Apple Cinnamon Truffles

This is it.  The grand finale to Apple Extravaganza week on my blog and coincidentally also all-time post #250! That's some pretty exciting stuff!  Who would have known that in just a few years I would have made so many new recipes (and honestly, what I post isn't even all of it!).  You all inspire me to do what I do!

Now back to this recipe.  My husband absolutely LOVES truffles.  At Valentine's Day one year I made Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles and our friend Jackie made Oreo Truffles.  He pretty much inhaled them both and we were baffled at how few truffles were leftover at the end of the night.  Anytime I make a dessert he practically begs me to make the cookie dough truffles so I thought I'd throw a truffle recipe into the baking mix.  Chris wasn't so keen on the idea of having fruit instead of chocolate in the mix but he went along with it anyway.

Scott was a little sad when he found out the oreos were going to be pulverized to be used in the recipe but once they were put together he changed his tune, too.  These were a hit with both of our guys!  They're very sweet and the small size makes them deadly because you feel justified in eating several at a time.  Not surprisingly Chris guarded his allotted truffles once we got home.  Sharing was not an option but that's okay because I happily ate the other treats that Emily and I produced.

To sum things up, Emily and I made six recipes between the two of us:

• Apple Pie Cookies
• Apple Cider Beignets with Butter-Rum Caramel Sauce
• Apple Cider Butter
• Shrimp with Green Apple Chipotle Salsa
• Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars
• Apple Cinnamon Truffles

If you liked these posts, leave a comment to let us know because Emily and I (and/or any of my Dinner Club friends) would LOVE to do another marathon cooking/baking session sometime.  Any theme ideas or recipes that you have to share would be lovely!  If you want to be a taste-tester for one of our sessions, we might be able to arrange that, too ;).

Apple Cinnamon Truffles

Photo Credit: My wonderfully talented friend, Emily

Ingredients

• 1 package Golden Oreos
• 6 oz Cream Cheese, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup Apple Pie Filling, pureed
• 1 tsp Ginger, divided
• 2 packages White Chocolate Baking Bars
• 2 tsp Cinnamon 
• Crushed Pecans, for garnish

Directions

1. Add the Oreos to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl) and mix together with the pumpkin (or pureed apple pie filling), cream cheese and 1/2 tsp. ginger. Once combined, use a cookie scoop to form into small balls and place on a plate. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, until firm. 
2. Cover a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside. Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each time, until fully melted. Stir in the cinnamon and remaining 1/2 tsp. ginger. 
3. Remove the balls from the fridge and dip into the chocolate, making sure they are coated evenly. Place on the wax paper and repeat until all balls are covered in chocolate. Sprinkle pecans on top and refrigerate until hardened.

Source: The Jey of Cooking as slightly adapted from Cooking with Christen

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Holy mother of butter!  I urge you to try to ignore the fact that there are not one, not two, but THREE sticks of butter in this recipe because once you do, you can fully enjoy the ecstasy of this rich dessert.  As I mentioned yesterday, this is a Paula Deen recipe so to contain lots of butter is a pre-requisite.  Oh and don't worry, Paula threw in three APPLES to offset all that butter :P.

I picked this as an option because I wanted something caramel.  Apples are caramel just go together and this recipe is no different.  The flavor was much like the Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pie but way less time intensive in the event presentation is not so important.  With its classic, rich flavors, it's no wonder that Emily voted this her favorite recipe of the bunch.  But, Emily being Emily and not able to practice self control gave THE ENTIRE PAN to me and my husband to take home.  Thank a lot Em.  Way to make Chris and me fat ;).

Tomorrow I'm wrapping up the Apple Extravaganza posts.  I'm saving the boys' favorite recipe for last.  Hint: They're bite sized which makes them extra deadly!

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

Photo Credit: My beautiful friend Emily

Ingredients

For the Bars

•  2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar 
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened 
• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 

For the Streusel Topping

• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 
• 1 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats 
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup caramel topping

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. To make the streusel topping: In a small bowl, combine all ingredients except the caramel.
3. To make the bars: In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking pan lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned. 
4. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 1/2 cup sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour over warm crust. 
5. In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle evenly with Streusel topping. Bake 30 minutes, or until filling is set. Drizzle with caramel topping. 

Source: Originally from Paula Deen as seen on Delicious Meliscious

Shrimp with Green Apple Chipotle Salsa

All of the recipes that Emily and I made during our apple extravaganza were sweet with the exception of this one.  I have had this particular recipe bookmarked in my Google Reader forever and had suggested this as a savory option for our collection.  To be honest, I'd take savory over sweet any day, anyway!  When it came time to pick the final recipes I actually didn't end up picking this one but it was Emily's husband Scott that chose it to be made.  Yep, we gave the boys a say.  They were going to be eating everything, after all, so it only seemed fair.

I really liked the bold slightly spicy flavor of the shrimp in this recipe and overall it was quite a delicious dish.  It certainly gave our sweet tastebuds a break.  What we all agreed was disappointing was the fact that the apple was completely overwhelmed by the red onion and cilantro.  It really isn't all that surprising given how strong those particular flavors are and if it weren't for the whole "apple" theme it wouldn't matter at all.  Eh...who am I kidding...to me, it still didn't matter at all.  I happily gobbled up this savory treat and was so glad that Scott added it back into the mix :).

Only two more recipes left to share!  Tomorrow I'll be sharing Emily's favorite recipe from the batch.  Hint: It's a Paula Deen so get ready to get your butter on.

Shrimp with Green Apple Chipotle Salsa

Photo Credit: My friend Emily

Ingredients

For the salsa

• 1/2 c. diced Granny Smith apple
• 1/4 c. diced red onion
• 1/4 c. diced red bell pepper
• 2 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 tsp. chipotle chile powder
• 1/8 tsp. Cayenne pepper
• salt and black pepper, to taste 

For the shrimp

• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. light brown sugar

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients for salsa in a medium bowl and mix well.  Cover and refrigerate at least one hour before serving.
2. To cook the shrimp, heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Meanwhile, combine shrimp and all spices in a large bowl.  Toss to coat.  Place shrimp in the saute pan and cook one to two minutes per side, depending on size of shrimp.
3. Serve shrimp over a bed of salsa. Serves four.

Source: Scoot Uehlein, Canyon Ranch Cooks as adapted by and seen on Apple a Day