Sadly, this year's apple harvest is not quite as good as last year's. There are, however, still plenty of white and red apples under our garden trees, which you can use in many different ways. We offer you three great ideas about what to do with your apples.
1. Classic apple juice
Our number one choice is always homemade apple juice, which is also the main ingredient in our craft sparkling drinks. Apple juice is traditionally made from autumn apples because they are juicy and better in taste, but you can also make juice from summer apples if you like. You can use a mixture of all apple varieties that are currently available in your home garden to make juice.
Process of making juice:
- Sort and wash apples — all rotten apples must be removed as they spoil the taste, and the shelf life may be shorter.
- Crushing apples – use a specific crusher (unfortunately, cutting apples on its own is not enough to start pressing them immediately).
- Pressing – attention to the technique. Press your weight gradually, not adding a heavyweight at once.
And it's ready-fresh, homemade apple juice. Of course, it should be pasteurized and bottled to preserve the juice. Another alternative to store the juice is in a bag-in-box system that has become very popular among people. It takes less space and allows you to drink the juice without spoiling it after opening.
2. Healthy apple-oatmeal cookies
In the colder months, we spend more time indoors and what else to do with this free time than baking healthy cookies. We will share with you a delicious recipe that is also perfect for vegans and can be prepared gluten-free if you prefer. Well that sounds amazing!
In a bowl, mix the oatmeal, flour, coarsely grated apples, oil, vanilla extract, and water, then add the raisins and chopped almonds/nuts. If the mixture seems too thick, add another spoonful or a couple of water. Allow it to rise for 15 minutes. Cover the baking sheet with baking paper, then roll the dough into walnut-sized balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie with a large fork.
Bake in a 200C oven for about 12-15 minutes until the cookies are golden on top.
Quick and easy healthy snacks.
You can find the full recipe here
Ingredients:
130 g wholemeal oat flakes (3.5 dl)
1 tablespoon whole wheat flour (replace gluten-free version with nut flour, corn starch or oat flour)
2 larger apples
1 tablespoon mild-flavored oil (coconut oil)
0.5 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 tp vanilla sugar
4 tablespoons (hot) water
75 g (smaller) seedless raisins
4-5 tablespoons chopped almonds or pecans or walnuts
Apples are perfect for making various foods, either sweet or savory, but for us, an apple cake is a must in autumn. That's why we're offering you a German apple cake recipe for the third option. There are also a variety of related recipes available in Estonian food blogs, but we chose this one from thekitchn.com. For this cake, you don't need a lot of ingredients, and ordinarily, you have most of them already at home. Happy baking!
3. German apple pie
Ingredients:
3-5 medium-sized apples
½ lemons
180-200g butter at room temperature
1.5 dl of sugar
½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
3-3.5 dl flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon fine salt
Peel, core, and quarter the apples. Thinly slice each quarter lengthwise without cutting all the way through to the core side, leaving the quarter hinged together like a fan.
Add sugar, butter to the lemon zest in a bowl and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and 1 of the eggs. Beat until combined before adding the second egg. Beat until combined, and then add the third egg.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. With the mixer on low speed, beat in the flour mixture until just combined, and beat in the reserved lemon juice. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Gently press the apple quarters into the batter, core-side down, leaving only a bit of space between each quarter.
Bake for 40 minutes at 175 degrees until golden. Allow to cool to room temperature before serving and eat with vanilla ice cream if desired.
These are our three ideas on how to use our beloved Estonian apples in different ways.
PS! Öun is always looking for partners from Estonia who would like to sell their organic apples to us. If your garden is not yet certified, we can help you with this process. If you are interested, please write to tootmine@oun.ee
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