Well, it’s that time of the year again: the leaves are changing, the weather’s getting cool, and it’s time to go apple picking.  I know we’re in high school, but no one is ever too old to go apple picking, especially when there’s so much you can do with the apples afterwards.  Whether you make candy apples, caramel apples, or some kind of dessert, there are endless possibilities.  Now, you can always buy these apple treats at the store, but isn’t it so much more satisfying when you make it yourself out of the apples you picked?  Nothing beats homemade.  The most difficult part is deciding what you want to use your apples for.

How I decided what to make after I went apple picking was by using–what else?–Google.  It’s quite simple, actually. All I did was type “apple desserts” into Google, press enter, and there you have it: endless suggestions at your disposal.  One idea that sounded extra good to me was Apple Peanut Butter Cookies.  So, it was decided and that’s what I made this fall.

This recipe is a little more complicated than the ones I usually do; however, I would say it’s worth it.  It actually doesn’t take too long to make, but there are lots of ingredients – shortening, peanut butter, sugar, brown sugar, an egg, vanilla extract, flour, salt, cinnamon, and apples.

To start, preheat the oven to 375. Then get a large bowl and add ½ cup of each: shortening, peanut butter, sugar, and brown sugar.  Blend these together using an electric mixer; mixing should only take about 30 seconds to a minute.  Next, beat in an egg and ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Supposedly, this recipe calls for you the mix the remaining dry ingredients all together before combining them with rest of the ingredients; however, I did not see that when reading the directions so I just mixed all the dry ingredients right into the previous mixture.  That being said, you can really do either with the dry ingredients: mix them together separately and then add it to the other mixture OR you can take the lazy route and directly mix it in.  Either way you go, you’ll need 1 ½ cups of flour, ½ teaspoon of baking soda, ½ teaspoon of salt, and ½ teaspoon of cinnamon.

Once everything is mixed, your last concern is the apples.  For this recipe, you need grated apple without the skin.  So first, you’ll need to peel a medium sized apple (one apple should be enough).  After, use a cheese grater to grate the apple.  If you’ve ever used a cheese grater, this process should be simple; if not, I’m sure someone in your house knows how to use one.  Now that the apple is grated, add the grated pieces to the mixture of all the other ingredients.

Now you have your cookie dough.  All that’s left to do is scoop the dough onto a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until you think they’re done (assuming you’ve baked cookies before).

So, now you have a new dessert to make around this time of year when you have far too many apples from your trip to the orchards.  This is a great recipe that puts a new spin on such a common snack.  So, be daring and try it out; you won’t regret it.