So this might be a little more of a fall post, but sometimes it's not the season and you just want a taste of fall! I had this post floating around my pinterest for a while and it just looked drool worthy, and when I had to pick a somewhat healthy dessert, I picked this baked apples recipe. It's super simple, so easy to throw together your kids could help with it, and delicious. And what are baked apples without ice cream? I'd had the ice cream attachment sitting around for my kitchen aid for a long time, but had never used it! So I found this great simple recipe, got the ingredients, let it sit in the freezer (make sure it's for a good couple days), and had that to go with it. It turned out delicious, the apples are wonderful, with a little cinnamon sweetness to go with it, baked just long enough to keep a lil crunch with it but still be warm and a little softer. The ice cream was good, though it was a little sweet to me, I think next time I might use less sugar. The first batch I did was vanilla, but feel free to mix it up! I have another batch in the freezer right now of Chardonnay ice cream. It set up and the batter tasted good, we'll see how it tastes frozen with the apples tonight! It's so easy to do ice cream, and cheaper! The recipe calls for heavy cream, but I substituted half and half, partly because it's cheaper, and partly because it's lower fat and healthier, and it turned out great. Feel free to play with the ingredients a bit, fat free milk, mixers, etc. and let me know how it turns out! Alright, so on with the recipes.
Baked Apples with Oatmeal Streusel Topping
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 t cinnamon
- pinch of ground ginger and salt
- 3-4 apples
Preheat your oven to 350, and melt the butter and mix it with the rest of the streusel toppings. Halve the apples and scoop out the seeds and stem areas, then fill them with the topping. Place in a dish and bake until the apples start to swell and the topping starts to brown, or roughly 30 minutes. Enjoy!
http://nonrecipe.blogspot.ca/2012/03/baked-apples-with-oatmeal-streusel.html
Simple Vanilla Ice Cream
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup milk
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (I'd take it down to 1/2)
- 1 T vanilla (the higher quality the better)
- pinch of sea salt (optional, but believe me, it's good)
If you are using a kitchenaid, make sure you put the attachment into the freezer at least a couple days before hand. Personally, I leave it in there in between batches, then it's ready when I run out. Stir all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until the sugar is dissolved, then assemble the ice cream machine and pour the cream mixture into it. Turn it on a low speed and let sit until it starts to form a sort of slushie texture or longer. That's how long I let mine sit, and it takes roughly 10-15 minutes, but don't get impatient! Spoon it into an airtight container and let sit in the freezer 4+ hours, if not overnight. It'll be loose before then, but still edible.
http://www.simplyscratch.com/2013/05/vanilla-ice-cream-from-laurens-latest-new-ecookbook.html
