White Chocolate Cran-Apple Bars

I have the biggest sweet tooth and would fully agree that sweets and desserts are an important part of any day. With Thanksgiving on the brain, I'm sharing a recipe for White Chocolate Cran-Apple Bars that will knock your socks off. I think cranberry is good in just about anything and it's phenomenal in these fall bars! 

• What You'll Need
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 sticks of butter
• 1 block cream cheese
• 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 TSP vanilla
• 1 can Ocean Spray whole cranberries
• 1 Granny Smith Apple
• 2 TSP sugar

• What You'll Do
• In a food processor, purée the can of whole cranberries. Then add the peeled and sliced apple. Purée again, until smooth. Next add the two teaspoons of sugar. Purée and set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, and brown sugar. Cut butter into chuncks and add to the flour mixture. Using your hands or a pastry blender, cut the butter into the mixture until it is crumbly. 
• Next stir in the white chocolate chips. 
• Measure out 2 1/2 cups of this flour mixture and set aside.
• Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of a greased 13 x 9 pan, pressing firmly with your fingers.
• In a separate bowl, whip (I used a hand mixer) together the cream cheese until creamy. Then add the condensed milk, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Mix again. Pour the mixture over the crust.
• Spoon the cran-apple purée over the condensed milk layer, and spread it out evenly. 
• Sprinkle the reserved flour mixture/crumble on top. 
• Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the center is set. 
• Serve hot or let cool completely and keep refrigerated until ready to serve. 

Vanilla, Chocolate, & Caramel Dipped Apples

These dipped apples were SO much fun to make! Plus, you can let your creative genius go to work as you pick the toppings and dipping sauces. I stayed more classic with my choices and really loved how they turned out. These are a great pop of color and would perfect for a sweet treat at a Halloween party or after dinner. 

This would also be a fun way to get your children involved in the kitchen, getting them to help you make these super tasty apple treats. Or host a cooking night at your house with your friends, setting a spread out on your counters and chatting while you put them together!

• What You'll Need
• Vanilla Bark
• Chocolate chips of your choice (milk chocolate, semi-sweet, or dark chocolate)
• Caramel sauce or caramel candies
• Chopped walnuts
• Slice almonds
• Sprinkles
• Old-fashioned oats

• What You'll Do
• Divide your dipping sauce choices into individual bowls. Melt them in them in the microwave, adding a splash of milk to the chocolate chips and a splash of water to caramel candies. (The vanilla bark will melt fine on it's own, but if you want you could add a splash of milk).
• I used an apple slicer to split my apples into these slices, and I also left the peel on, washing it well beforehand.
• Dip the apple slices into the dipping sauces then into the toppings of your choice. You can mix and match here with sauce flavors and toppings. The options are endless!
• Once you have decorated all of your apple slices, put them in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. Then enjoy!

Brownie & Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Halloween parties are so much fun to put together! Let's be honest, I LOVE putting any party together and will make one up just to throw it. I believe in party themes, and when you're working on a holiday party it's not hard to prep everything according to that holiday. With Halloween, I am looking for original and festive ideas. This is one of those.

Today I am sharing Brownie & Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, a take on a classic. These are the perfect little treats to spruce up the week or serve as a sweet treat for a Halloween party. They're quick and simple too!

• What You'll Need
• 1 box Duncan Hines extra fudge brownie mix
• 1 egg
• 3 TBSP water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 (3.4 oz) box pumpkin spice instant pudding 
• Milk

• What You'll Do
• Prepare the pumpkin spice pudding according to the box directions for PIE FILLING (it uses less milk, making thick). Put in the fridge for at least an hour.
• In a bowl, combine the brownie mix, egg, water, and vegetable oil. Mix well.
• On a greased baking sheet, dollop a tablespoon worth of brown mix out, helping to shape it into a disk.
• Bake at 350° for 12 to 15 minutes. You do not want over bake these.
• Let the brownies cool. 
• Put all of the pudding mixture into a baggie, cutting off the tip, then squeezing a helping of pudding on the flat side of the brownie. Top with another brownie, pressing slightly. 
• Store in the refrigerator. 

