desserts

Spooky Apple Dip Recipe

October 26, 2020appetizers, desserts, parties, snacksSheri SpalloneComment

Hello friends! Halloween is a knocking. It is the perfect time to whip up this Spooky Apple Dip recipe, featuring cream cheese, mini chocolate chips, Health Bar Bits, homemade caramel sauce**, and the secret ingredient Cherchies® Apple Butter Spread! Of course, the little candy eyes make this dish horrifyingly adorable.

I don't know whether it is the inner child in me or the fact we have children (and their excitement over the years has excited us), but I have always been a sucker for party themes, themed food, theme decorations, etc., and Halloween is no exception. Our children always loved all the festive Halloween foods we would serve at our pre-Halloween celebration with family and friends.

So, if you are looking for a quick and easy spooktacular Halloween treat and love caramel apples, this is the perfect dip to share at your next Halloween gathering. Serve it with sliced apples or even graham crackers, and you are good to go.

**Note: You could easily substitute store-bought caramel sauce if you're in a pinch, but homemade is easy and much better.

Enjoy, and Happy Halloween!

Thanks for stopping by. Comment below if you have tried this delicious recipe. Come back again for more family-tested recipes, entertaining ideas, and cooking tips using all our favorite Cherchies® gourmet products.

Ingredients

1 (8 oz.) block cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 jar Cherchies® Apple Butter Spread
1 cup Homemade Caramel Sauce (you could use store bought but homemade is so much better!)
1 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup Heath Bar Toffee bits (or your favorite toffee, crushed into small pieces)
Candy “eyes” (We used Wilton candy eyes, we found at our local Michael’s, but they are available online as well.)
Apple slices for dipping

Caramel Sauce Ingredients- Make this before assembling the spooky dip to allow the caramel to cool. For the full directions with pictures, please visit “How To Make Homemade Caramel Sauce” on our blog.

1 cup of brown sugar

6 Tablespoons (Tbsp.) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon (tsp) sea salt (if want salted caramel, add up to 1 tsp. salt- Kosher salt is fine too)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (you could substitute your favorite liquor for an extra special adult treat…we won’t tell, but make sure to keep away from the kiddos)

Preparation for Caramel Sauce

The caramelization process happens quickly, so make sure all your ingredients are measured and in place before you begin. Start with a medium-sized stainless steel sauce pan (ceramic would work just fine too). Add the butter pieces to the pan, turn the heat on low, and gently stir the butter with a wooden spoon (you can use a whisk too) until it melts.

Once the butter has melted, add the sugar and continue to stir until the sugar has melted. (Sugar will be HOT! Trust me, and learn from my mistakes, do not be tempted to taste the caramel at any time, until it has cooled! Many sites I researched suggest having a bowl of cold water on hand in case of flying molten sugar. Yikes! Do not be afraid, but be safe.) As you are stirring, scrape the sugar that forms on the side with the spoon or a rubber spatula and incorporate into the mix.

Continue stirring constantly on low until all the sugar has dissolved and you have achieved a rich caramel color and a nutty aroma. Some of the butter may remain on the top. This is okay. It will incorporate once the half and half or cream is added. As the caramel comes to a rolling boil on low, continue rapidly stirring. Add salt and vanilla (or liquor) at this time. If you want salted caramel, then add an additional 1/2 teaspoon (tsp) of salt.

The last part is the cream or half and half. Add the cream slowly and stir stir stir! Again, be careful, this is where the caramel will get angry with you, as it will sputter and possibly throw molten sugar your way. You must prevail. I’m teasing… it really is very easy! Simply continue stirring rapidly until all the ingredients are incorporated. Remove the caramel from the heat and allow to cool. Turn off the stove. The caramel will thicken as it cools.

Preparation for Spooky Apple Dip

Combine the softened cream cheese and the apple butter spread in a medium bowl with a hand-held mixer and mix on medium-low speed until combined. With a spatula, spread the cream cheese mixture into a pie plate or shallow dish.

Once the caramel sauce has cooled and thickened, evenly pour it over the cream cheese mixture. Next, sprinkle the mini chocolate chips over the caramel, followed by the toffee bits.

Carefully place the candy eyes on top and serve with apples for a spooktackular Halloween presentation.

Enjoy and Happy Halloween!

Yum

Apple Butter Sundae Recipe

October 19, 2020dessertsSheri SpalloneComment

“Cherchies Apple Butter- “One of the best”- Sallyanne 7/4/2020”

Originally posted in 2015, this recipe and pictures have been updated.

A spread of Apple Butter a day keeps the doctor away. That’s what they say, right? (Just kidding, I know it is an apple a day). I wonder what they say if it’s served over ice cream?

