I’m so proud of myself…..I came up with a tasty apple pie filling and kicked it up a notch with something maybe nobody already thought of before……..yuzu kosho…..That amazing wonderfully mostly citrus-ee…..a little heat and more….condament. It really makes apple filling pop if you got the flavors just right……First I pre-baked a nice thin crust. I made the filling. I made a walnut crumb topping and then I put them all together and baked it off. I make very thin crusts on pies. If you are not a fan of a thin crust then you are welcome to double the crust recipe but timing will differ. Depending on serving size this make around 8 servings.

Ingredients for around 8 servings

3 1/2 lbs green apples – peeled, cored, cut in small wedges

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

3 Tablespoons corn starch

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 lemon – just the fresh juice for the filling******** and save the zest for the walnut crumb topping********

2 Tablespoons sweet butter – cut into small cubes like small peas

1 teaspoon yuzu kosho

1 cup flour – for crust

1/4 cup canola oil – for crust

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar – for crust

1/6 cup water – for crust

1/4 teaspoon baking powder – for crust

3 1/2 Tablespoons cold butter – grated – for topping

1/2 cup walnuts lightly crushed – for topping

1 yolk – for topping

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest – for topping

1/4 teaspoon lemon extract – for topping

1/2 cup flour – for topping’

3 Tablespoons corn meal – for topping

1/4 teaspoon sea salt – for topping

1/6 cup sugar – for topping

1 1/2 Tablespoons brown sugar – for topping

non stick spray

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Make the filling. In a large bowl mix together the apples, sugars, corn starch, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, lemon juice, butter, and yuzu kosho. Pour this mixture into shallow pan or pans and cover with foil. This goes in the oven for about an hour or until cooked.

Make the crust.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, oil, vinegar, salt, water, and baking powder. Roll this out very thin and place in a sprayed 8-9 inch pie pan. (I roll mine on parchment paper with plastic wrap over the dough to get it very thin) This gets pre-baked in the oven for 15 minutes.

Make the topping – In a medium bowl combine the butter, walnuts, yolk, lemon zest, extract, flour, corn meal, salt, sugars. Dump this on a baking sheet and bake it about 25 minutes.

To. pastry shell add the apple filling. Top the filling with the walnut crumble put this back in the oven for around 20 minutes.

ENJOY!!!!!!

I had some lemons to use and I was thinking lemon cookie. I came across an Italian Lemon Cookie Recipe that I had to completely change the recipe but I tried to shape the cookies similar to the original recipe. I think the recipe I read had typos (like 4 cups of flour for 20 cookies doesn’t make sense) and there wasn’t enough lemon in the recipe to taste lemon either (typo?). Made some other changes and came out with something really different. These cookies came out extra light, very lemony, and not too sweet. Servings are very hard to determine here. I made 40 small but very light cookies. I think you might eat up to four as a serving. So that means you will get between 40-10 servings….40 if you only eat one……(you are NOT going to do that)…….10 servings if you eat 4……I think around 15 servings is realistic…….

Ingredients for around 15 servings

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup sweet butter – melted

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg – beaten

1/4 cup milk

1 lemon – juice and zest

1 teaspoon lemon extract

non stick spray

1 cup 10X sugar (for glaze)

2 lemons for zest and only one lemon for the juice (for glaze)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray a cookie sheet with non stick spray.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, butter, sugar, egg, milk, juice and zest of one lemon, and lemon extract. Hand mix with a FORK till combined. Roll logs that are ever so slightly thinner than your pinky. Or you can be more precise and divide the dough into 4 and get 10 cuts out of each quarter……….Each 10th gets rolled into a log close to your pinky size and you want each log to be about 4 inches long. You roll it into a fancy knot.

Have fun with this……it’s not brain surgery.

They go on your sprayed cookie sheet.

Into your preheated 350 degree oven on your middle rack till slightly browned and cooked……Ovens do indeed DIFFER………In my Whirlpool oven mine took 17 and 18 minutes………Your oven may differ.

While your cookies are baking mix up the glaze in a small bowl…..It’s just a cup of 10X, zest of two lemons and juice of one lemon. Mix well with a FORK.

Dip the cookie tops into the glaze.

Use all the glaze.

For some reason my one dog feels the need to guard the cookies.

The Cookies really are FORKING DELICIOUS!

I’ve been making lots of crisps lately. I thought I’d try to make pumpernickel today.

This will make about 6 servings

1 cup flour

1/2 cup dark rye flour

1/4 cup wheat graham flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 Tablespoon caraway seeds + more for finishing

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

1 teaspoon onion flakes

poppy seeds – to taste to finish

flake sea salt – to taste to finish

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil + MORE to spray dough

1/2 cup water (maybe add 1 more tablespoon if needed)

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

In a large bowl mix together the flours, baking powder, cocoa, sugar, caraway seeds, cumin, coriander, garlic, onion flakes, oil, water.

Divide in three balls.

Over parchment place and flatten a dough ball. Cover with plastic wrap and roll thin. Place this on a baking sheet.

Remove plastic wrap.

Spray dough with olive oil, sprinkle salt flakes, poppy seeds, and caraway seeds.

This goes on middle rack of preheated 450F degree oven for around 13-14 minutes or until done.

When it’s hot it might still be soft. Wait till it cools. If not crisp enough turn it over and give it two or three minutes.

ENJOY!!!!!