Fresh apples lend sweetness and crunch to warm breakfast breads, refreshing salads, hearty main dishes and more.
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Apple Scones with Spiced Maple Butter
They're light, buttery and fall artwork on your plate. We almost hate to cover up the baked-on apple slice with the whipped maple butter. Almost.
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Harvest Apple Bars
Tammy Post's Iowa State Fair blue-ribbon recipe doesn't skimp on apples, which results in incredibly moist and indulgent bars.
Irresistible Apple Dessert Recipes
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Nutty Apple-Cherry Slaw
Nuts and fruit add crunch and color to cabbage tossed in a homemade vinaigrette. This beautiful twist on traditional coleslaw is best served right away for maximum crispness, but it will hold for up to 24 hours.
Fresh Slaw Recipes
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Slow Cooker Apple Butter
Your house will fill with the aroma of this five-ingredient apple butter while it simmers in your slow cooker. When the spread is done, try it on biscuits.
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Streusel Apple Bread
A touch of lemon, chopped cranberries and walnuts take this quick bread into the realm of coffee cake.
20 Sweet Quick Bread Loaves
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Apple Harvest Chili
Fresh apple, dried fruit and cashews add color, sweetness and crunch to a ready-in-45 vegetarian chili. For a twist on the traditional toppers (and to hint what's inside), garnish with apple slivers.
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Boiled Cider
Boiled cider preserves the intense sweet-tartness of fresh-picked apples. Make your own or buy it at gourmet food shops or online. Stir a couple of tablespoons into filling for pie, crisp, crumble or turnovers; replace honey or molasses in recipes for gingerbread, apple cake or spice muffins; brush on grilled vegetables; add to your favorite vinaigrette, barbecue sauce or applesauce; drizzle over oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, corn bread, ice cream, frozen yogurt or grilled fruit.
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Sweet Apple Risotto
Sweeter than traditional risotto, this dish from Iowa City's Wilson's Ciderhouse works beautifully as a side to chef Matt Steigerwald's Roast Chicken with Mushroom Jus.
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Not Your Ordinary Brie
A spiced combo of cranberries, apples and raisins blends for the chutney that tops this colorful cheese appetizer. Serve with crackers or toasted slices of baguette.
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Apple Sour Cream Kuchen
This German-style, not-too-sweet, yeast-raised cake begs for a cup of coffee and can easily be served as a breakfast bread. For an extra tang, you can serve it with a dollop of lightly sweetened sour cream.
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Apple and Couscous-Bulgur Salad
Apple cider and lemon juice add a touch of pucker that keeps this hearty grain salad from tasting too sweet. For a nutritional boost, use whole wheat couscous.
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Apple Pie Pancakes
Weekend pancakes get a makeover with apple juice and dried or fresh apples stirred into the batter. A little apple pie spice completes the flavor. We liked them warm with maple syrup.
Our Best Homemade Pancake Recipes
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Apple Cider Pulled Pork
Easy pulled pork bursts with apple flavor. The secret? Add cider into the slow cooker with the pork as well as in the barbecue sauce.
So-Good Slow-Cooker Recipes
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Sausage-Apple Dutch Baby
Why fry sausage separately when you can cook it right into the pancake? That kind of ease is just one reason we love this sweet-and-savory Dutch baby pancake. The batter's quick, and in the 15 minutes while it bakes, you can whip up the maple-glazed apple topping.
Favorite Breakfast and Brunch Recipes
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Cider-Spiked Apple and Pecan Tart
In this unusual fruit tart, apples are gently cooked in butter, then arranged in a pre-baked crust and brushed with jelly. The result: an edible work of art. The tart's distinct apple flavor comes from boiled cider. You can make your own using the recipe on our site, or buy it in specialty food stores or online.
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Spiced Pecan Apple Salad
Pecans, feta cheese, a Red Delicious apple and zesty vinaigrette combine for a memorable salad.
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Onion, Apple and Cheese Gratin
Iowa City chef Matt Steigerwald serves this gratin (which tastes sort of like the best French onion soup ever) with grilled artisan bread. Crisp and charred, it's a good foil to the gooey richness.
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Applejack Turkey Sandwich
Apple butter adds a sweet orchard flavor to this turkey-cheddar-bacon sandwich on sourdough layered with Swiss cheese, sweet peppers and onion. Cook it on a panini cooker or in a skillet.
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Multigrain Apple Streusel Muffins
Rise and shine! These tender gems taste so good, you'd never guess we bumped up the fiber in this fall recipe with two kinds of whole grains and traded most of the butter for applesauce and buttermilk.
Quick and Easy Muffin Recipes
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Brie-Apple Quesadillas
Crisp and tart Granny Smith apples pair beautifully with creamy Brie and walnuts, while a drizzle of gooey caramel adds sweetness to this quick and easy dessert.
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