For as long as I can remember I have LOVED anything with apples – from desserts to pancakes to muffins, apples and cinnamon are a classic combination that I just adore.

My Mom used to make these muffins when we were growing up and they did not last more than a day (maybe two) in our house.

Just baking these muffins will give your house this lovely scent of home baked, cozy comfort which is especially lovely with the coolers days approaching.

These muffins are full of apples with a slightly caramel taste and the crumbled topping puts them to another level of deliciousness.  So here they are, Momma’s Apple Muffins!

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Equipment: muffin tin, muffin/cupcake liners, 1 large mixing bowl, 2 smaller bowls
Servings: makes a dozen large muffins

Ingredients:
Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
6 tbsp flour
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon

Muffin Batter:
1 ½ cups firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil (I actually used avocado oil and it worked great!)
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
2 cups peeled & diced apples (about 2 large apples, Gala or a firmer apple work well)

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven to 325F.

Mix all of the topping ingredients with a fork and set aside.  Peel and dice the apples, set aside.

Combine the brown sugar, vegetable oil and egg in a large bowl – whisk until combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, baking soda, salt and vanilla.

Measure out the flour in a small bowl and then alternate adding the flour and buttermilk mixture into the brown sugar bowl, stirring until just combined after each addition to create your batter.

Once all of the flour and buttermilk mixture has been added, fold the apples into the batter.

Spoon the batter into your muffin tin and sprinkle the top of each muffin with the topping.

Bake for 30 minutes or until done.

These muffins will last about 2-3 days in an airtight container (if they’re not all eaten by then!)

I even like them better the second day when the crumbled topping has softened a bit.

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

The post Momma’s Apple Muffins appeared first on Cooking in my Genes.

It’s a bit funny as a lot of my pancake memories link back to eating them for dinner instead of breakfast.

Growing up my Oma would make these delicious apple pancakes for dinner, yes, for dinner. As a kid this was one of my absolute favourite meals (for obvious reasons) – does it get better than pancakes topped with cinnamon and sugar?!

The actual German name for this dish which I can remember from growing up is “Apfelkrapfen” (‘up-full-grep-fen’) – this word actually translates directly to mean ‘apple fritter.’  However, in my Oma’s recipe we always cooked them in a frying pan on the stove-top.

The recipe is a simple crepe-style dough in which you dip whole apple slices, then cook them.

Such simple ingredients with such a delicious outcome – you can make these for breakfast, lunch/brunch or (my personal favourite) dinner.  Heck you could probably even serve them for dessert!

I have not eaten or made these in at least 10 years  so when I made them the taste and smell immediately transported me back to being a kid – I could picture myself and my brother in my Oma’s kitchen eating them up.

Prep time: 30 minutes
Equipment: Small & Large Mixing Bowls, Frying Pan (Optional: Apple Corer)
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

Crepe Dough:
4 eggs
1 ½ cups whole milk (3.25%)
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp sugar
pinch (1/8 tsp) salt
Extra: ½ cup whole milk (3.25%) in case you need to thin out your batter
Extra: butter for the frying pan when cooking

Apples:
6 large apples peeled & cored (Gala apples are my preferred apple but Granny Smith would work too)
**Helpful tip: If you don’t have an apple corer, you can simply use a small knife.  Use the knife to cut around the core from both ends and then press from one end to pop the core out.  Once you cut the apple slices you might have to trim a bit if there is any core left.

Cinnamon-Sugar Mix:
½ cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
**Helpful tip:  You can double, triple this sugary mix if you need to OR add more cinnamon or sugar to adjust the taste to your liking.

Instructions:

Mix the wet ingredients together (eggs and 1 ½ cups of milk) and set aside.

Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl, then whisk in the sugar and salt.

Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, whisking until you get a smooth batter.  If for some reason your batter is not as smooth as you like it and/or a bit thick, this is where the extra ½ cup of milk comes in.  Gradually add a few drops of milk and whisk again – repeat this until your batter smooths out then set aside.

Next up are the apples.  Peel and core the apples.

**Helpful tip: If you don’t have an apple corer, you can simply use a small knife.  Use the knife to cut around the core from both ends and then press from one end to pop the core out.  Once you cut the apple slices you might have to trim a bit if there is any core left.

Then, cut into approximately 1/2-inch slices – for me each apple gave me about 6 slices.

Then, mix the cinnamon and sugar together and set aside.

