om nom nom straight from the spoon

making honey apple butter

“So what is apple butter anyway,” you ask suspiciously, because frankly that sounds pretty weird. It’s not actually all that weird. It’s really a kind of apple jam. It’s a baked reduction and you can flavour it in a bunch of different ways and I’m getting better at it and it’s getting better as I do. I believe it’s called ‘butter’ because it’s lovely and smooth with maybe just a hint of apple graininess in the texture, not because there’s any actual butter involved. It preserves FOREVER–the stuff stays good,…

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Kitsnacks: Cocoa Brownies

This is our family’s go-to brownie recipe: Cocoa Brownies 3/4 c sugar 3/4 c flour 1/3 c cocoa powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup butter, room temp or softer 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla Whisk the dry ingredients together. Add butter, eggs and vanilla and mix. Scrape into a 9×9″ buttered pan. Bake at 350°F for 15-18 minutes, until barely done (a fork inserted in the centre should come out slightly gooey but not *wet*). Allow to cool. Frost as desired. (I usually use chocolate buttercream frosting.) Eat! Makes 16…

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Kitsnacks: Homemade Pop Tarts

Many years ago, presumably before Pop Tarts began to be a thing that occasionally showed up on Irish grocery store shelves, I got the idea into my head that one could, y’know, probably MAKE them. I looked for recipes, but never got around to making them. A couple weekends ago I was making pot pie anyway and thought I should make up an extra batch of pie crust and try ’em. oh my flippin’ stars. I used my basic pie crust recipe and added about a quarter cup of sugar…

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Kitsnacks: Pumpkin Muffins

I made a batch of absolutely gorgeous pumpkin muffins this morning. Light, fluffy, tender, just the right amount of sweetness. The dog ate half of them. #ragemachinemurderbot Baloo’s Favourite Pumpkin Muffins: 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree 4 eggs 1 cup melted butter 2/3 cup water 2 cups white sugar 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger Whisk wet ingredients together in a large bowl. Whisk dry ingredients together in another bowl.…

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Kitsnacks: Apple Butter

(whoa i thought i’d posted this months ago but it’s been sitting half finished in my queue! i discovered this because i finally opened the caramel apple butter last night and OH MY GOD it’s good! and somebody asked for the recipe so i went off to find it and woe! it hadn’t been posted!) My sister made a bunch of apple butter the other day (with apples I gave her) and although I don’t really *like* apple butter (or don’t remember liking it; I haven’t had it since I…

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