Is there, really, any more iconic fruit when it comes to autumn time than the age-old, wonderfully nourishing, and splendidly healthy apple?
Pears, my second favourite fruit (raspberries take first place, if you're curious - though the fruit that I eat the very most of in a given year would have to be strawberries, which I also adore), come close for sure and indeed, the two often go hand-in-hand.
Yet it is the apple - be it tart and green, mellow and golden yellow, juicy and red, or sweet and garnet hued - that takes top billing and which is as tied to fall as harvest moon, pumpkins, crunchy jewel toned leaves, and the return of chilly nights.
Apples are an amazing fruit. They're rich in both antioxidants and fiber, and can provide a lasting sense of satiety - as well as being a truly delicious food. In addition, apples have been an integral part of our collective human history for millenniums now, having factored into the the mythology, religions, and legends of a good many cultures, spanning the ancient Norse and Greeks to the central role they play in the Christian bible as well.
{Apples, glorious apples! We've been enjoying them for countless generations now and continue to reach for this good-for-us food with gusto the whole year 'round, but have a particular passion for them, naturally, when fall arrives and they're at the peak of their growing perfection. Vintage image source.}
Few amongst us are without both personal memories and elements of a cultural identity that relates back to apples.
We have expressions aplenty that include this juicy round fruit (such as, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree", "As American as apple pie", and "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"), associate them heavily with education (including the classic practise of leaving the gift of an apple on a teacher's desk), and have been eating (and drinking - apple cider or Calvados, anyone?) them in countless recipes for many, many centuries now.
Apples are a fun, cheerful fruit and one that is tied heavily many fall time celebrations, including both Halloween and Thanksgiving (the Canadian version of which happens today this year). They're perfect "as is", and yet work equally in both sweet and savoury dishes, too.
Over the years I've shared several different vintage recipes that included apples (such as Rosy Apple Pie, Creamy Gala Apple, Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup; and Maple Syrup and Apple Bread Pudding topped with Sugared Apples) and thought that in celebration of the fact that autumn's return is a mere ten days away, I would roundup some of the most mouth watering, classic, cutting edge, and/or unique apple recipes I've ever encountered online.
Each of these dishes is a stellar treat that puts the season's abundance of apples - of which there are thousands of different varieties the world over - to good use.
Naturally, they can all be made at other times of the year, too, but as I'm a firm believer in eating, and cooking, with an emphasis on the very foods that each season presents us with, now seems like the ideal time to delve into not one, not ten, not thirty, not even fifty, but seventy-five flat out magnificent apple recipes that are ideal for fall.
{All photos are care of their respective sources, which can be reached by clicking on the recipe link above each image. Unlike vintage images which are often much more in the public domain and for which the reproduction and sharing of is more liberally tolerated, I fully understand that some food bloggers do not like to have their photos shared on other blogs, even when a link back to their site is provided. If such is the case and your photo appears here, please let me know by email and I'll happily take it down or credit it in a different way that you're happy with. Thank you!}
It's hard not to work up an appetite just reading through this selection of fifty fabulous apple recipes! Do any of them jump out at you in particular?
Aside from the age old classic that is caramel apples and all of the variations on such presented here, the Apple Pie Tacos and Crispy-Skin Duck with Chargrilled Apples in particular are really beckoning to me at the moment.
As apples have been heavily and heartily enjoyed (and grown) in many parts of the world for centuries now, they're actually one of the most frequent types of fruits that you'll encounter in vintage and antique cookbooks, with recipes for classics such as apple pie, apple sauce, apple muffins, apple crisps and buckles, and apple butter, to name but a few, stretching back for hundreds of years at this point.
{Two young ladies biting into my all-time favourite Halloween time treat, the classic caramel apple, during the 1940s. Image source.}
A true icon of the season and one of the most delicious things to ever grow on a tree, so long as you enjoy and can (from a medical standpoint) safely eat them, apples deserve a place not just on teachers' desks, but on all of our tables come the sublimely beautiful days of late summer and straight on through to the iciest months of winter.
Embrace apples, get creative with them, and let them shine for you and your family all throughout fall, when they're truly at their finest in western hemisphere and when no other fruit says autumn quite like this humble, satisfying offering from Mother Nature does.