Now, time to cook! At this time give your batter another good stir.

Turn your frying pan to medium and add butter to melt and cover the bottom of the pan (approximately 1 tbsp).   As soon as the pan heats up and butter is melted (and before butter turns brown), using a fork or knife (chefs choice) grab an apple slice, dip into the batter letting excess drip off and then place in the pan.

I fit about 6 slices per batch in my frying pan.

Cook for 5 ½ minutes (batter will start to bubble on top and edges will start to brown).

Flip and cook another 4 ½-5 minutes until both sides are golden.

Take the batch out of the pan and serve immediately.  Then, start the process over again with butter in the pan and dip and drop the apples into the pan for the next batch.

Cook’s Note:  After a few batches I found I needed to give my pan a good clean with a paper towel as some of the leftover butter started to brown quite a bit.  Then you can start with a few more batches.

If you want to keep them warm in order to serve more than one batch at a time, turn your oven to 200F and you can keep the pancakes warm on a baking sheet until ready to eat.

Cook’s Note:  If you find one side of the pancake is getting darker than the other, just turn your dial down a bit to just under medium – you might have to adjust as you go depending on how hot your stove-top gets.

Lastly, serve up the pancakes and cinnamon-sugar mix for each person to customize their plate.

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

The post Apple Pancakes appeared first on Cooking in my Genes.

We would all gather at the table, the aroma of coffee in the air and enjoy coffee & cake every afternoon around 3PM.  I absolutely loved this tradition – I mean really, which kid wouldn’t love cake mid-day?!

While I liked the cake part of ‘coffee time,’ having everyone together at the table just being together was what I loved most and remember most.  It was a pretty neat tradition and one I still talk about to this day.

I had my mom send me some of my all-time favourite recipes of my Oma’s, specifically related to ‘coffee time’ and today I’m sharing with you Blueberry Streusel Cake.  When I baked this recently I opened the oven and this wave of sweetness plus baked blueberries hit me, it smelled EXACTLY like it did 20 years ago at the cottage; it was like being transported back in time.

Perhaps this cake will inspire you to start your own coffee & cake tradition.

Prep time: 1 hour for cottage cheese step + 1 hour to prep & bake
Equipment: 15″ x 10″ (approximately) Cookie Sheet, scale & stand mixer (if you choose to use)

Ingredients: (Recipe serves 12-16)

Dough:
200g cottage cheese (drip/drained for 1 hour prior to use in recipe)
6 tbsp milk
1 egg
8 tbsp vegetable oil (only use vegetable oil, do not use olive oil)
100g sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt
400g flour
4 tsp baking powder

Blueberry Streusel Topping:
4 small blueberry containers, washed and dried
Streusel:
65g melted butter
100g flour
65g sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon

Instructions:

**Special Step:  Measure out the cottage cheese.  Rest a sieve on a bowl, put the cottage cheese in and let it drip/drain for 1 hour.  Once most of the liquid is gone, empty liquid and press the cottage cheese through the sieve.  You will end up with a finer curd.

Mix cottage cheese with milk. Then, add the rest of the liquids (egg, vegetable oil, vanilla) and the sugar.

Measure the flour and baking powder into a separate bowl and whisk to combine.

Then mix in half of flour mixture into the liquid mixture. This will start to form a doughy texture.

Knead the rest of flour mixture into the dough you’ve already started to form. I would recommend incorporating the flour gradually, you can use a quarter or half cup to transfer the flour, then knead in until combined. Repeat until the flour is gone. (This part of the recipe is where you get an arm workout OR you can use the knead function if you own a stand mixer at home).

Use butter to grease a cookie sheet.  Then, roll dough to approximately the same size of the cookie sheet – transfer to cookie sheet.  **Helpful tip: I rolled my dough onto a piece of parchment paper approximately the size of the cookie sheet, then used it to help flip the dough onto the cookie sheet.

Layer blueberries onto dough.

To make the streusel topping, measure & then melt the butter.  Combine melted butter, flour, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl – stir until ingredients are combined and form into crumbles (otherwise known as streusels).

Use hands and crumble streusel onto blueberries.

Bake 20 – 30 min at 350. (Berries will start to burst and bottom of cake will be golden)

Once cooled, dust with icing sugar.

Cook’s Note:  This cake is good covered and stored on cookie sheet pan for 1-2 days.  To make it go a bit further, store in an airtight container.  Also, since the cake overall is on the less sweet side, you could definitely have a piece as breakfast – I may have done this a few times growing up.

