Hmmmm. Fall. ‘Tis the time of the year when some of my favorite scents are out in full force. I start adding cinnamon to my morning pour over coffee. I crave the ginger, cloves and nutmeg flavors in spice cookies.
I recently made my first apple pie which ended in a huge, fruit goodness success. Normally, I would have been happy to leave the peels on the apple as they cooked in the buttery dough. I’m that person. I believe the peels hold a lot of nutritious values and has a lot of the apple flavor.
This time around, however, Mike and I had a different agenda in store for the peels. By dehydrating the peels and mixing them with warming spices and a bit of sugar, you create a flavorful addition for adding a bit of fall to cookies, coffee, donuts and the list goes on. I’ve added it to my morning Ice Box Oats.
The recipe, from Sweet Paul Magazine 2012 edition, uses the peel from six apples to make about 8 ounces of pie-flavoured crystals. So, next time you are making an apple pie, turn overs — consider saving the peels. It will be worth the effort.
Apple Pie Sugar (from Sweet Paul Magazine 2012)
- peels from six apples
- 2/3 cup of sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ginger (dried)
- dash of salt
1) In a dehydrator or low oven, dry apple peels until crispy (this took about two . . . two and a half hours on a very low oven).
2. Using a spice grinder or food processor, grind the dried peels until fine (about 5 seconds was all it took for us).
3. Mix peels with remaining ingredients and store in a dry place.
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