*PS* Happiest Thanksgiving wishes to all of my fellow Canadians!
My goodness Jessica! Every photo looks delicious!! Is it any wonder why autumn is treasured? Warm comfort foods, festivals, beautiful foliage and Halloween!! I hope you are enjoying this magnificent season as much as I am. Thank you for the fantastic post! XOXO.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely way to speak about autumn, dear April. I completely agree and certainly share your view on this season being a wondrous treasure. It is such an amazing gift from Mother Nature, as she slips from her sundress into her ski coat for another year. I am in my element and savouring fall something fierce right now, too. It's fantastic that you are as well. May it continue to be a magnificent chapter of the year for both of us.
DeleteA great many hugs coming your way,
♥ Jessica
Apple nachos ? Really ? I have to say I was sooo surprised. I never imagined this, then again in cooking its just your imagination and your taste buds..
ReplyDeleteI am currently working on oregano recipes, my garden in full of huge green oregano leaves that I have to used up ! I'm thinking oregano pesto..
Isn't that a cool idea? It makes one wonder what other types of fruits would work well as the base for "nachos". I'm thinking peaches and pineapple might both be fun options.
DeleteHow wonderful that your garden is abounding with oregano. It is one of my favourite herbs both to eat and to work with medicinally. I can just imagine how lovely your home and yard must smell right now, rich with the earthy, subtly sweet aroma of oregano.
Many hugs & happy mid-October wishes,
♥ Jessica
Oh my word, what a huge array of apple recipes and every single one looks totally yummy! I think my favourite would have to be the apple pie fries as they look so intriguing. However, that apple and cranberry lattice pie looks really, really scrumptious, especially if it was heated and served with creamy vanilla ice cream. Oh hell, I'm so hungry now!! xx
ReplyDeleteDon't they though? Apples are such a versatile fruit. I love that they marry so well on both the sweet and the savoury side of the culinary spectrum, while also being delicious all on their own. Love your suggestion to serve that sweet + tart cranberry and apple pie with vanilla ice cream. I'd be down with that entirely! :)
DeleteBig hugs & joyful October wishes to you, dear Cate,
♥ Jessica
I have pinned a few of these. Now, not to get fat with all the wonderful recipes of the season!
ReplyDeleteSarah
www.sewcharacteristicallyyou.com/blog
The struggle is real! :D I put on weight just looking at recipes, so I have to be quite careful in which sweet treats I indulge in. I always let at least a few in during the fall and winter holiday season and then scale back more for much of the rest of the year. I simply adore fall's flavour spectrum too much not to indulge in it a bit. You only live once, as they say. :)
DeleteMany hugs & happy autumn baking,
♥ Jessica
Serendipity: seeing this post just moments after trying to figure out what to do with the pork chops I took out of the freezer. Why not try recipe #66?;-) Thanks, Jessica!
ReplyDelete~D.C.
You are sincerely welcome, my dear. What a lovely spot of happenstance. I'm delighted to have been able to assist with your autumn dinner plans.
DeleteMany wishes for a joyful October,
♥ Jessica
Thank you so so much for sharing all those amazing recipes! I love love love apples and will try every single one! (Okay, maybe not every one but definitely a lot ;-))
ReplyDeleteMany hugs
Sandra <3
Wouldn't it be amazing (albeit likely over multiple years) to give everyone of these amazing apple recipes a try? That's a challenge I'd happily tackle (with fork and knife in hand :D).
DeleteMany hugs & happy autumn wishes,
♥ Jessica
Those are some mighty awesome recipes, particularly the desserts! A lot of people in Upstate NY go apple-picking at this time of year, and there are several organized trips in my area. It's also traditional to eat apple slices dipped on honey on Rosh Hashanah, and many of us enjoy hot apple cider with cinnamon sticks during the upcoming holiday of Sukkot. This Rosh Hashanah, one of my rabbis gave a d'var (loosely translated, talk) about how apples can only grow in a place like NY instead of California or Florida. They need both distance and closeness to properly grow. In a state that's sunny year-round, they wouldn't have the required cool nights in addition to sunlight.