While this cake is delicious fresh-baked, it’s even better the next day! Pour yourself a cup of coffee and enjoy.

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

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I was visiting my brother recently and he told me this story of the first time he made mac & cheese aka ‘Kraft Dinner’ from a box; it was one of his earliest memories of cooking something by himself when he was young.

Mike and I don’t see each other very often but when we do, we catch-up and share stories over many meals.  We have a love for food in common so we decided to make a more grown-up mac & cheese version with some of Mike’s favourite things – peas, pancetta and cauliflower. Oh yes, this was going to be one epic mac & cheese.

As Mike doesn’t do as much cooking as he’d like, it was nice to spend the time cooking this meal together.  We put on some good tunes, a mix of 90s rock/alternative, went to work in his kitchen and a new classic dish was born.

Ingredients: (Recipe serves 6-8)
1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1/2 tsp Chili powder
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
1/4 tsp each Kosher Salt & Pepper
Penne (700g)
¾ lb pancetta sliced thick (or 8 half-inch slices)
1 cup frozen peas (I like to use the ‘sweetlet’ peas, they have a nice bright flavour)
¾ cup panko bread crumbs

Sauce:
1 small yellow onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
4 tbsp butter
¼ cup flour
3 cups milk (warmed)
¼ cup spicy Dijon
250g or ½ lb of 3-5 year old Cheddar, grated
250g of ½ lb of Gruyere, grated
Hot sauce
Salt & Pepper

Instructions:
Pre-heat oven to 425F.  Chop cauliflower into florets.  In a bowl, add olive oil and season with chili powder, garlic powder, kosher salt and pepper.  Spread on a cookie sheet and roast, 15 minutes, remove and toss then roast another 15-20 minutes until golden & crisp.  Set aside.

Chop pancetta into half-inch cubes.

In a medium frying pan, heat to medium and add pancetta.  Cook, stirring a few times, allowing the pancetta to get nicely browned about 10-15 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, take out pancetta onto a plate with paper towel to drain the fat. Leave a little bit of the fat in the pan.  Add the onion and garlic to the pan, sautéing until the onion is translucent, about 8-10 minutes. Add the frozen peas into the pan and toss 3-4 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper.  Toss the pancetta back in, turn the pan off and set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook the Penne noodles 8-10 minutes or until al dente. Drain and set aside to cool.

Pre-heat the oven to 400F. Lightly butter a 9×13 rectangular baking dish (or other shallow casserole dish)

Grate both cheeses.  To make the sauce, heat the milk in a saucepan over low-medium heat.  While the milk is heating, in another medium pot add 4 tbsp of butter, melting over medium heat.  Once melted, add the flour to the butter, whisking until it forms a smooth paste.  Turn the heat to low, whisking occasionally and let bubble for about 2 minutes.  Make sure it doesn’t start to brown.   Next, whisk in the warmed milk, the spicy Dijon, a few dashes of your favourite hot sauce, pinches of salt and pepper.  Turn the heat back to medium and whisk consistently until sauce is thick, creamy and smooth – about 3-5 minutes..  Turn off the heat and whisk in the cheese until it is all melted.  Taste the sauce – season with more salt, pepper or hotsauce depending on your taste.

Next its time to assemble the dish – first, mix the noodles into the sauce.  Then, add the peas and pancetta mixture plus the roasted cauliflower into the pot with the noodles, gently folding into the noodle and sauce mixture.  And then pour everything into your baking dish.

Top with the panko breadcrumbs.  Cover the dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes, until top is brown and golden.

Now it’s time to enjoy!

I won’t lie, Mike and I both topped our mac & cheese with a bit more hotsauce – I highly recommend the ‘Chipotle Tabasco’ hot sauce.  The smoky chipotle flavour amps up the dish to the next level.

Plus, you can’t have a meal like this without a lovely glass of white wine (well, that’s how we roll anyway).  Pair with a nice tart Sauvignon Blanc or my personal favourite, a Sancerre Sauvignon Blanc.

Cook’s Note: If you have leftovers, it freezes very well. Portion into lunch or dinner servings then you can defrost in the fridge and warm-up in the oven in the future.  I usually warm-up in a covered dish on 400F for about 20-30 minutes.

Until the next cooking adventure,
Jess

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