 For more Halloween recipes, click HERE.

Vanilla Dirt Cake

In honor of Halloween on Friday, I'm sharing Halloween-themed recipes all week long. And I'm throwing it back to childhood with this first one! Who doesn't love some dirt cake?! When I made this sweet treat to share with friends, I took a twist on a classic by turning the top of the dirt cake into a graveyard with the typical gummy worms, and some Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies. Using homemade icing I wrote RIP on each wafter to really complete the Halloween look. If you wanted you could add pumpkin candy instead of worms. 

My favorite way to fix this dessert is with vanilla pudding instead of chocolate. I'm a vanilla girl through and through. But, if you are a double chocolate lover, you can pair your Oreos with chocolate pudding. Swapping it out is simple. 

• What You'll Need
• 1 pack of original Oreos
• 2 (3.4 oz) packages of instant vanilla pudding
• 3 cups milk
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 (12 oz) Cool Whip

• What You'll Do
• In a bowl, whisk together the vanilla pudding and milk. Then add 1/4 of the container of cool whip.
• In a separate bowl, whip the powdered sugar, cream cheese, and butter together with a hand mixer. Mix until smooth. Add the remaining 3/4 of the container of cool whip.
• Using a food processor crumble the Oreos into pieces. You don't want crumbs, so make sure not to chop up too much. 
• In a bowl, trifle bowl, or individual cups begin adding the crushed Oreos to make a bottom layer.
• Next layer some pudding mixture, followed by a layer of cream cheese mixture, then more crumbled Oreos. Continue this layering until you get to the top of the bowl. Make sure Oreo is the last layer.
• Then decorate the 'dirt' with worms, pumpkins, and gravestones.

Pumpkin Spice Bread

You can't go wrong with pumpkin, and it's kind of shame that we don't use it year round. So I'll be whipping up as many pumpkin dishes as I can this fall and probably into winter. Today I'm sharing a from-scratch pumpkin spice bread. It's perfect with your morning coffee, as a sweet treat after lunch, and really to nibble on whenever. 

Also, head over to Hill Collection this morning for a really great Halloween DIY!!

• What You'll Need
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 TSP salt
• 2 TSP baking soda
• 2 TSP cinnamon
• 1/2 TSP nutmeg
• 1/4 TSP cloves
• 1/4 TSP allspice
• 15 oz can pumpkin puree
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• Butter for greasing the pan

• What You'll Do
• Preheat the oven to 350° and place rack in the center of the oven.
• Sift the flour and spices together in a bowl.
• In a larger mixing bowl, mix the pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs together. 
• Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, stirring until well combined. 
• Divide the batter in half between two greased loaf pans
• Bake about 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the bread's center comes out clean.
• Let the bread cool in the pans then turn them onto a rack to cool completely.  

To see more pumpkin recipes, click HERE.

Baked Cinnamon Apples

It's Friday!! While I'm a bit sad to see the apple recipes go, I'm super excited to see the weekend arrive! This week of apple-inspired dishes has been a lot of fun for me to experiment with. Husband and I have so much fun concocting recipes together. It's the best, being in the kitchen, candles lit, spices, sugars, and flours atop the counters, and aromas from our baking/cooking foods filling the entire house.

I'm looking forward to sharing our Feel Good Fall recipes next week! They're good ones too! For now, some simple baked cinnamon apples, which are a perfect pair to some toast for breakfast, as a side for lunch and/or dinner, or just a snacky treat. With minimal prep work, and simple ingredients this is an easy addition to any meal.

• What You'll Need
• 8 Golden Delicious or Granny Smith apples
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 TSP cinnamon
• Dash of all spice
• Dash of cloves

• What You'll Do
• Peel and slice the apples. 
• Pour water in a saucepan and add the apples, sugar, and spices.
• Cover the saucepan with a lid and cook for 30-40 minutes on low-to-medium heat (we put ours on '3').

**tip: if you want to make these for breakfast, you can do the prep work the night before. Go ahead and peel and slice the apples. Store them in an air-tight tupperware and before closing the lid, add several splashes of lemon juice to keep the apples from turning brown. Close the tupperware lid and shake so the lemon juice evenly coats the apples. The next morning you can throw them in the saucepan with the sugar and spices while you are getting ready for the day. 

