Apple Cider Donut Whoopie Pies with Apple Cider Whipped Cream Filling • (NO, I'M NOT MESSING AROUND)

Okay, yes, I'm obsessed with fall. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so is everyone else. But as a New Englander, it feels like autumn is in my blood and I live for those precious few months of cool, perfect weather, crunchy leaves under my boots and bright blue skies against orangey-yellow trees. 

But the best part of autumn? The smells, baby!

There is literally NO better scent than that of freshly frying apple cider donuts wafting right up into these nostrils as I walk into my local farm stand, with hanging mums and painted pumpkins as far as the eye can see. It’s like sensory overload; my nose is excited, my tummy is rumbling’ for donuts and I wanna buy every orange thing I see.

Sure, you can replicate the idea through, like, a Bath & Body Works candle or whatever (no shade - Yankee Candle Hot Apple Cider is life-changing), but making your own festive fall treat is so worth the time and effort. I wanted to try my hand at homemade apple cider donuts, but then I thought, “why stop there?” and decided to create this recipe for apple cider donut whoopie pies with apple cider whipped cream filling because I go for it. Won’t you come with me?

Ingredients:

• 6 T butter

• 2 C apple cider (reduced from 4 C)

• 2 T honey

• 1/2 C brown sugar

• 2 eggs

• 2 C flour

• 2 t baking powder

• 1/2 t cinnamon

• 1/4 t nutmeg

• 1/2 t salt

Topping
• 2 T melted butter
• 2 T apple cider
• cinnamon sugar {1/2 C sugar & 2 T cinnamon}

Apple Cider Whipped Cream
• 2 C whipping cream
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 4 T apple cider
• sugar to taste {optional} 

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
  

2. Reduce apple cider by bringing to a boil in a saucepan and simmering over medium heat until the cider is reduced by about half. (I started with about 4 cups and ended with about 2 cups. This step is optional, but it helps concentrate the apple flavor to make it stand out more in the finished product.)
  

3. In a small saucepan, melt butter, then stir in apple cider, brown sugar and honey. Set aside to cool. When cooled, stir in eggs.
  

4. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
  

5. Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients. The batter may be slightly thin, so you can add up to 1/2 C of flour more if needed.

  

6. Pour batter into a pastry bag or a large ziploc bag and cut off the corner tip. Pipe the batter into a greased whoopie pie pan or, if you don't have one, pipe the batter straight onto parchment paper in shallow circles about 2 inches apart.

  

7. Bake the cider donut whoopie pies for 6 minutes or until golden.

8. Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

9. To make the topping, combine the melted butter and apple cider, then either paint it on the tops of the whoopie pies or dip them into the mix. Next, roll the moistened whoopie pies into the cinnamon sugar to coat.

10. To make the whipped cream, add cold whipping cream to a large bowl, stir in apple cider, vanilla and sugar to taste (you can take a little taste to check the sweetness/flavor before whipping). Using a hand mixer, stand mixer or just a good old fashioned whisk, whip the cream until it thickens. You'll see it transform in stages - from liquid to goopy to soft billows to ultimately soft-yet-firm whipped cream.

11. When the whoopie pies have cooled, scoop apple cider whipped cream onto one pie and top with another, toppings sides out.

What's your favorite fall baked treat? 
What kinds of flavored whipped creams have you ever made or tried?

COOKING: Creamy Broccoli Soup Recipe

I own a calendar, so I'm aware that it's summer, and yet I'm still giving you a soup recipe. A hot soup recipe at that! No, I'm not crazy or stuck with a constant chill, I just love this soup and I want you to make it too. Plus, this recipe is simple, and cooks quickly with stuff you can grab for cheap and you don't have to turn on your oven. You could even pick up the ingredients at your farmer's market if you want this to feel more true to the season. Or not, whatever. Just make this soup!

WHAT YOU NEED

» 1.5 lbs Broccoli, chopped small «

» 5 Carrots, peeled & chopped «

» 1 Onion, chopped «

» 3 Tablespoons Flour «

» 4 Cups Broth of Your Choice «

» Splash of Half & Half «

» Dollop of Butter «

» Dash of Salt & Pepper «

HOW TO MAKE IT

Start by prepping all of your veggies. I change the amounts up depending on what I have on hand, so you can always use more broccoli and less carrots or the opposite, if that's more appealing to your budz. (cool new slang for taste buds, it started here!)

Toss the butter into a large pot on medium-high heat. Once it melts, drop in the broccoli, carrots and onion. Sprinkle with a generous amount of salt and fresh cracked pepper. You could also toss in some garlic. Go for it! Have you ever had a soup that doesn't taste better with garlic? I know you haven't because that is not possible. Stir it and cook until veggies soften, about 5 minutes.

Okay, when your veggies are gettin' soggy, sprinkle the flour over them and mix it in, cooking for about a minute. This just makes the soup a little thicker, so you can skip it if you aren't interested.