ReplyDeleteAren't they though? I just adore the creativity of the folks who so kindly shared these amazing apple recipes on their respective sites in the first place. It is beautiful that apples play such a strong roll in certain Jewish holidays. What a very apt message from one of your rabbis. It certainly speaks to how humans grow and flourish as well. Thank you deeply for passing it along to us here.
DeleteMany hugs & cheerful October wishes,
♥ Jessica
Happy Thanksgiving to you Jessica! I hope you are able to enjoy some of these scrumptious looking treats today! I love cooked apples! <3 And while I'm not usually a fan of raw apples, I think this October I'm going to have to indulge in a good old-fashioned caramel apple. I remember that I like those :)
ReplyDeleteThank you sweetly, my lovely friend. Yum-yum! I'll be doing the same and can feel my tummy rumbling just thinking about it. Caramel apples for the win always, in my books. :)
DeleteMany hugs & happy Halloween countdown wishes,
♥ Jessica
Hello dearest Jessica,
ReplyDeleteOh my, so many wonderful apple recipes to try! I pinned quite a few of these from this post:)
Love and hugs,
♥Hope
Thank you sweetly for doing so, dear Hope. I always appreciate Pinterest love and am delighted to know that several of these scrumptious apple dishes jumped out at you (they really did for me - and, delightfully, I can safely eat some types of apples, so they're nearly always to hand in abundance at our house).
DeleteMany hugs & joyful autumn cooking + baking wishes,
♥ Jessica
Quite the catalog of apple recipes! They're such a tasty and versatile food, no wonder you were able to put together so many tasty sounding recipes. I'll have to try some of these out for sure!
ReplyDeleteAren't they though? Apples are rather akin to the blank canvass of the fruit world. I love them dearly and have to put the breaks on when writing this post - I think I probably could have kept going to 200 or more, if I didn't. :)
DeleteWishing you an autumn that is as sweet as all of the tasty desserts here,
♥ Jessica
Everything looks so good! I want to make those Cheesecake Stuffed Baked Apples :)
ReplyDeleteOh, so do I! I can't say as though I've had too many recipes over the years that married cream cheese and apples. The pairing is very appealing and I've bookmarked that recipe to make asap.
DeleteThank you very much for your lovely comment. Have a splendid week!
♥ Jessica
These all sound delicious! I really want to try 64! :)
ReplyDeleteThey really do looks/sound sublime! A good self-basting dessert is hard to beat. My mom and I used to make a few such sweet treats from Taste of Home magazine back when I was a teenager.
DeleteMany hugs & joyful October wishes,
♥ Jessica
Happy thanksgiving, Jessica! I wonder if you'll be celebrating the day with an apple recipe? Xxx
ReplyDeleteThere was apple sauce, but not an apple dessert or main dish. Plenty appear on our table throughout the fall though, very much including the classic marriage of apples and pork. Often we have had apple pie, apple cake, baked apples or another apple dessert over the years at Thanksgiving (and they're always part of my Halloween menu by way of caramel and/or candy apples).
DeleteAre you planning to make any fun apple recipes yourself this season?
Big hugs & happy Thursday wishes,
♥ Jessica
Some of these recipes look spectacular, I really like the more savoury ones, especially the toastie. I find it such a shame that as so much fruit is now so readily available at all times of year in a supermarket, we seem to have lost our desire to make the most of the fruit in season. As you have shown, apples can bring so much to a dish as well as being the main focus in some. We can also press them and make juice and cider from them. I hope you enjoy many Apple treats this Autumn xx
ReplyDeleteAs someone with much more of a salty/savoury than sweet tooth, I fully understand. A good savoury apple dish is a thing of immense culinary beauty (likewise for pears). Your homemade apple juice and cider sounds magnificent! I could happily live off of warm apple cider all autumn long. :)
DeleteMany hugs & thanks for your wonderfully nice comment,
♥ Jessica
phew! thats a whole lot of yummy apples recipes!
ReplyDeletejust bought 2.5 kilos of that healthy fruits - the farm up on the hill sells the smaller/bumped on ones for 30 cent per kilo!
i found out that in the very past apples were a very common food especially for hearty meals - apples grew in abundance around here and have great storage "skills" - perfect for the long winters.....
thank you for searching for all that gorgeous apple ideas!!!!!
huge hugs! xxxxxx
It is quite a few, isn't it? I was filled with an immense zeal for apple recipes while putting this post together and very nearly kept going to 100 or more (it would have been a breeze), but didn't want my readers here to be scrolling through them until springtime, so I capped it at "just" 75. :) Who knows, maybe a few years down the road, I'll put together "round two" of this fun apple recipe roundup post.
