Salted Caramel Apple Pie

So we went apple picking… I have a bushel of apples in my house and I need to start using them pronto. Lucky for me my good friend Nicole sent me this apple pie recommendation last week which got me thinking. Never being able to leave good enough alone I decided to take the bourbon pie a step further turning the sauce into a salted caramel deliciousness that blew my mind. For those of you who are in that salted caramel love affair right now you MUST try this pie. I seriously cannot even explain how good it is.

Spiced bourbon to salted caramel comes easy here. Remove the cinnamon, add some salt and allow the sauce to caramelize around the edges of the new crispy crumble pie topping. The milk and corn starch really are the key ingredients to the filling, ensuring the pie has a thick and almost creamy texture that is to die for.

This recipe is an alteration from the original found on A Beautiful Mess

1 pie crust (I used premade but feel free to MYO if you have the time)

Filling:

4-5 tart apples (PINK LADY!!)

½ C milk

1 tbs corn starch

2 tbs bourbon

2/3 C dark brown sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

Zest from one lemon

1 tsp salt

Topping:

¼ C cold butter

½ C sugar

½ C flour

Thinly slice the apples and set aside. In a small bowl, mix all the other filling ingredients together and then pour over the apples tossing them until they are evenly coated. Pour mixture into the pie crust and then mix the topping together. To do this you combine the ingredients in a bowl and mush them together with your hands until it resembles clumpy dirt. Sprinkle over the apples trying to evenly cover them and then bake the pie at 350 for 45 minutes.

Meyer Lemon and Berry Bread Pudding

Meyer Lemon and Blueberry Bread Pudding

Over the weekend we checked out Old Town Ellicot City, MD with friends to celebrate our dear friend Joe’s birthday. I had only been there a couple of times before, and I always forget just how charming it is. The narrow streets are lined with cute boutique type store fronts, antique shops and restaurants to boot. I really do need to get up there sometime when its warm so I can properly explore, but I digress. The best part of the evening, besides the conversation, was my delicious dessert. A blackberry and lemon bread pudding served warm with a scoop of vanilla icecream just hit the spot. Since I couldnt stop thinking about it, I decided to give it a try myself. While the version I ended up was not quite as dense as the original (probably due to my brioche bread choice) it was just as delicious. I had never made bread pudding before but it was so easy that I now feel like I will have to mix this one into my bag of tricks for the next time I have a crusty loaf of day old bread around. After all, I'm all about reduce, reuse, recycle... even when it comes to my food.

This recipe is based loosely on both the dish I had the other evening and an Emeril bread pudding recipe from Food and Wine Magazine.


1 loaf of good bakery bread (I used brioche and would probably use something with more substance next time)
4 eggs
1 C sugar
1 C sour cream (I had it in the house and had no heavy cream. I gave it a try)
Zest of 1 lemon (I used a meyer lemon)
Juice of ½ lemon (I used a meyer lemon)
2 ½ C whole milk
2 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp cinnamon
3 tbs butter, melted
1 pint blueberries
1 C frozen raspberries

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan with butter. In a large bowl beat eggs. Mix sugar and sour cream. Add lemon zest, juice, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Beat until evenly combined. Stir in melted butter.

Cut bread into ½ inch pieces. Add bread to the egg mixture, mix until all the pieces are covered and let it stand for 20 minutes. Stir in berries and pour into the pan.

Bake at 350 for 45-60 min, until the top is golden brown. Remove from oven and let it rest for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Kitchen Sink Cookies

I LOVE oatmeal cookies… actually I love cookies but oatmeal ones are definitely up there on my list. I am going to blame this cookie addiction on my husband and son. The Mr. has always been a big fan of the sweet stuff and ever since the pregnancy I have not been able to get enough baked goods in my stomach. So here I am, not much of a baker, but working on increasing the recipes in my box.

Kitchen Sink Cookies

These chewy oatmeal based cookies are just sweet enough to give my sweet tooth its fix without making me feel guilty. After all they contain oatmeal, cherries, walnuts, coconut and maybe a little dark chocolate. I personally think of all of these ingredients as health food and think so should you.


1 C Butter, soften
1 C packed brown sugar (I used dark)
½ C white sugar
2 eggs
1 C flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 C quick cook oats
½ C shaved coconut (no sugar added- I got it at WF)
1 C walnuts
1 C dried cherries
1 C dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven at 325. Cream butter and sugar together with a mixer and add eggs one at a time. In another bowl mix flour, baking soda and salt together and then add to the butter mixture. Next mix in quick oats, coconut, walnuts, cherries and chocolate chips one at a time. Drop tablespoons of the mixture on a baking sheet. Bake for 12 min and let them cool on a rack.