sangria is amazing. I love that it’s super fall-ish with the cider but the bubbly wine makes it seem less heavy and rich. I love it and I see it becoming a big favorite for fall and winter parties.

Nicole made Over the Rainbow Drinks which might be the cutest drink ever! Go check it out!

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Blackberry and Apple Crumble

Blackberry and Apple Crumble is the most delicious summer dessert! Juicy blackberries and apples with a crunchy topping of oats, coconut, and almonds!

Blackberry and Apple Crumble - delicious summer dessert! Juicy blackberries and apples with a crunchy topping of oats, coconut, and almonds!

Blackberries?!

I know.

It’s not berry season but I got some in my Bountiful Baskets basket a few weeks back and I can’t stand the little seedy things so the only thing to do was bake with them.

And since apples are so delicious right now I figured this Blackberry Apple Crumble was the perfect thing to make.

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Honeycrisp Apple Sangria

Honeycrisp Apple Sangria – the perfect fall drink! White wine sangria with honeycrisp apples, oranges, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Plus a cinnamon sugar rim!

Honeycrisp Apple Sangria - the perfect fall drink! White wine sangria with honeycrisp apples, oranges, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Plus a cinnamon sugar rim!

I think I am the last person in the universe to jump on the honeycrisp train. Just this week though, they were the cheapest apples at my grocery store so I bought them and they are amazing. Seriously, crisp like I didn’t even know apples could be!

I haven’t told you guys but Nicole and I had so much fun doing our s’mores week that we wanted to do something together every week. And we decided on drinks because… well duh. So for the next little while we’ll be doing a themed drink each week! 

Apples were the theme of the week and I’ve had this sangria on my “must make” list since Brandy suggested I try it one night when I was whining on Twitter about how I hated wine. It specifically calls for honeycrisp apples and since I’d just bought 15 pounds (seriously) of honeycrisp, it was perfect!

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