Fall Apple Cobbler

Happy Monday!

Today I went in for my second interview, and I decided to wear my skirt/jacket combo to mix things up. Things went well I think. It's hard to tell, but I'm hoping good things will come of it. I promise you'll know once I do.

This weekend was the season finale of True Blood! We went to Mari and Holly's to watch the episode, and we brought along a warm apple cobbler for dessert. The dinner theme was Cajun (since True Blood is set in Louisiana), and apple cobbler doesn't really go with that, but apples are in season and it sounded good. I'm happy to report that there were no complaints.

 Jack dressed up for the party.

I was pretty impressed with the cobbler, so I decided to share the recipe with you. For this particular recipe, I used fructose instead of sugar to meet some special dietary needs of a friend at the party--it just so happened to be her birthday so we wanted to make a dessert she could eat. 

Fructose, for those of you who don't know (AKA me until this weekend), is basically fruit sugar found in plants. It's the most natural sugar there is, and it's a little sweeter than regular beet sugar (which is what we typically bake with). For that reason, if you're using fructose instead of beet sugar, you should only use 2/3 the amount of fructose you would white sugar. You can find fructose at most natural health food stores, and it looks more powdery and fine than white sugar. Also, sorry I forgot to take a picture of all the ingredients before I started. Here's what you do:

First, peel 7-8 apples. I like to make the peeling process into a game by trying to get all the peel off in one curly swoop.

Yes, I am double jointed in my thumb. It's pretty awesome.

Here are the apples and their pile o' peels. When baking with apples, you always want to use a tart, firm apple (for example Granny Smith) because they hold up better during the baking process and won't make your dish overly sweet.

Next, core the apples and cut them into quarter inch slices. Put them in a big bowl.

The apples will start to turn if left too long, so halfway through cutting them up, squeeze half a lemon over them. Then when you're done cutting them up, squeeze the other half over the rest.

Sprinkle the sugar (or fructose) and cinnamon over the apples and set them aside so they soak up the flavor and get all juicy.

Next, mix up the topping. Add flour, sugar (or fructose), baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to a large bowl. 

Then add the eggs.

Beat on low until the mixture is coarse and crumbly.

Once the topping is mixed, put the apples into a 9x13 baking pan. 

 Then sprinkle the topping over the apples. There is a lot of topping (which I'm a fan of--I think the crust is the best part) so it should cover all the apples well.

Next, pour 2/3 of a cup of melted butter over the whole cobbler, and sprinkle it with some additional sugar (or fructose) and cinnamon taste.

Bake the cobbler on 350F for 45-55 minutes until lightly browned.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. 

Apple Cobbler

For the apples:

7-8 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick

3/4 cup sugar (or 1/2 cup fructose)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon 

For the topping:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar (or 1 1/3 cup fructose)

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup butter, melted 

Directions:

Cut up the apples and place them in a large bowl. Squeeze a lemon over them to keep the apples from turning. Then sprinkle the 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon over them and mix well. Set aside.

For the topping, mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the eggs and beat on low until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Place the apples in a 9x13 baking dish and sprinkle liberally with the topping. Pour the melted butter over the cobbler and sprinkle it with additional sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 350F for 45-55 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Makes 12 servings.

Adapted from Land O'Lakes Apple Cobbler recipe.

I hope you all had a great weekend! 

-T, K, J, & C