Ambitions – Live and Learn

Never again! Unless I can devote an entire 2 or 3 days to baking, never again will I think it is a splendid idea to pick two bushels of apples with my family. I have been baking like a mad woman. My laundry has piled up, social engagements have become stressful, my organizing appointments have not been as enjoyable as they should be and my son STILL doesn’t have his cub scout uniform -- all the while $48 of apples slowly rot in my basement fridge and call my name. They want to be more than just rotting apples. They call me to be made into more applesauce, more pies, more apple hermits, more scalloped potatoes and apple gratins. I have already made several batches of applesauce which my kids have devoured, I have 5 or 6 pies in the freezer and several have been consumed, we have eaten batches of apple cookies and apple / potato gratins with two gratins in the freezer. But STILL there are more apples! So if you have ever contemplated getting TWO bushels instead of one because one seems to disappear too quickly DON’T DO IT.

I did come up with a fabulous new cookie recipe though so I will share that with you. I modified an Apple Hermit cookie recipe I found on allrecipes.com to make them more guilt-free:

Apple Hermits

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
Handful of flaxseed meal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup softened butter
¼ cup FF plain Greek yogurt
¾ cup cups packed brown sugar
¼ cup agave nectar or honey
1 egg, beaten
1 cup chopped walnuts (chopped fine so undetectable to kids)
1 cup chopped apples
1 cup raisins

1. Soak raisins in hot water while mixing other ingredients.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together flours, flax seed, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Mix in yogurt, sugar, agave or honey and egg. Stir in flour mixture, and mix thoroughly. Fold in nuts, apples, and drained raisins.
4. Drop by rounded teaspoon onto prepared cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

YUM!