Add your broth and bring the whole thing to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer, covered or uncovered, for about 15 minutes, or longer if you have the time and want to let the flavors get to know each other (wink, wink).

When you are SO over all that simmering, turn off the heat and pour in a large splash of half & half. You could also use soy cream or milk substitute (just make sure it's unsweetened). Whatever works.

Stir it all together and that small amount of half & half will make the soup much richer and creamier. You don't have to add it, but it makes a difference. You know how creamy soups are delicious, but very heavy, and then you feel all full after? This doesn't do that.

You could also use an immersion blender to puree the soup, if your budz (don't let it die before it lives!) prefer smoother soups, but I like it all textured and rustic. I kinda feel like pureeing perfectly fine soups is only a thing so that people with too many kitchen gadgets can justify owning an immersion blender. *end political soup rant*

Hope I didn't alienate you there.

Are you down to eat hot soup in summer? What are your easiest homemade dinners? Any members of Team Immersion Blender out there?

Blueberry Vanilla "Frozen Yogurt" Recipe

Normally, I would never recommend that you make any recipe that has quotation marks in the title. That kind of mystery is not something I want in my food. Bear with me, though; I'm not calling this "frozen yogurt" because I'm playing an elaborate prank, wherein I entice you to consume something that appears to be frozen yogurt, but is actually, like, frozen sunscreen with food coloring in it. I'm calling it "frozen yogurt" because the end result is a nearly frozen texture that closely resembles soft serve frozen yogurt, and could very easily become even more frozen yogurt-like with a couple extra steps. So, the quotation marks are really just a shortcut to a catchier title. Although, maybe I should look into becoming a professional prank artist because that sunscreen thing is kind of genius.

Artfully arranged insect eggs. JK, it's blueberries! But if you didn't know that, it'd look creepy, right?

The only thing that really matters is that this dessert tastes gooooood. It's cold, it's fruity, it's creamy - it's the perfect warm weather snack, and from what I know, warm weather is coming on fast and snacks are always in demand. No reason not to get this under your belt early.

INGREDIENTS

3 Cups Frozen Blueberries

2 Cups Yogurt {I used vanilla, feel free to use plain/regular/Greek/whatever}

Splash of Vanilla Extract

Sugar {to taste, optional if you like it a little sweeter}

HOW TO MAKE IT

Okay, prepare for the most grueling kitchen session of your life! Just kidding - there is only one real step here: put the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend or process.

From geek to chic.

When you're done, you'll have a thick, mostly frozen dessert much like this:

You can eat this in a few different ways:

a) Just go to town with a spoon right away. Completely reasonable - no judgement.

b) Pop it into the freezer for a couple of hours to get a firmer and icier result.

c) Put the mixture into an ice cream maker to get a more traditional frozen yogurt texture.

The texture ended up kind of like that of a very thick milkshake, but when frozen turned more solid. I've also made this with frozen raspberries and got a much thicker result so play around. Frozen pineapple would be amazing! Use coconut yogurt! Sorry, I don't mean to tell you what to do, but I'm going to do that now. You probably don't want to miss out, though.

Do you have an ice cream maker? Were you suspicious of the quotation marks in this recipe's title? What's you favorite summer dessert, homemade or not?

COOKING: Pumpkin & Maple Oatmeal

You know when you're hungry in the morning, but also feeling lazy and you don't want to eat something that could also be categorized as a dessert, but you do want something kind of sweet? This pumpkin, almond and maple oatmeal nestles nicely in the center of that Venn diagram. So easy that this is barely a recipe, but also super warm and filling and with some redeeming nutritional qualities. What else can you really hope for before the sun comes up, anyway?

WHAT YOU NEED

Oatmeal  //  Pumpkin  //  Maple Syrup  //  Almonds

HOW TO MAKE IT

Cook your oatmeal in whatever way you want. Mine has instructions for boiling and whatnot, but when I'm in a rush (okay, I always do this) I just pour some steel cut oats in the bowl, add some water and microwave it for about a minute. I don't measure, I don't time - it's all very cavalier. You can just follow the instructions, though, if you can't handle this amount of rebellion.

Oatmeal doesn't photograph well.

Continuing on my renegade path, I drop an unmeasured amount of pumpkin on top of the oatmeal.

I guess canned pumpkin doesn't photograph well, either.

Swirl all that together.

Top with almonds and a drizzle of maple syrup and eat up, breakfast fans!

I love this because it's delicious, which is most important, but I also don't have to put much thought or effort into my meal and still get to eat something that seems vaguely gourmet. Plus, in the 66 seconds of microwave time (I can't be bothered to press two different number buttons), I blend a green smoothie and everything is mouth-ready in, like, three minutes. Seriously.

Unrelated: I bought this Halloween placemat at Target and have since become obsessed with him. I mean it. His name is Ghosty and I can't promise I'll be putting him away after the 31st. So dapper!

