Sugar Cookie Apple Pie Cups

Last year a career coach came to work and was trying to teach us to be better managers. He was pretty cool--normally that kind of stuff is horribly boring for me, but he was engaging and had an interesting story. Then the next day, we each had a one-on-one with him. I don't know what exactly pushed me over the edge, but in five minutes this stranger had me crying my eyes out and spilling my heart. (To be clear: I don't like sharing feelings with strangers, and I REALLY don't like crying in front of them.) We did some exercises designed to help me figure out my main motivations in life (ideally helping me figure out my perfect career), and one thing came up in every single scenario: I live to nurture.

It's at the heart of nearly everything I do. I cook and bake to take care of those around me (I rarely do it just for myself.) I plan and execute important events in people's lives. I try to stay close with my family and friends, and to be a good listener when they need one. In fact, nearly every thing that makes me happy is, at heart, an act of nurturing. Even these simple, half-homemade treats. I make them to make someone else happy, which in turn makes me happy. I'm genuinely lucky that the things that bring me joy are so attainable (even if I forget that once in a while.)

This one's for my sister. When I was coming up with the apple blackberry hand pies, sister voted for the sugar cookie-crusted apple pie. So incredibly easy, y'all.

Full disclaimer: the day I decided to bake these, I was incredibly distracted. But I put everything together, took the pictures, popped them in the oven, let them start baking...and realized I didn't line the muffin tins. Learn from my mistake--line the muffin tins. Or ignore this advice, "accidentally" make them impossible to share, and cuddle up with the whole pan and a spoon. Either way, they taste great!

Sugar Cookie Apple Pie Cups

Makes 16-20

1 batch sugar cookie dough

3 medium apples

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 c sugar

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Prepare your sugar cookie dough as you normally do (or cheat if you want to hurry things along, and use store bought dough.) Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin pan. Spray the top of the muffin pan (the cookies will spread over the top.)

Core, peel, and dice apples. Stir together apples, cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg until evenly coated.

In each muffin tin, put a ping pong ball-sized drop of dough. Use your hands to press the dough into the bottom, and up all the sides, making sure there are no cracks, leaving a 1/4 inch gap at the top. Spoon the apple mixture into each tin. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges of cookie cups are golden brown.

xo
l

Breakfast +Bar Snacks

Mid November through New Years is, hands-down, the busiest time of year at work. 14 hour days, 7 day weeks, it's really just a matter of fighting to get through it. So needless to say, my first year, I assumed everyone blew off any kind of office Christmas celebration.

Wrong.

Suddenly the few days before Christmas, I was getting showered with gifts from coworkers for whom I had done nothing. When did they have time for all of this?!? When did they shop, and bake, and wrap? I barely had time to change clothes each day. I was pretty embarrassed when I had nothing for most of them, and frantically scrambled to find a quick gift for the people I absolutely needed to.

I didn't make that mistake this year. I found a half day off and whipped together this ridiculously easy, impressive, delicious treat, stuffed them into 24 mini mason jars, and handed them out like Santa. Everyone loved them (most were eaten the same day), and for once I felt like I beat everyone else to the chase!

Maple-Bacon Roasted Almonds

The ADDs of Baking

I can get pretty distracted when I'm getting ready to bake. This is how these hand pies were developed:

I'm gonna bake! What should I bake? Something with apples, it's fall. But it's 90 degrees so straight up apple is weird. Maybe berries? What kind of berries? I wish strawberries were in season I want strawberry shortcake. Blackberries? Blackberry apple pie. With lattice crust! No, with crumb topping! Wait, what if I made individual cupcake-sized pies? with crumb topping? No, with little hearts on top! Wait, what if I made hand pies? Wait, what if I made a "pie" with sugar cookie dough? Oh man. Do I have time to do all 5 of these? No...ok, call Katie.

And so the hand pies were decided upon. Sometimes I need reigning in. (I'm totally going to do that sugar cookie dough thing soon, though, so keep your eyes peeled.) 

These pies were awesome. They hit the spot, ushering in fall with some fresh honeycrisp apples, with a nod to our warm weather streak in the blackberries and lemon juice. They were also very cute, so that's a plus. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Apple Blackberry Hand Pies

makes 4

1 batch pie crust

2 honeycrisp apples

2 pints blackberries

juice of 1 lemon

2/3 c sugar

1 egg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel, core, and chop apples. Combine apples and blackberries in a medium mixing bowl; if the berries are large, cut them in half. Stir in lemon juice and sugar; set aside. Beat the egg and set aside.