Butter Cookies

This recipe comes from my cousin, Amanda, who introduced these amazing cookies to me over the holidays at Grandmom's a few years ago. When she first told me what was in them, I was pretty skeptical of how well they would actually turn out. After all, only 5 ingredients are used. 

But, oh my. These cookies, quite literally melt in your mouth. As a lover of soft and gooey cookies, these definitely take the win for softest cookies ever. And they're a crowd pleaser; so if you have an event to go to, guests coming over, or just need to stock your own cookie jar, this is the cookie for you. Husband and I love them! I have a feeling you will too!

• What You'll Need
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 package of cream cheese
• 1 box of golden butter cake mix
• 1 TSP vanilla
• 1 egg
• Powdered sugar

• What You'll Do
• Let the butter and cream cheese soften. If you're like me, you will put them in the microwave for a few seconds to help the process along.
• Mix all ingredients together, stirring well until everything is combined. Cover the mixing bowl with saran wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least two hours. Sometimes I will make the dough the night before and bake them the next day. 
• After they have been in the fridge for the required two hours, roll them into balls about the size of a tablespoon. Then roll them in powdered sugar. 
• Place in the oven at 350° for 10 minutes.
• Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with powdered sugar after pulling them out of the oven. 

Apple Crisp Crumble

Husband and I went apple picking last Saturday in Charlottesville at Carter Mountain Orchard. Although the day was foggy with slight overcast and some drizzle every now and then, it was just like fall. We loved it and have already talked about going back. You can see our adventures at the orchard tomorrow on Hill Collection!

From our trip we collected 51 apples and have decided that for the next week we will be making all kinds of apple desserts and maybe even apple butter this weekend. 

Last night we kicked off the apple baking escapades with a favorite of mine, apple crisp crumble. It is such a wonderful combination of textures: oats, apples, and flaky crust. This dessert is perfectly fall and I hope you enjoy it!

• What You'll Need
• For the Crust
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 TSP salt
• 1 TSP sugar
• 2 sticks of salted butter cut into small cubes
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups ice-cold water
• For the Crisp Crumble Topping
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 stick of chilled, salted butter cut into small cubes
• For the Apple Filling
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 TBSP all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 TSP apple pie spice
• 1/8 TSP salt
• 5 apples (if you want a thicker filling, then use more apples)

• What You'll Do
• For the Crust
• In a bowl combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the butter cubes to the mixture and with pastry blender or your hands, combine the butter and dry ingredients until it resembles coarse meal. A food processor can also be used. I chose to use my hands.
• Next add the ice water. More may be needed if the mixture is still crumbly. Add a little more at a time until the dough sticks together, without being too gummy/sticky. 
• Lastly, round and flatten the dough into a disk. Using a large piece of saran wrap, wrap the dough disk and put it in the fridge for at least an hour.
• After the hour has passed, spread all-purpose flour on the counter and roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness. Place it in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish and cut off the excess/over-hanging edges. Crimp the edges of the dough with your fingers, around all sides.
• For the Crisp Crumble Topping
• In a bowl combine the brown sugar, old-fashioned oats, and flour. Next, just as with the crust, course the cubed butter into the mixture until the entire mixture is crumbly. Set aside.
• For the Apple Filling
• Slice the apples, removing the peel. For me, I like thin apples in desserts, so I sliced them accordingly. Leave on the cutting board and combine the sugar, flour, apple pie spice, and salt in a bowl, stirring well. Then add in the apples, mixing until the apple slices are coated.
• Put the apples in the pie shell that has been placed in the 9 x 13 baking dish. Then add the crisp crumble topping, pressing it down some so that it will stick to the apples. 
• Place the dessert in an oven set at 375° for 40 - 45 minutes. 
• If not eating right away, let it cool completely then cover with a lid/tin foil and store in the fridge. To reheat the dessert, turn the oven to warm and place the apple crisp crumble in for about 30 minutes.