This week has REALLY started to feel like fall. It’s getting cooler, the leaves are changing into beautiful oranges and red and my favourite shade of yellow. This weather calls for some warm and delicious Fall Baking Treats!
After making this super easy Cinnamon Applesauce Bread, I think applesauce should go in EVERYTHING! It made this quick bread so moist and delicious. I don’t even like apples and I loved this comforting baked bread, full of the taste of orchard apples and spicy cinnamon.
Another new to me ingredient was dates. I’m glad we tried them though because I made these amazing Date Cookies with toasted pecans that were SO good! These chewy cookies have a subtle flavour with just hints of sweetness and fall spice. They are perfect for the start of the season.
My Nana would have LOVED these Maple Muffins with toasted walnuts and sweet maple syrup. The whole wheat flour mixed with the all purpose flour gave these muffins the perfect texture and chew to them. I am not a big fan of walnuts usually but once they were toasted and mixed with the yummy maple syrup, well if a muffin could taste like a fall memory, it would taste like these.
I had just under 2 cups of shredded  zucchini left from my neighbour’s harvest this year and I had already made our usual zucchini breads so  we tried this late fall quick bread, Zucchini Gingerbread Loaf. How do you make zucchini bread better? Ummmm, add gingerbread spices and molasses! The zucchini gives this bread so much moisture, it basically melts in your mouth. It was the perfect gateway to winter flavours and colder months to come.
I have made these Oatmeal Bars before because they are HBear’s favourite but this time I made them Fall Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Bars. They are basically the same but I changed them up by using dark chocolate instead of chocolate chips and  cutting the M&M’s and replacing them with peanut butter pieces in fall colours!
As I have said before, I am not a baker. I like to bake but I can’t make up my own recipes! I would have NO idea what to put into a cake batter. Eggs? Flour? LOL But I love to cook! So, when I read this Apple Cider Gingersnap Cookies recipe my brain went right to apple cider vinegar, an ingredient I use a lot of. So I used that instead of actual apple cider. Well, I think I might just be a baker LOL because these were my favourite cookies I have ever baked. They were PERFECT. Just the right amount of sweet, spice and tang. When I was finished I realized my mistake but I wouldn’t change it and I won’t next time either. Trust me, apple cider vinegar, SO GOOD!
Cinnamon Applesauce Bread
1
loaf10
minutes60
minutesIngredients
2 eggs
1 cup applesauce
¾ cup sugar
½ cup canola or vegetable oil
¼ cup brown sugar, packed
¼ cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch salt to taste
1 ¾ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a loaf pan, set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, applesauce, both sugars, oil, sour cream, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and stir until just combined; don’t overmix. Batter will be thick and with a few lumps.
Turn batter out into prepared pan.
Bake for about 56 to 63 minutes, or until top is set and firm, and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Allow bread to cool in pan on top a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before turning out onto rack to cool completely.
Date Cookies
4
dozen10
minutes1
hour10
minutesIngredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 â…“ cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cloves
2 teaspoons water
1 ½ cups pitted dates, chopped
1 cup pecans, chopped
Directions
Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition.
Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves; gradually stir into creamed mixture.
Combine water and dates; stir into dough along with chopped pecans. Cover and chill for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Maple Muffins
12
muffins20
minutes25
minutesIngredients
2¼ cups flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups maple syrup
12 tablespoons butter, melted
½ cup milk
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cup walnuts, toasted & coarsely chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the maple syrup and melted butter. Whisk in the milk, followed by the egg and egg yolk. Add to the dry ingredients and whisk until just smooth. Stir in the walnuts. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, line muffin tray with liners.
Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan. The cups will be almost full. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 375°F and bake for about 15 minutes more, or until the muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove muffins from the pan. Place on a rack to cool.
Zucchini Gingerbread Loaf
1
loaf15
minutes50-55
minutesIngredients
1.5 cups zucchini, grated, do not drain liquid
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup molasses
¼ cup hot water
Directions
Preheat oven to 350℉. Lightly grease a loaf pan and set aside.
In a large bowl, add zucchini (including any excess liquid), brown sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Stir until evenly combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt.
In a third bowl, combine molasses and hot water and whisk until fully incorporated.
To the wet ingredients, add half of the dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated. Add half of the molasses mixture and stir until just incorporated. Repeat once more, adding remaining dry ingredients and molasses.
Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake for about 50 to 55 minutes, OR until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow bread to cool completely on the counter before removing from pan.
Fall Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Bars
9-12
bars20
minutes24-28
minutesIngredients
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 bar dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup Reece’s Pieces
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a square baking pan with parchment paper or spray the pan with oil.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
In a larger mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter and brown sugar until evenly combined. Whisk in egg and vanilla.
Pour dry ingredients over wet and stir with a spatula or wooden spoon just until no dry spots remain (do not overmix.)
Gently stir in oats, dark chocolate chunks, and Reece’s Pieces.
Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake 24 to 28 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned.
Let cool in the pan until the bars can be easily removed.
Apple Cider Gingersnap Cookies
4
dozen30
minutes2-12
hours10-12
minutesIngredients
1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
1-1/2 cups sugar, divided
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
Cream together butter and 1 cup sugar in a mixing bowl on high speed until light and fluffy.
Add applesauce, apple cider vinegar (trust me LOL), molasses, egg, and vanilla then mix until combined, mixture may look curdled.
In a separate bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients then add to the wet ingredients in batches, mixing until just combined before adding the next batch. Cover then refrigerate for at least two hours or up to overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees then line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll cookie dough by the tablespoon into a ball and roll in a bowl of 1/2 cup sugar. Once fully coated, place on prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes then let cool for a few minutes before transferring to cooling racks.
Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #442 Boo Baskets. This week, we get together to discuss: memory, blocked, new bra, Witches Sparkle, Pumpkin Spice, Halloween, Ron’s birthday, distractions, bathroom phone, SOW, NOW!, & blending old with the new.
Thank you to This is My Everybody and to French Ethereal for featuring my Thanksgiving Mashed Potato Balls and my Thanksgiving Treats at their Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop and Share Your Style Link Party last week.
What a week! We got a new bed, HBear has been working hard designing theatre sets for the school musical, and I had more bloodwork done. SBean is all about fall vibes even in her baths lol and we celebrated Dad’s 70th birthday! We went to Spirit Ridge to do some indoor/outdoor activities as it was an unusually cool and wet fall day and there is so much to do there, despite the weather (even get married LOL). We started inside at The Bear, The Fish, The Root & The Berry where we had a delicious brunch. Next, we did a wine tasting at Nk’Mip Cellars and then we did a walk-through, the Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre! It was a really fun day. That night, after work, HBear took Papa out for dinner at Kin & Folk and then Ninja and some work guys came over to watch Dad’s 2 favourite teams, The Vancouver Canucks and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers! As we celebrated Thanksgiving a few weeks ago, this year we spent Thanksgiving Monday picking out our perfect pumpkins for Halloween.
7 thoughts on “Fall Baking”
That sounds like a lovely week. All these fall baking treats look so yummy!
Thank you 🙂
Wow so much happening and so many yummy bakes! I added the apple cider ginger cookies to my to-bake list. They look especially delicious!
They were SO good! Enjoy 🙂
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I can almost smell the cinnamon and maple syrup just reading this! Thanks for sharing and for joining Fiesta Friday party!
Cinnamon and maple syrup, two of my favourite ingredients! Thanks for stopping by!