An Apple A Day

If there’s one thing fall does especially well, it’s apples. Soon enough, we’ll be heading to the area’s great orchards, filling baskets with great Honeycrisps, sweet Fujis and tart Macouns—and then wondering what, exactly, we’re going to do with all that delicious bounty.

Consider these two recipes your inspiration. From apple cinnamon crepes to luscious spiced brown butter apples, they’re cozy, comforting ways to turn your freshly picked haul into something extra special. So grab a basket, pick a little—or a lot—and bring those apples home. (And, if you want more seasonal inspiration, make sure you page through the NEW October edition of MONMOUTH).

Apple Cinnamon Crepes 

Yields 8 servings

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
• 4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced
• ½ cup white sugar
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 Tbs. water
• 2 Tbs. cornstarch
• 1 Tbs. water
• 1½ Tbs. milk
• 8 tsp. vegetable oil, divided

DIRECTIONS

Whisk eggs and salt together in a bowl. Gradually stir flour into eggs, alternately with 2 cups milk, until fully incorporated. Beat ¼ cup vegetable oil and ½ teaspoon cinnamon into flour mixture. Refrigerate batter for at least 1 hour.

Mix apples, sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 2 tablespoons water in a pot.

Whisk cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl; pour into apple mixture.

Simmer apple mixture over medium heat, stirring often, until thickened, 8 to 10 minutes. Keep warm.

Whisk 1½ tablespoons milk into chilled batter.

Heat about 1 teaspoon vegetable oil in a crepe or frying pan over medium heat. Pour about 1/3 cup batter into hot oil; tip and rotate the crepe pan until batter covers the entire area. Cook until edges begin curling away from the pan’s sides, about 30 seconds; flip crepe and continue cooking until bottom is lightly golden, about 30 more seconds. Remove crepe from the pan, add more oil and repeat with remaining batter.

Spoon apple filling into each crepe; fold crepe over filling and serve.

Dietitian’s tip: Want a twist on this recipe that’s both more nutrient-dense and more authentic? National board-certified health and wellness coaches Wendy Bright-Fallon and Debbie Peterson of Nourish Coaches in Red Bank say that “authentic French crepes are made with 100 percent buckwheat flour, which has an earthy and nutty flavor, plus beneficial plant compounds not found in refined white flour. If you don’t want to use all buckwheat flour, substitute one cup of the all-purpose flour for it.”

Spiced Brown-Butter Apples

Yields 6 servings

Ingredients

• 6 small Pink Lady apples (2 to 2½ pounds), halved lengthwise
• ¼ cup unsalted butter, plus 1 Tbs. for greasing baking dish
• ¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. fresh nutmeg, grated
• ¼ tsp. Chinese five-spice
• 2½ Tbs. light brown sugar
• 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
• ¼ tsp. kosher salt
• 1/3 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
• vanilla ice cream or heavy cream, for serving

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375°F. Rub 1 tablespoon butter on bottom and sides of a 13×9-inch baking dish.

Scoop out and discard core and seeds from each apple half using a melon baller or teaspoon. Slice a very thin sliver from opposite side of apple so apple lays flat. Arrange the apples, cored sides up, snugly in prepared baking dish.

Melt remaining ¼ cup butter in small skillet or saucepan over medium. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and Chinese five-spice, and heat until fragrant and just beginning to brown, about 1 minute. Whisk in brown sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Spoon butter mixture evenly into hollows of apples. Use the back of spoon to spread a thin layer onto cut surfaces of apples.

Cover baking dish with aluminum foil, and bake in preheated oven until apples start to soften, 30 to 40 minutes. Uncover dish and scatter pecans over apples. Baste with juices from bottom of pan. Increase oven temperature to 400°F, and bake until apples are nicely browned and very tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a drizzle of heavy cream.

For another healthful substitution, our experts suggest, “When you see refined sugar in recipes, you can always substitute coconut sugar or maple sugar crystals. These options are still sugars, but are less refined and provide a richer flavor. We recommend buying organic apples whenever possible, as apple crops are often highly treated with pesticides.”

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