Apple Dumplings

When fall is in the air, the oven begs to be used. Which is especially good when you have a fridge full of some of autumn's finest..apples!

Lucky me, we've always have a willing bunch of taste testers in our small group. And this recipe was calling from Pinterest, the fridge, the oven....I was sold. And so was everyone else. Definitely a keeper in my book. The only "problem" is that you need ramekins for every serving. Not that I am ever searching for a reason to buy kitchen utensils... :o)

Apple Dumplings
recipe by Midwest Living

• 5 medium cooking apples, peeled and sliced (5 cups)
• 3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
• 1/2 cup dark-colored corn syrup
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 recipe Pastry for Double-Crust Pie

Directions

1. In a saucepan, combine the apples and apple cider. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 5 to 7 minutes or until just tender.
2. Stir in the corn syrup, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Combine the melted butter or margarine and the cornstarch. Stir into mixture in saucepan.
3. Cook and stir the mixture over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat.
4. Prepare pastry. Roll out 2/3 of the pastry to form a 15-inch square. Cut into four 7-inch circles. Ease pastry circles into four 10-ounce custard cups or baking dishes. Do not trim edges. Roll out remaining pastry to an 11-inch square. Cut into four 5-inch circles for top crusts.
5. Fill each pastry-lined dish with 1/4 of the hot apple mixture. Top with remaining crust, cutting slits for steam to escape. Fold extra pastry under bottom crust and seal. Flute edges.
6. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until crusts are golden. Cool slightly on wire rack. Serve the dumplings warm. Makes 4 servings.

mmmm....Monkey Bread

Do you want to know just one of the great things about having the in-laws that I do? On the morning of a major holiday (i.e. Christmas, Thanksgiving...), my father-in-law gets up a little earlier and makes some deliciously sweet Monkey Bread. It's one of my new favorite holiday traditions.

For my birthday this year (back in July) Brad bought me a Monkey Bread Ceramic Mold from Williams Sonoma. I was quite excited, especially when I found a recipe on the reverse side of the cardboard sleeve. So when my in-laws came to visit a couple weeks ago, I thought it would be a perfect time to try out my new "toy".

So what do I have to say about the experience? Well I love making anything I can from scratch so that was great and not to mention that the final product turned out fabulous. However, as a word of warning, the whole process from pantry to plate is quite long...as in 4 hours or so. With that said, if you are planning on making this, read the whole recipe and budget your time well. If you don't want to devote that much time to the process (though I think the wait is worth it), you can do one of two things. 1. You could go to your local Williams Sonoma store and purchase the Monkey Bread mix or 2. You could buy refrigerated biscuit dough or perhaps a frozen bread dough (though I forget at the moment which one my in-laws suggested I try) and skip a few time consuming steps.

Also, one last comment: Perhaps I am just that bad at counting but the past couple of times that I have made this dough, it has turned out extremely wet. Like there is no way it would become bread dough unless I put almost a cup more of flour. Like I said, maybe I mess up my flour count somewhere down the line but I just add a little flour at a time until it resembles a soft bread dough and it has turned out great. Of course, soft bread dough means sticky hands so be sure to cover your hands with flour before handling lightly. Okay, maybe one more comment. Do you need a special monkey bread pan? No, any baking dish would probably do (my father-in-law uses a small ceramic casserole dish) but the Monkey Bread pan does allow for fewer doughy pieces. Either method you use, it turns out delicious.

Monkey Bread
by Williams Sonoma (slightly adapted by me)

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

For the Dough:
3/4 c warm milk (about 110 degrees F)
1/2 c warm water (about 110 degrees F)
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/4 c granulated sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 package rapid-rise yeast
3 1/4 c all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tsp salt.

For Sugar Coating
1 c firmly packed light brown sugar (or granulated sugar)
2 tsp ground cinnamon
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

For the Glaze (which I think is optional) 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 c firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 c maple syrup
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp water

1. Have all the ingredients at room temperature. Butter the monkey bread baking mold with the softened butter. (I found this easier to do when using a pastry brush to spread the butter)
   
2. To make the dough, in a bowl, whisk together the milk, water, melted butter, granulated sugar, egg, and yeast.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour and salt and beat on low speed just until combined. Slowly add the milk mixture and beat until the dough comes together, 1 to 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the dough is shiny and smooth, 5 to 6 minutes.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 1 minutes. Form the dough into a ball. Coat the inside of a large bowl with nonstick cooking spray, place the dough in the bowl and coat the surface of the dough with cooking spray. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the sugar coating: In a bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. Put the melted butter in another bowl. Set aside.
6. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape into an 8 inch square. (Using a pizza cutter) Cut the dough into 6 equal strips, then cut each piece crosswise into 8 pieces to form a total of 48 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, dip into the melted butter and roll in the sugar-cinnamon mixture, coasting well. Stack the balls in the prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes. Do not let the dough rise over the top of the pan.
7. Position a rack in the lower third of an oven. Place a piece of aluminum foil on the rack to catch any drips during baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
8. Remove the plastic wrap from the pan, set the pan on the foil and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and continue baking until the top is golden brown and the center edge of the bread, next to the tube, springs back when touched, 25 to 35 minutes more.
9. Meanwhile, make the glaze: In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon and water. Heat, whisking, until the ingredients are dissolved. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and cover to keep warm.
10. Transfer the bread pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Turn the bread out onto a plate and let cool for 10 minutes. Using a spoon, drizzle the warm glaze over the top and sides of the bread. let the glaze set for about 10 minutes. Serve the bread warm.