Divide pie crust into four equal portions. Roll out each portion into a large rectangle, until dough is about 1/4 inch thick. Spoon filling onto one half of the dough; wet edges of the dough and fold remaining half over, pressing to seal. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Repeat for other 3 pies. 

Bake pies on a baking sheet for 30-40 minutes or until crusts are golden brown. Let cool slightly before eating. 

xo

l

Caramel Cake!

WOW. I'm the worst. Sorry it's been so long. Work picked up, and for a few weeks there, I forgot how to balance work and play. But I'm back, and hopefully I'll do better! My sincerest apologies go out to the two people who actually check this blog and called me out on not posting. I love you both.

So I mark my lackluster triumphant return with this killer Butter Caramel Cake. It's sinful. It's decadent. It's probably not healthy to eat more than one piece per year. But man, is it worth every bite. It should be a special occasion cake, a cake reserved for celebration--but the day I made it, I had no good reason. It's a labor of love, and there are few things I love more than baking. So why not just celebrate that in itself?

Fine, I give up. We all know I just really wanted a piece. Or three. Make it whenever you feel like it; waiting for a special occasion just guarantees today won't be special.

Blubarb Pie

I love pie. I love, love, love pie. I have multiple cookbooks dedicated to pies. I love them all: sweet, savory, chocolatey, nutty...but my favorite are fruit pies. YES. That's the ticket.

When brother and I were growing up, we didn't have birthday cakes, we had birthday pies. His was chocolate and amazing, and mine was strawberry and even more amazing (in my opinion. Ben, you're welcome to disagree. But you'll be wrong.) My mom shared these birthday pie recipes with me, but I had to make this one first.

We grew up with rhubarb plants in our backyard, and it. was. the. best. We had rhubarb everything: cake, jam, ice cream, ice cream sauce (which I ate by the spoonful), and so many pies! I can hardly ever find rhubarb in the stores down here, so when I do, I go a little nuts. 3 pounds later and no plans, I decided I needed to make a pie. But strawberry rhubarb is overdone (and I had no strawberries), so blueberry rhubarb it is!

the great thing about pie is it's hard to mess up. If you can make or buy a decent pastry crust, you're in good shape. This guy is super easy, with fresh rhubarb and blueberries, sugar, and vanilla. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Butterbeer Cupcakes: A Nerd Love Story

My sister just left after a great weekend visit full of...mostly nothing. We ran errands, went swimming, ate a lot, and baked these Butterbeer cupcakes. 

Little sister and I are both huge Harry Potter fans, and will do, eat, read, and watch anything that has to do with our favorite story. Two years ago we spent three days at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Orlando, and they were arguably some of the best days I can remember (we even got selected for the wand demonstration. My life is complete.) While we were there we drank more than our fair share of Butterbeer and Pumpkin Fizz. So when I saw this recipe on AmyBites, I knew we had to give them a try. And I'm glad we did. They're as close to butterbeer as you can get outside Hogwarts, with a delicious butterscotch filling as a surprise. They're worth the time and effort, as evidenced by my sister's happy, rapid inhalation. Enjoy!

You Made What? Bánh Đùi Gà

Time for another round of "You Made What?", wherein I try to recreate foods that my brother is eating in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. After seeing a picture of this one, I knew it had to be done. Bánh Đùi Gà, or Chicken Thigh Cake, looks incredible. But perhaps more importantly, I took one look at it and knew it could be translated into a super easy, quick, tasty weeknight meal. I took some creative liberties with this one, especially since there was no recipe to be found. But the result looks pretty similar, is pretty tasty, and took about 30 minutes from start to finish.  Off we go!

Bánh Đùi Gà (Chicken Thigh Cakes)

• 1 package puff pastry; I recommend Dufour
• 1/2 rotisserie chicken
• 1/3 c hoisin sauce
• 1 heaping Tbsp chili paste (to taste)
• 4 Tbsp sweet chili sauce
• cilantro

Defrost puff pastry according to the package's instructions. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Shred the meat of the rotisserie chicken and place in a medium bowl. Add hoisin and chili paste, and stir until combined.

Divide your puff pastry into large rectangles; if you're using Dufour, I divided one pack into four rectangles. These are huge. Spoon the chicken mixture onto each of the four rectangles. Fold up the back half of the puff pastry, then fold the sides over one another (like a burrito that's open on one end.) Spread on a greased baking sheet. Bake until pastry is golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.

Spread chili sauce over each warm cake so that it melts slightly, and garnish with cilantro. Enjoy!