I may have found a new favorite easy dessert, Apple Butter Spread over ice cream, drizzled with chocolate syrup. Yum!

It had never dawned on me to put apple butter over ice cream until my kiddos came up with this concoction. Thank you, kiddos! They heated our apple butter spread, and lovingly decorated their ice cream with it, chocolate sauce, and their favorite sundae toppings for an instant, easy dessert!

Undoubtedly, ice cream is a delicious, tasty treat, but add apple butter and chocolate syrup to the mix, and your mouth will thank you for the explosion of flavors and texture. So what do you say? Are you ready to give this delectable confection a try? You will not be disappointed; it is just what the doctor ordered.

This recipe also works well with our Cherry and Strawberry Butter Spreads.

Thank you again for visiting, and please come back. Something is always cooking in our kitchen, and we love to share recipes with you! Comment below and let us know how you liked this recipe.

Enjoy.

Ingredients

PRINT RECIPE

Your favorite ice cream
Cherchies® Apple Butter Spread (Cherchies® Strawberry Butter, or Cherchies® Cherry Butter)
Chocolate sauce (optional)

Preparation

There is not much preparation to this recipe as it is an easy, easy, recipe, ! Simply scoop mounds of your favorite ice cream, dollop our Apple Butter Spread (heated of course) over top, and if you'd like an extra decadence factor...drizzle chocolate sauce and add your favorite sundae toppings. Oooh baby!

Yum

Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake Recipe

August 17, 2020desserts, breakfast, snacksSheri Spallone3 Comments

Cook Time: 30-40 minutes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

How have you been doing these past few months? Have you learned a new hobby or perfected a craft? Has your family been baking up a storm? Our family has always loved to cook together, especially baking. During these past few months with our young adults safely at home and nowhere to go, our children have been baking A LOT from sourdough bread and endless cookies to their favorite breakfast treat, Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake.

Print Recipe

For those of you with children, how many times during this pandemic did you hear, "I'm bored" or "There's nothing to eat"? When that happened in our home, it was the perfect time for me to interject, "You could make something yummy." That usually seemed to do the trick instead of the usual eye roll. I loved baking with our children when they were younger, but watching them now as young adults tackle recipes on their own is priceless (AND MESSY!).

Among the many culinary treats our children have baked in the recent months, this delicious Cinnamon Streusel Coffeecake Recipe, laced with Cherchies® sweet apple butter and drizzled with a tangy lemon glaze is one of their favorite creations. If you are looking for the perfect boredom buster and have exhausted family movie or game night, grab a whisk, a couple of bowls, a few simple ingredients, and bake something amazing with your family.

From our family to yours, we hope you enjoy this easy, tasty coffee cake recipe as much as we do!

Comment below if you have made this recipe. We love hearing from our friends!

As always, thank you for visiting! Come back again!

Stay safe!

Coffee Cake Ingredients

1 box yellow cake mix with pudding (We used Betty Crocker Super Moist Yellow Cake Mix)- *Note, if you do not have cake mix in your pantry, have no fear, there are many resources online for homemade cake mix. Here are a couple, in particular, I like from I am Baker and Kitchen Nostalgia.
2/3 cup Cherchies® Apple Butter Spread
1 cup buttermilk (*Substitute 1 cup milk plus 1 Tablespoon white vinegar, stir, and let sit for a minute)
4 eggs, room temperature
Streusel Mix Ingredients
1-2 Tablespoons (Tbsp) ground cinnamon
2/3 cup brown sugar

Icing Ingredients
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. (Occasionally, we will use this recipe in muffin tins to create muffins. We used jumbo muffin tins from Wilton to make them extra special. See *Note).

In a small bowl, mix the streusel ingredients with a fork. (You will be using half of the streusel mix for the layering effect mentioned shortly and the other half on top before baking).

Mix the coffee cake ingredients in a medium bowl with a hand mixer and beat for two minutes.

So here is the fun part. The goal is to layer half of the batter, followed by a little streusel mix, then add the remaining batter. Pour half of the batter into the baking dish and use a spatula or spoon to smooth the batter. Sprinkle half of the streusel mix evenly over the batter. Pour the remaining batter over.

After carefully layering the batter, take a butter knife and gently run the knife through the batter to make swirls. You will only need a couple of swirls. Finish by sprinkling the remaining streusel mix over the batter. Place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Depending on your oven (see *Note above), begin checking for doneness at 30 minutes.

While the coffee cake is baking, mix the icing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. When the coffee cake is finished, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for about 15 minutes. The coffee cake can be slightly warm but not hot, or it will melt the icing. Drizzle the icing over the coffee cake, and enjoy!

Happy Baking!

