Apple Butterscotch Blondies

Every year, my mother's job at Kateri Environmental Center has this Halloween night hike, where children and parents get to learn about Samhain [pronounces sow-win] and the origins on Halloween. Tradition states that the veil between the spirit world and our world is at its thinnest at this time and people wore masks to hide and confuse the spirits. This Halloween hike teaches students about that and the origins of the Jack O'Lantern through the tale of Irish Jack.

I volunteer at Kateri's events when I get the chance, which is difficult now that I have a full-time job. I think it got rained out on the Friday session last year and I didn't get a chance to participate. This year, I'm a trail guide and will be leading the children through all the different stations. Not only am I a volunteer, I usually bake for their events as well. This event is no different.

Being that is now my favorite season, I decided to go with something a little more autumn-ish. About two weeks ago, I was dog sitting for the people I normally dog sit for and I was lucky enough for them to have the October issue of Food Network magazine, which happens to have about a million recipes with apples. Good things last weekend a friend from work and I went apple picking and purchased 18 pounds of apples... I saw these and I fell in love. I hope everyone at the bake sale enjoys them. As per usual, recipe was doubled [but I'm putting the original recipe on here]!

Apple Butterscotch Blondies

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cups packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 apple, peeled and finely chopped

1/4 cup butterscotch chips

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a nine-inch square baking dish with foil, leaving a two-inch overhang on two sides. Lightly coat with cooking spray and set aside.

Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder in a small bowl. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and cook, swirling occasionally, until it starts browning slightly. Remove from heat and whisk in the brown sugar and vanilla until dissolved and let cool slightly. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth. Stir in the flour mixture, then the apple and butterscotch chips. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake until the edges set and top is slightly browned, around 25 minutes. Transfer to rack and let the blondies cool completely.

Vegan Brownies

Well, the vegan baking chef's hat is back on. It is my fearless leader's [as I call me editor at times] birthday today and I told her that I would bake for her birthday as I do for many people's birthdays. She has been a vegan for a while and I always feel badly because I don't typically bake vegan things and she can never eat anything I make.

So I ventured into the vegan baking once again and decided on brownies since I made cupcakes the last time. Like last time, I replaced the oil with applesauce because, let's be real... I'm not going to dump a cup of oil. Yuck. And applesauce is much healthier and works just as well. I am not a fan of vegan baked goods because I love butter and eggs. I baked Friday and made caramelitas, which everyone at work loved, which made me happy. I hope these are as good as my vegan cupcakes especially since I altered this recipe just a bit. I did not realize it said a cup of water so I added two cups of applesauce instead. Whoops.

Vegan Brownies

 

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 cups white sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Instructions:

Preheat the over to 350 degrees F.

 

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Pour in applesauce and vanilla and mix until well blended. Spread evenly in a 9x13 inch baking pan.

 

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven until the top is no longer shiny. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into the squares.

 

 





Happy Autumn

Well this happens to be my favorite time of the year. I love Autumn and it is one of the best times to bake. I have a few events and birthdays coming up so there will be a lot of new recipes popping up. I've been somewhat lax about baking in the past month or two.

My editor's birthday is this weekend so I will make more vegan stuff as is another coworker's birthday who is vegan. So expect some vegan recipes popping up. My cousin's baby shower is coming up and my aunt and her mother-in-law requested I make a few things. I also volunteer at my mother's job and bake stuff for the bake sale. My next new recipe will be butterscotch and apple blondies.

Until then, happy baking!

EDIT: Sorry to those who were reading this previously. I wrote it on my Kindle and for some reason it kept turning recipes into recipients... Thanks auto correct for making me look like I have no idea what I am talking about.

Also, baked caramelitas for the office last night. Huge hit! Success!