Acorns for Halloween

Here's a fun DIY Halloween craft to make from acorns.

First, take off the tops and coat the nut with ModPodge.
Let dry and apply a second coat.

Next, paint them orange.
They already look like pumpkins!!

With a fine tipped brush, paint little Jack o Lantern faces on them.
OMGHOWCUTEISTHAT!!!!???
You could plant them all over the house, or dress up a dollhouse for Halloween, or put a bunch of them on display in a bowl...

Meanwhile, I will be carving my very first ever jack o lantern. GAH!! I'm so excited....:D
Happy Halloween all!

Apple Cider Pancakes/ Waffles

Oh man, you're gonna love these! You can do them as pancakes or you can pour the batter onto a waffle iron and make them waffles! It works, I tried it :)

They smell so good when they are cooking.

Apple Cider Pancakes

1cp flour
1/2cp old fashioned oats
2tsp baking powder
3TBS brown sugar
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp nutmeg
1 egg
1cp apple cider
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk the dry ingredients (flour through nutmeg).
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until just combined.
Heat frying pan or griddle and melt some butter or no stick spray.
Pour 1/4cp (more or less) of batter on pan and fry until bubbles appear.
Flip and cook a minute more.

I had some left over cider frosting from a cake I made last week so I put a slab of that on top when serving- good stuff!

For the frosting, I followed the recipe here: http://www.ahintofhoney.com/2009/10/caramel-apple-layer-cake-with-apple.html
Of course, if you're just wanting some for the pancakes, reduce the recipe by A LOT!

Apple Pie Cupcakes

Here it is, the post you've been waiting for: The Perfect Fall Post (in cupcake form). Pictures to come- I left my camera at work, OOps!

These were so awesome! I saw a recipe online for a similar cupcake but I didn't like the cupcake recipe (HOW MANY sticks of butter?!?!?!) So I came up with my own version with less butter and more fluffiness..

Here's what you need:
Apple Topping: 2TBS butter, 1/4 cp sugar, 2 apples peeled, cored, sliced thin.

Cupcake:
1&1/4 cp flour
1&1/2 tsp baking powder
1tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cp sugar
6TBS (3/4 stick) butter
1 egg + 1 egg white
1tsp lemon extract or lemon juice
1tsp vanilla
1/2 cp milk

Frosting:
1/2 can of store bought cream cheese frosting
cinnamon to taste

Melt the butter in a frying pan over low-medium heat and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Add the apple slices and fry until the apples are lightly carmelized and soft (7-8 min) Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 F

Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together in a medium bowl.

Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy. Add eggs, lemon, and vanilla and beat until well blended.

Add the flour mixture and milk. Beat on med/high speed just until all the flour is mixed in. Do not over mix.

Put cupcake liners in  cupcake pan and fill each one 3/4 of the way with batter. Top with apple slices. Bake 18-20 min. or until golden brown and the cake bounces back when touched.

Cool in pan 5 min. and then on wire rack. *Cupcakes must be completely cooled before frosting or the frosting will melt- you don't want that!

I totally cheated on the frosting and bought a can of cream cheese frosting that I stirred cinnamon into before frosting the cupcakes.

Enjoy with a nice warm mug of cider next to a warm fire.