What are your favorite pumpkin recipes? What are you eating for breakfast these days? Do you disregard the conventional method instructions too?

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Homemade Raspberry Italian Sodas

It's like clockwork - every year when it gets sunny and warm, I decide to devote my spring and summer to making refreshing homemade treats like popsicles, ice cream, sorbet and slush with fresh fruits and herbs. I decide on ingredient combos, I make lists, the whole nine, but then it's suddenly the end of summer and I'm lamenting all of the fresh raspberries and mint that I didn't buy at the farmer's market and therefore didn't go into my popsicle molds. Bummer.

This year, I'm dipping my toes (SEASONAL PUN!) by trying out some fun drink recipes. I made these homemade Italian sodas a while back and figured you guys might want to try them too since they're very easy to make (this is more of a "recipe" than a recipe) and very, very good. Check it out!

WHAT YOU NEED

Club Soda

Flavored Syrup

Cream or Half & Half

Ice Cubes

Whipped Cream & Cherries [optional]

HOW TO MAKE IT

Normally, I'd include measurements for the ingredients in a recipe, but this drink wasn't really an exact science - it was more of a spontaneous concoction. I'll give you approximate measurements, but if you make it yourself, play with the ratios to make it sweeter or less sweet, depending on your tastes.

Start with plenty of ice and about 1/2 cup club soda per drink.

Add 3 TBS flavored syrup to each drink. It should mix quickly to color your club soda. I could only find sugar free raspberry Torani syrup at the time, and unless you like diet-tasting things I wouldn't really recommend it. I've since found regular raspberry Torani (at Stop & Shop for you New Englanders), but I also had luck making this with plain ol' grenadine.

Top each drink off with 1 TBS cream or half & half. Don't mix it in - let it sink down into the red and make colorful drippy designs.

This is optional, but you should probably top these babies off with whipped cream and a cherry because there's really no good reason not to, right?

As you drink it, the half & half will mix with the soda and syrup to make a creamy pink liquid that tastes delicious even though your brain will be all like "ummm, why is there cream in my soda?" but then you'll remember that root beer floats are amazing and all will be right by the second sip when your brain is silenced by the constant slurping of your straw.

Have you ever had Italian Soda? Are you a little creeped out by putting cream in a perfectly good soda? Forget that - why aren't you already drinking this?!

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COOKING: Cranberry Rosemary Mustard

Not to toot my own horn (which is the polite thing to say before doing so), but I happen to be quite a condiment connoisseur. I know - brag, brag, brag. I've just always been much more interested in what is ON my food rather than the food itself. I have literally placed a food order by requesting "a lot of sweet and sour sauce - like, more than you think a human could eat" on the side, which, incidentally, resulted in TWO measly containers of my beloved nectar, but that is not the point. The point is that I love a good accent flavor, even elderly-style flavors like piccalilli and other pepper relishes. I have an opinion on pepper relishes! See? Told you I was a condiment connoisseur!

Despite my passion, I've made very few DIY condiments, so I wanted to do so before I rightfully claim my place on top of the sauce throne. There is a sauce throne, right? Don't tell me I've been training for nothing!

WHAT YOU NEED

4 TBS Mustard Seeds

3 TBS Dried Cranberries

1 TBS Fresh Rosemary

Large Splash of Apple Cider Vinegar

HOW TO MAKE IT

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Add just enough apple cider vinegar to cover the dry ingredients by about a 1/4 inch.

Cover the bowl and put that bad boy in the refrigerator for a few days. 

Use the downtime to go on with your non-mustard-related business.

On day 2, a lot of the liquid had been absorbed by the mustard seeds.

I would say 3-5 days of soaking is good. This is what it looked like on day 5:

After you've soaked 'til you can't soak no more, dump the whole thing in a food processor and blend for several minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape the sides of the bowl or just take a break from panicking that your neighbors are angry with you for making such a loud noise.

The noise of my food processor scared the hell out of this adorable squirrel who was on a branch near my window. He was frozen in fear until he started chewing on the tree instead. He later found a small stick and ran away gleefully with it in his mouth. I took this as a 'halfway there, champ'-style pep talk.

When it seems done blending (meaning there are few or no whole mustard seeds left), you're done!

I popped mine in a mason jar and it filled it about halfway. My ingredients are based on the small jar of mustard seeds available in most grocery stores, but you could scale up {4 Parts Mustard Seed, 3 Parts Cranberries, 1 Part Rosemary} to meet your needs.

This mustard has a bit of a kick to it, which I enjoy (again, connoisseur) but might be a lot for some people. It tastes great on sandwiches and pretzels, of both the snack size and soft variety.

Would you ever make your own condiments? Are you more of a plain yellow mustard type? Will you share your best ketchup, BBQ or hot sauce recipes with me?

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