DeleteMany hugs & joyful October wishes, my dear friend,
♥ Jessica
Oh my Jessica, I can't wait to try these although by the end of all 75 my waist is going to be some size! Thank you for the inspiration to bring the humble apple centre stage again :) Elf elfeelgoodsvintage.uk
ReplyDelete:) I hear you there and must proceed with much caution when eating sweets (I have a staggeringly slow metabolism that isn't helped one iota by certain medications that I must take). I'd be more apt to take the approach of say, 2 - 4 of these recipes per fall/winter spread out over the course of many years. At least that way, hopefully, the calorie count wouldn't be too staggering. :)
DeleteMany hugs & thanks for all of your lovely recent blog comments,
♥ Jessica
You've got me drooling with all those delicious looking apple recipes. As for apple related expressions, we have "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree" and "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" in Flemish too! A big autumn hug, Ann xxx
ReplyDeleteHow cool that these expressions are common in the Flemish language as well - I wonder now, what other countries/languages do they appear in? I'll have to ask Tony if they're part of the Italian vocab as well.
DeleteScores of hugs & happy autumn time wishes,
♥ Jessica
Wow, these recipes look incredible! My best friend is joining me and Joe in Texas for Thanksgiving and we're planning a lot of fall/holiday baking. And I want to make 100% of these :D
ReplyDeleteHow awesome that your BF will be spending Thanksgiving with you guys. If ever there was a holiday to be with those you love and count amongst your blessings, Thanksgiving Day is it. I hope that you all have a beautiful, fun filled celebration.
DeleteBig hugs & happy October wishes,
♥ Jessica
Some gems here, Jessica! I only wish we had cooler weather for some of the more autumnal style treats.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much, my dear. Perhaps an apple ice cream or chilled slice of pie to help beat the ever hotter heat south of the equator? Spiced apple cider served chilled over ice cubes made from the very same cider itself can go a long way towards countering spring/summer's scorching temps, too (and goes awesomely with grilled foods).
DeleteMany hugs & happy mid-October wishes,
♥ Jessica
yummy! I am saving the grilled cheese and the apple pie bourbon shots for ever and ever! thanks for all these wonderful recipes.
ReplyDeleteHope you had a wonderful thanksgiving :)
Aww, you're super welcome, my lovely friend. I love apple grilled cheese sandwiches sooo much. If you eat it, bacon (or turkey/chicken/vegetarian style bacon) added to the mix is incredible as well.
DeleteOodles of hugs & happy Halloween countdown wishes,
♥ Jessica
Caramel apple is so famous, that's right! I loved the pictures, so delicious and inspiring and... made me hungry! Dear Jessica, it's again nice to know more about you, being raspberries your favorite fruit, then apples and pears... I like strawberries too, like you. I confess that I know that the apple doens't fall far from the tree :) and so, I am very much like my mother - eating sweets, preferrably. Not good, really not good. I know that an apple a day keeps the doctor away :) Hahaha and still, I eat three apples a year... but although I don't like new year's resolutions, I have to have one for 2017. To eat in a better way. I loved the apple crumbles with berries and an apple bread? Wow. I will try some recipes, for sure! Hope you have a very nice day! Hugs and regards!
ReplyDeleteDenisesPlanet.com
It most certainly is, sweet Denise. Such a delicious, gooey treat and way to celebrate the apple harvest. It's fascinating, isn't it, how our eating habits and preferences often largely mirror those of our parents. My mom's favourite fruit is blueberries though - close in a sense to raspberries, but of course not quite the same. They certainly work nicely together though and both can play wonderfully with apples at times, too (in oatmeal, pancakes or muffins, for example).
DeleteMany big hugs & thanks for your terrific comment,
♥ Jessica
I'm drooling all over the keyboard!!! I have to hand it to you North Americans, you "do" apples like no-one else. So many different ways - and apple fries!! I'm enjoying the cool fruits of your part of the globe as the days warm up here, thanks, Jessica.
