NOVEMBER DESSERTS & A FALL PLAYLIST

It's falltime, everyone :)

Last week my mom texted me that it's snowing for the first time in my hometown (in Illinois), and I felt pretty sad to be missing it. Sure, months of bitter cold can get unpleasant, but the first snow is just magical.

Meanwhile in Cali I eased my snow-sickness with a falltime stroll through beautifully changing trees. People complain that there aren't seasons here, but it's not true. The leaves on the trees change colors later in the year, and stay colorful longer, so there are practically months of watching red/orange/yellow/purple leaves float to the ground and then crunching through them. Yes, we're lacking the crispness in the air, but I'm mostly over that now :)

Okay onto food. I'm not the biggest pumpkin fan, but I got an urge to eat something really fall-ish (hence these pumpkin-maple-cinnamon cupcakes), which inspired me to share some of my favorite November desserts. All of these are great inspiration for Thanksgiving, of course, whether you're hosting a crowd, staying curled up at home, or have been tasked with bringing dessert to a gathering.

CHOCOLATE BOURBON PECAN PIE

APPLE MUFFINS WITH CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE CENTERS

PUMPKIN DREAM CUPCAKES (WITH CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING)

 HOMEMADE CARAMEL SAUCE

If you're really in a pickle and need a last-minute treat, or if you want to give a homemade gift but don't have a lot of time, I recommend Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread Mix. It's $2.99, and it's yummy.

You should also check out my Caramel Apple Martini, which deserves to be enjoyed all the way through fall!

Last but not least, I'm sharing a fall playlist. I listen to a ton of music but don't usually make playlists for seasons like this. I've really enjoyed this one for getting me into a fall spirit, though. Hope you enjoy it, too!

If you have Spotify, here's a link to open the playlist in Spotify (it's called "falltime").

If you don't have Spotify, you can enjoy it here!

BACON-APPLE BLUE CHEESE BURGER

Welcome back, dear reader, for number THREE in the 4-part burger test kitchen series. Number three, the burger I so lovingly dubbed "The American," features a beef/Italian sausage burger stuffed with apple slices and blue cheese, then topped with bacon, more apple slices, and a honey-mustard-mayo.



If you missed the first two burgers, you can check them out here!
The Greek: Spinach-Feta Lamb Burgers with Garlic-Dill Yogurt Sauce
The Moroccan: Moroccan-Style Burgers with Spiced Ketchup

As I've mentioned in other posts, I had two taste-testers helping me rank and evaluate the burgers, and this burger was a unanimous favorite. I put it in first place all by itself, while the other two had it sharing first place with two other burgers. I also enjoyed using apple slices in place of buns for this little guy... leaves room for more tasting :)



Please enjoy: the American!

Bacon-Apple Blue Cheese Burger with Sweet & Tangy Mayo

Makes 8 sliders (or 4 regular-sized burgers).

1/2 pound mild Italian sausage
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 large apple, very thinly sliced
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
8 slices cooked bacon
1 recipe sweet and tangy mayo (below)
hamburger buns for serving

Chop half of the apple slices into small pieces. Stir together small apple pieces with blue cheese crumbles.

In a large bowl, mix sausage and beef with hands until well combined. Add black pepper and Worcestershire sauce and mix well. Divide the meat mixture into 8 equal parts. Then divide each part in two, forming 16 small patties. Top 8 of the patties with blue cheese and 1 or two apple slices, then top with remaining patties. Gently seal edges of burgers.

To serve: On bottom bun, place a few apple slices, then patties. Top each with a bacon slice. Spread mayo on top buns and top the burgers with them.

Sweet and Tangy Mayo

2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
honey, to taste (I think I probably used about 1 tablespoon)

Stir all ingredients together to combine.

APPLE MUFFINS WITH CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE CENTERS

Hello, dear Reader! Happy fall! I'm back with another ode to fall, and with three words that make me feel warm just thinking about them: cinnamon, sugar, apple. Mmm :) I snatched this recipe from the fabulous Lizzy at YourCupofCake to make these muffins for some last minute gifts. While in the oven, they filled my entire apartment with the most cozy and delicious fall scent.

The day I was planning to bake them, my father-in-law sent us a picture of his house in Illinois - in the humble hometown that both my husband and myself call home. The leaves were turning yellow and orange, and the grass was turning crisp, and he wrote that it had been 30 degrees that morning. That's the beginning of fall in the Midwest. We call it sweater weather. It's tights and boots. It's crunching under your feet. You can see your breath in the morning, but the sun feels warm in the afternoon. It makes "cinnamon-sugar-apple" even more warm and cozy than it already is.

Well this is our very first fall outside of the Midwest, and California hasn't really given us the sweater weather we've been waiting for. However, on the morning I'd planned to make these muffins, it was chilly. Chilly, gray, and a little bit windy. Nate suggested we leave the windows open and bundle up... what a great idea! So for a couple hours we managed to enjoy sweater weather in our apartment, and all the while these delicious little muffins baked their perfect scent right into our fall morning.

It is a happy fall, indeed. :)

Apple Muffins with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Centers
(adapted slightly from YourCupofCake)

INGREDIENTS: 

Muffins: ½ cup brown sugar ½ cup white sugar ¼ cup oil 1 cup applesauce 2 eggs 1 ¼ teaspoon vanilla 2 cups flour 1 teaspoon cinnamon ¾ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt ¼ cup buttermilk 2 cups peeled chopped apples

Topping: ½ cup brown sugar 1 T flour 2 T melted butter Filling: 8 oz cream cheese, softened 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon 1/3 cup powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Mix together filling ingredients until smooth. Refrigerate.
For muffins:
Beat sugars, oil, and applesauce. Add eggs and vanilla.
Mix together dry ingredients, and add gradually to wet ingredients.
Stir in buttermilk and chopped apples.
Remove filling from fridge.
Fill muffin tins 1/4 full with batter. Spoon cream cheese mixture over. Cover cream cheese mixture with remaining batter.
Mix topping ingredients together and spoon onto muffins.
Bake at 375, 13 - 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Caramel Apple Martini

Happy fall, dear Reader! Hope you're enjoying pumpkin-flavored everything! For a little break from all the pumpkin, I'm posting some caramel apple :)

If you're thinking, "Well that's not a very good glass for drizzling..." you're right. But I actually don't own any martini glasses. Confession time, Reader: I am not a graceful person. Just the thought of holding a wide, conical bowl of easily spillable liquid atop a skinny stem makes me nervous... I'd be concentrating too much on not spilling to enjoy the drink! Yes, I need to become an adult. But for now, the only instance when I'd put a martini glass in my own hand is if I'm wearing a dress too fabulous to be without one.

So the moral of the story is: if you're going to drizzle with caramel and you have martini glasses, go ahead and use them :)

Caramel Apple Martini

2 oz. apple Schnapps
2 oz. butterscotch Scnapps
1 oz. gin
opt. caramel for drizzling the glass

Shake over ice in a martini shaker, and strain into caramel-drizzled (optional) glass.


Thanks for reading! Keep an eye out for more fall posts (without the pumpkin flavor overload ;)).