Projo Football Food & Spirits

Continuing the raid on Ohio newspapers' recipes in advance of the Patriots' invasion of Cincinnati Monday night, we found two interesting apple recipes at the Toledo Blade.

The "brownies" are more like blondies -- they contain no chocolate. The Autumn Fruit Cobbler uses apples, pears and dried cranberries. (The original version from Quaker Oats uses plums and ginger rather than cranberries and cinnamon, but it looks like purple mush. I think the cranberries perk it up in many ways.)

Apple Brownies

½ cup butter
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup sugar
3 medium apples, peeled, diced
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8-inch square baking pan.

Cream together butter and salt. Add egg and sugar. Beat well. Stir in apples, nuts and dry ingredients. Blend well.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 40 minutes. Cool. Cut into squares.

Makes 9 brownies.

Autumn Fruit Cobbler

3 large apples, cored and cut into ¼-inch wedges
2 medium firm-ripe pears, peeled, quartered, and cored
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar, divided
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick or old fashioned oats, uncooked
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter or margarine, chilled, cut into pieces
2/3 cup low fat milk

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In large bowl, combine fruit. In small bowl, combine ¾ cup brown sugar, cornstarch , and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Add to fruit; mix well. Spoon into 2 ½ quart glass baking dish. Bake uncovered 30 minutes.

In large bowl, combine flour, oats, remaining ¼ cup brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and remaining ½ teaspoon cinnamon; mix well. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk; mix with fork until soft dough forms. Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead gently 6 to 8 times. Pat dough into a rectangle ½-inch thick. Cut with floured biscuit or cookie cutter, or cut into squares with sharp knife.

Remove baking dish from oven; stir fruit. Carefully arrange biscuits over hot fruit; press lightly into fruit. If desired, lightly sprinkle tops of biscuits with granulated sugar. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown and fruit mixture is bubbly. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, if desired. Cover and refrigerate leftovers.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Source: Quaker Oats

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