Tasty Tuesday: Apple Recipes

Yesterday I hosted a Harvest Brunch for the girls in my Girl Scout troop. I always love putting together parties for them because they really seem to enjoy it and they’re always so grateful.

It was a no-school day for them, and since they can all drive now (ok, pause on that just a moment because I started as their leader when they were 8-years-old. WOW!), it was a great way to spend some time together but not interrupt their busy weekends.

Yesterday, I talked about the party craft we did, and today I’m highlighting the apple recipes I incorporated into the brunch! I was inspired to incorporate apples into the brunch after a pit stop at an apple orchard on last week’s mountain getaway.

I knew I wanted the recipe to be really simple, since my time in the morning would be limited, and I recalled an amazing dip that Chelsea’s aunt Kris had brought to Bernie’s birthday party. It was a caramel dip that featured apples as the dippers and I loved that because the apples could also just be enjoyed on their own, too.

I gathered my ingredients:

• Apples (for our group of 6 I used 4 apples – I would cut them as we started to run out, so that the apples wouldn’t brown as quickly)
• Two 8-oz. packages of cream cheese ( I always opt for the lower fat version, because I can’t taste a difference, especially when it’s part of a dip, so why not save a few calories!).
• Caramel (I love Mrs. Richardson’s because it’s so thick and creamy)
• Toffee Bits (our Grocery Store was out of the big bags of baking toffee bits, so I perused the boxed mixes and found a brownie recipe that included toffee bits. I bought that and the package size was perfect for two blocks of cream cheese. And later on, I’ll just make the brownies without toffee.)
• Triscuts (I decided to include some crackers along with the apples as another dipping option)

I let the cream cheese soften on the counter a bit, then unwrapped both blocks onto my tray. I drizzled the caramel over the top, then gave it a little help by spreading it out so it ran down the sides. Then, I sprinkled the toffee bits on top and the dip was ready. Next I sliced up the apples and displayed them along the sides of the dip on the same tray. It all came together in about 5 minutes. So so easy, and the girls loved it!

I also decided to put together an Apple Cider Bar for the brunch. I turned to Pinterest for some fun mix-in ideas and settled on red hots, cinnamon sticks, orange slices, caramels, and chai. I set everything out, and heated the apple cider on the stove. As the guests were ready for their cider, they helped themselves to a mug, cider, and mix-ins. It was a hit!

My favorite combination was an orange slice and a cinnamon stick – yum!

In addition to these two treats, I also had two quiches and some pumpkin bread. I didn’t get a picture of the pumpkin bread, but you can get a little peek of it in a couple of the pictures of the caramel apple dip above. It was a boxed mix from Trader Joe’s and it was delicious.

The quiches were a mushroom, spinach, and swiss quiche and a pepper, onion, bacon, cheddar quiche. I love each of these quiche recipes, and the girls seemed to enjoy them both! The great part about these was that Chelsea and I did the prep work last night, so the only thing I had to do this morning was put them in the oven. WIN!

If you’re interested in another apple drink recipe, check out my Apple Cider Mimosas here. And if you want to check out the Autumn trail mix we munched on before and after brunch, click here.

I’ll be sharing the party details and decor on Thursday, so I hope you’ll come on back.

Party on!
JW