ReplyDeletehttps://fabulousageing.blogspot.com.au/
What a cool observation, dear Elizabeth. We do certainly have a proclivity for this classic fruit, it's true - and having grown up in a region that grows some of the largest volumes of apples in Canada, I really feel like they've been an integral part of the culinary landscape all throughout my life. Are apples grown in many parts of Australia?
DeleteMany hugs & thanks for your terrific comment,
♥ Jessica
Dear Jessica, Oh, my...WOW...75 apple recipes...this is like an Apple Cookbook! It must have taken a lot of work to do this post.
ReplyDeleteI had a Chocolate Turtle Apple (caramel apple with chocolate chips and chopped peanuts) and thought of you :)
Hope you & your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!
Hugs,
Dee
Yum!!! Caramel + chocolates + pecans is truly one of my favourite flavour combinations ever. Add apples into the mix and my knees almost buckle. :) How lovely that you enjoyed that terrific treat recently and that it made you think of me. You're such a dear!
DeleteTons of hugs & happy mid-October wishes,
♥ Jessica
Yum. I love apples, and apples in baking too. I am seriously craving an apple now, despite the fact that it is late at night. . . :)
ReplyDeleteThe Artyologist
I've been going to town on apples this week (including eating them with pork chops) in the wake of putting this post together. I'm counting down the days until our Halloween caramel apples. They're really become one of my family's favourite traditions of the season. We're so fortunate to have such an abundance of wonderful apple varieties here in Canada - just the thing to put to work for these delightful recipes. :)
DeleteMany hugs & happy Thanksgiving week wishes,
♥ Jessica
Oh, mon Dieu de la france! I could stay here in front all day, this post is heaven for me! I love the smell of baked apples, and spices that make them good company. Apples are exceptional even in savory recipes, perfect with pork but the cakes are fantastic, thanks Jessica, this is the autumn that I love and today is the sun again!
ReplyDeletemuch love from Tuscany
serena
Wonderful point, dear Serena. Apples have such an amazing scent in nearly any form - raw, baked, roasted, grilled, coated in chocolate or caramel, mashed into a juicy sauce, as cider, the list goes on and on. It's such a classic scent, too. Something that we as a species have been enjoying for centuries upon centuries upon centuries now. I love it so much and could scarcely imagine autumn without this iconic aroma.
DeleteThank you very much for your lovely comment. I hope that the rest of October is marvelous for you guys!
xoxo ♥ Jessica
I'm not much of a cook, but these recipe posts of yours always make me want to try my hand in the kitchen!
ReplyDeleteApples are, IMO, a very forgiving ingredient to work with - especially since they tend to take so well to long, slow periods of cooking/baking. Perhaps that's part of their age old appeal. I hope that any apple recipes you try out this season (and beyond) turn out splendidly for you, my lovely friend.
DeleteOodles of hugs & happy mid-October wishes,
♥ Jessica
(I hope you've gotten to see my HAPPY THANKSGIVING message on your Instagram, on Monday, my dear - if not - not is the time to repeat it) :)
ReplyDelete...
Do some of these recipes pop-out to me?
Ya' kidding?!
They are tearing up the rooftop of my mind! So many delightful recipes, so many amazing ideas. I'm overwhelmed, that's what I feel. Apple brownies? I say: perfect item to make for a Saturday's family get-around. Each of us takes a bit or two, and I'm sure they will all vanish in a instant. And, as far as breads go - the apple fritter bread looks anything but a plain loaf of bread... it's an elaborate, delicate - I'm sure amazingly tasty treat!
Shouldn't have read this on an empty stomach! :)
Marija
Hello my dear friend! I really appreciate you repeating your thoughtful Thanksgiving wishes here, as I've not had a chance to see your original Instagram message yet (this week is so incredibly busy between Thanksgiving, three family birthdays, and our wedding anniversary, plus shopping, cooking and baking for those events). Hoping to catch on recent comments there at some point this month. Thank you so much!
DeleteIt's awesome that so many of these scrumptious apple recipes speak to you. They're entirely up my alley as well. Please feel free to let me know how the apple brownies turn out for you. They sure do look tasty! :)
Thank you again & have a beautiful rest of the week,
♥ Jessica