Comment below and let us know if you made this tasty recipe.

Thank you for visiting! Come back again.

Yum

Cooking Tip: How To Make Frozen Yogurt Popsicles

July 8, 2020cooking tips, dessertsSheri SpalloneComment

Posted originally 9/7/16, but updated to reflect the times.

Frozen popsicles are just plain fun for kiddos and adults alike. Am I right? They are perfect heat busters, the flavor combinations are endless, they are easy to make with real pronounceable ingredients you have handy, and they are creative outlets for cooped up young adults. Yes!

How are you doing? A LOT has happened these last few months, but our family is safe, and for that, I am grateful, and I hope you and your family are as well. Do you have children at home? We have a full house once again (25, 19, and 16), and our younger two are always bored (even after they do something), and they are always hungry. Sound familiar? Luckily, they have always loved helping in the kitchen, so when they were practically bouncing off the walls the other day, with "nothing to do," I suggested making one of their favorite summer recipes, homemade frozen yogurt popsicles®.

Surprisingly, no eye-roll :). Problem solved, a creative project they could make and eat! Win-win! (I must have caught them at a weak moment).

A few years back, our middle child, Nicholas (15 at the time) suggested we not only use fruit and yogurt (instead of the typical fruit and fruit juices) but add our fruit butter spreads and preserves to the mix, an idea that had never crossed my mind before. It made sense, fruit butter spreads are fruits that have cooked down to a spreadable consistency, so why not use them in frozen pops? But preserves? Yes! What a bright kiddo:).

So we set forth on our quest and made frozen yogurt pops with whatever ingredients we had on hand, blueberries, cherries, vanilla yogurt, leftover Cherry Butter, Blackberry Preserves, and chocolate syrup. We created three different varieties, Blueberry Vanilla Yogurt Pops, Berry Cherry Yogurt Pops, and Ice Cream Sundae Yogurt Pops . The hardest part for young adults was waiting for the darn things to freeze;).

These velvety, fruity concoctions will be a hit with your family, as they were with ours. They are the perfect healthy snack, dessert, or breakfast treat, they are easy to make with real ingredients, and they are the ideal boredom-buster project for all ages. Homemade is the best, especially when you can make recipes with someone else, and for me, my friends, spending time with our young adults, is priceless!

Here's how we made them (We made three kinds. You can see the recipes below ).

Thanks for visiting! Come back again. Comment below if you made this recipe and any yummy variations.

Ingredients

1 large container (32 oz.) Greek Vanilla Yogurt
Popsicle molds
Popsicle sticks
1/2 cup chopped cherries
1/2 cup blueberries
2 Tablespoons (Tbsp) Cherchies® Blackberry Preserves
2 Tablespoons (Tbsp) Cherchies® Cherry Butter or Cherchies® Strawberry Butter
1 Tablespoon (Tbsp) Chocolate Syrup

Preparation

Before you begin, you'll need a few kitchen tools, a popsicle mold (I purchased this 10 serving mold on Amazon), and a cherry pitter (also to make my life easier).

1. Separate the greek yogurt into 3 medium bowls (not necessary if only making one variety), and set aside.

2. In a small sauce pan, cook the blueberries and the Blackberry Preserves on low until the preserves have dissolved (a few minutes). Turn off the heat and allow the preserves to cool about 5 minutes. Now the fun begins!

3. As I mentioned, we made three varieties. I'll post another blog in the future (maybe the next heat wave) of other combinations. For the Blueberry Vanilla Yogurt Pops, we added about 2 Tablespoons of the blueberry-preserve mixture. Gently swirl the blueberry mixture into the yogurt. Don't mix too much, as you want the swirled effect. Carefully pour into the molds.

4. For the Berry Cherry Pops, we followed Step 3 using 2 Tablespoons (Tbsp) of the Blueberry-Preserve Mixture and we added 1/4 cup of chopped cherries to the mixture, swirled ever so gently just as above, and poured into our molds.

5. Finally, for the Ice Cream Sundae Pops, we added to the remaining bowl of greek yogurt, chopped cherries, 2 Tablespoons (Tbsp) Cherry butter (heated for 10 seconds in the microwave), and 1 Tablespoon of Chocolate Syrup.

6. Once again, gently swirl the yogurt mixture and pour into the mold. The molds I purchased had this handy lid to insert the sticks, but you could easily cover with plastic wrap and insert the sticks into the plastic. Almost done! Place in freezer and wait...and wait...and wait!

7. After a few hours (what seems like eternity), remove the lid or plastic wrap, run the desired mold bottoms under warm water and gently pull out pops. Voila! Homemade frozen yogurt fruit pops, a sure-fire heat buster and delicious treat anytime! Enjoy!