Apples, Apples and More Apples

A couple weeks ago my favorite grocery store had all types of apples on sale for real cheap.  With the crisp morning air bringing in the feeling of fall, I went crazy and bought LOTS of apples.  We have been happily eating them but I have noticed that a few of them are starting to get soft so I decided to do some baking!

I had purchased a mini muffin tin to make mini tarts about 6 years ago... and I have never used it.  So I decided to try it.  Here is the recipe I used for Caramel Apple and Peanut Tartlettes.  They were so yummy we ended up eating them without a pic :(

Caramel Apple and Peanut Tartlettes

For the crust I used a no-roll pie crust.  If you have one that is your favorite, go ahead and use it.  This is one that my mom uses and is so simple.

1 1/2 cups Flour

1 tsp Granulated sugar

Scant 1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 cup Canola Oil

3 Tbs Milk

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl with a fork.  When done, place a small ball of dough in the mini muffin tin and press it up the sides.  I have a mini tart shaper from Pampered Chef that makes this a breeze (another tool that I bought with the mini muffin tin 6 years ago that was gathering dust in the cupboard).  I got 40 mini tart shells with this recipe of crust.

For the filling:

2 Apples, diced

1/4 cup Salted Peanuts, chopped

1 cup Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Butter, melted

1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg

Mix the apples and peanuts in a medium bowl.  Mix the sugar, butter, and spices together in another bowl then pour over the apple mixture.  Mix together then spoon into the mini tart crusts.  The apples will shrink with baking so make sure the crusts are heaping with filling.  Also, the butter and sugar mixture will bubble and make caramel in the oven so get a generous amount of that in each crust.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes.  Let cool in the pan until the crusts are stable.  Then remove and garnish with whipped cream!  So yummy!!!

Since that recipe only used 2 of my withering apples, I decided to make some hot, spiced apple cider for breakfast this morning.  I have an electric juicer so I juiced 6 of the apples.  Then I placed the juice in a small saucepan with a half stick of cinnamon and 6 cloves.  I boiled it for about 10 minutes till the smell of goodness couldn't hold me back anymore :)  If you like the pulp of fresh squeezed juice, you can just drink it up from here, if you have little kids or don't want it pulpy, go ahead an strain it.  It made 2 servings for us to enjoy with our breakfast!

Enjoy all the apples at your house this fall.  I think that may be one of the best parts of the weather turning cold, crisp yummy APPLES!