Apple Butter Crisp Recipe

Apple Butter Crisp Recipe

Fruit crisp (aka fruit crumble) is one of the most versatile and easiest comfort foods because it can be made with any fruit for any season, and is perfectly suitable for family or guests.

I love trying something new especially when it works out perfectly!  Take for example apple crisp.  It's really hard to mess up a fruit crisp, unless of course you put it in the oven, and for the next hour you multi-task like crazy until you smell something burning;) (never have done that;)

Please folks...set a timer!  

I looked at my mom's original apple crisp recipe and pondered whether or not to substitute our apple butter (I'm picky about apple butter) for the sugar.  Well, it worked!

The result was amazing!  This may be one of the best apple crisps I have ever had!  You must try this!  For the adventurous, substitute our new Cherchies® Cherry Butter for an apple-cherry crisp, or our Cherchies® Strawberry Butter for an apple-strawberry crisp!  Delicious!

Ingredients

• Cooking Spray
• 6-7 medium apples, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1-2 Tablespoons (Tbsp) lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon (Tbsp) orange zest, plus juice from the Orange
• 1 jar Cherchies® Apple Butter Spread (try our Cherry or Strawberry Butters as a tangy substitution)
• 1 teaspoon (tsp) cinnamon
• 3/4 cup flour (We tested with Bob's Mill All Purpose Flour but have also used regular flour)
• 3/4 cup oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon (tsp) cinnamon
• 2 Tablespoons (Tbsp) butter, melted
• 6 Tablespoons (Tbsp) butter cut into chunks

Preparation

Spray 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray.  Peel and chop apples.  Place apples in a baking dish with lemon juice and combine until apples are evenly coated.  Add orange zest, Cherchies® Apple Butter Spread, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and mix together.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, and remaining cinnamon.  Add the 2 tablespoons of melted butter to the flour mixture.  Mix together with a fork until tiny crumbs form.

View fullsize

View fullsize

Sprinkle crumb topping over apples.

Cut up remaining 6 Tablespoons of butter and dot apple crisp with butter.   Bake apple crisp for about 1 hour, or until apple crisp is golden brown and bubbly.

View fullsize

View fullsize

Serve with your favorite ice cream.  Oh my goodness, you must try!  Enjoy!

Blackberry Monkey Bread Muffin Recipe

Blackberry Monkey Bread Muffin Recipe

I love berries, and I love sweet rolls, so the thought of combining the two made my knees quiver. Ok, maybe not quiver, but you get the gist. My family also loves sweet rolls, but I save making them from scratch for the holidays as they are a labor of love, and I wanted something quick this time!

I recently ran across my monkey bread recipe, which used refrigerated biscuits, and it dawned on me, monkey bread muffins (quick, easy, and elegant)! I wanted to jazz them up even more, so my daughter and I tested them with our Blackberry preserves. Talk about tantalizing your tastebuds! The muffins were incredibly decadent and buttery with a hint of cinnamon and blackberry sweetness, pure perfection. I do not know why I didn't think of these gems sooner. They were a massive hit with our family. My advice? Make sure to grab some for yourself because these tasty morsels will not last long, and they will disappear right before your eyes:)

Comment below and let us know if you have tried this recipe. Thank you for visiting. Please come back again.

Ingredients

• 1 package of Refrigerated biscuits (we used Pillsbury Grands Biscuits)

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 2 Tablespoons (Tbsp) Cinnamon

• 1 stick butter, melted

• Cherchies® Seedless Blackberry Preserves (about 1 Tablespoon (Tbsp) per muffin or try this recipe with our other preserves.

• Zest of one lemon, divided

• Lemon Cream Cheese Icing (below)

Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

• 4 oz. room temperature, cream cheese

• lemon zest

• Juice of one lemon

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation

Add the sugar and cinnamon to a resealable plastic bag and shake the bag.  Open the biscuits and cut biscuits into sixths with kitchen shears or a sharp knife.  (This is a great family activity).

Lightly grease muffin pan with cooking spray or place muffin liners into trays.  Place four biscuits into each muffin tin, and pour melted butter over the biscuits.  Drizzle about 1 Tablespoon of Cherchies® Seedless Blackberry Preserves over biscuits.  Sprinkle biscuits with half of the lemon zest.

Bake muffins at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.  While muffins are baking, prepare the icing by mixing together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla.

Remove muffins from oven and cool about 6-9 minutes before serving.  Drizzle with icing and serve warm.  Ohhhh my goodness...Enjoy!

Pepper Jam Grilled Pineapple Recipe

View fullsize

Pepper Jam Grilled Pineapple Recipe

It's grilling season folks!  If you've never had grilled pineapple, you're in for a real treat!  Grilling brings out the sweet juices in the pineapple, and your taste buds will thank you.  I could have stopped there, but I decided to try our pepper jams as a glaze.  Oh my goodness, I had the best of both worlds...sweet and spicy.

Ingredients

• Oil to lightly coat grill
• 1 Pineapple, scales removed, and cored (coring is optional)
• Cherchies® Cranberry Hot Pepper Jam, Cherchies® Strawberry Hot Pepper Jam, or Cherchies® Cherry Hot Pepper Jam

Preparation

Lightly brush grill with oil.  Turn the grill on high and turn down to low after 5 minutes. Remove scales from pineapple with a knife and slice pineapple into 3/4 inch slices.  

Coring the pineapple is the next step and completely optional (The core does become tender during the grilling process, which makes it perfectly edible).  I prefer to core the pineapple as it's all about the presentation.   I use an apple corer I've had for years, but you could easily cut out the core with a knife.

Once the grill is heated, place pineapple slices on the grill and grill for 3-4 minutes (more depending on thickness of the pineapple) on each side.  As the pineapple finishes cooking, brush on the pepper jam for that sweet and spicy deliciousness!  You could stop with just the grilled pineapple depending on your preference, but then you'd be missing out on a party in your mouth:)

Remove from grill and enjoy!  This would be great served with ice cream...hmmm:)

Swirl Cheesecake Recipe

Swirl Cheesecake Recipe

Cherchies® Cranberry Preserves, Cherchies® Blackberry Preserves, or Cherchies® Fig Preserves add an element of elegance to a simple cheesecake!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups sugar cookie crumbs

• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

• 12 oz. cream cheese, softened

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 Tsp. lemon peel, grated

• 2 eggs

• 1 1/2 cup sour cream

• 1/2 cup Cherchies® Cranberry Preserves (could substitute Cherchies Blackberry Preserves, or Cherchies® Fig Preserves With Cinnamon.

Preparation

Combine cookie crumbs and butter. Press mixture in bottom and on sides of a 9 inch round pan. Refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine cream cheese, sugar and lemon peel. Beat until well blended.

Blend in eggs and sour cream until smooth, scraping bottom of bowl with a rubber scraper during the mixing time.

Pour mixture into crumb lined pan.

Stir Preserves. Place spoonfuls of preserves over cheese mixture. Using a spoon, partially mix  into mixture, creating a marble effect.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until set.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Makes 10 to 12 servings.