Apple Charlottes: Easy for Kids on Thanksgiving!
Last week you read about Vim and Vinegar, and today I’m sharing a delightful recipe which I love for this Thanksgiving or fall season.
Have you ever made Apple Charlottes?
They are so cute and fun and scrumptious!
We made them in ramekins and also little 1/2 pint-size canning jars. Both work!
My Balcony Girls and I stumbled through the process together, and so I recommend doing this with a group of kids. It’s yummy (hey, it involves white bread and butter!) and it’s really fun.
In fact, it could be a Thanksgiving Day activity for kids to get involved in the kitchen after the main meal is served.
Apple Charlottes
Serves 12Filling:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
8 cups apples peeled, cored, and diced (and pears would be delicious, too!)
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 T. lemon juice
2 tsp. lemon zest
2 tsp. vanillaCrust:
2 cups butter
1 cup sugar
1 loaf white bread
Preheat oven to 475. Prepare the filling on the stove by melting the butter first, and then by adding the sugar and stirring. Then add the rest of the ingredients and cook over medium heat.
Stir and cook the apples until they are juicy but a little firm. Remove from the heat.
Prepare the crust by brushing the inside of the dish (jar) with butter.
Take a biscuit cutter (or a knife) and make 2 1/2 inch circles to fit at the bottom.
Dip both sides in melted butter and one side in sugar. Cut strips of the bread to fit around the sides of the jar; dip in butter and sugar.
Place the sugar-sides down to the outside in the jars.
Divide the filling evenly between dishes. Place on a baking sheet and cover with foil. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the outsides of the dish/jar becomes caramelized (golden brown).
Cool for only a few minutes before turning over onto a serving dish. NOTE: An adult needs to be the one to flip the dishes over (hot!)
Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.
This dessert was a pure delight to the Balcony Girls. But hey, not just for the girls. I brought the leftovers home and my boys devoured it all before I could even get a bite.
Great presentation and really fun for apple/pear season!
Do you have a favorite apple recipe that your kids love to eat? Or do you do anything special with kids to get them involved in cooking on Thanksgiving Day?
Here’s a sneak peek at what the Balcony Girls are up to this week, since we are focusing on “giving.”
Want more info on Balcony Girls? Go, here. And thank you, Jyl and Jamie, for featuring RE and the Balcony Girls on Mom it Forward (changing the world one mom at a time) this week!
I had to chuckle about the sweet lady wanting to know what a cube of butter is. I posted a recipe
awhile ago and was asked that too by a few gals.
Are we dating ourselves with that “cube of butter ” thing : )
Love this recipe cannot wait to give it a try
They look so yummy!
I REALLY need to get some small dessert cups etc… so cute.
I love Apple Charlottes… these are so cute and I love that you are using bread instead of dough… and the cute little ramekins are so adorable…
No, I had not heard of Apple Charlottes before – they look yummy, and perfect to make with kids. I know my girls would love these!
if i eat nothing but pumpkin and apple for the next 5 months, that will be alright with me.
I’ll bet the BG’s had fun making these. The recipe looks great and I’m sure it could be cut in half. Just 2 of us at home and our dinner parties are usually 4 or 6 people so I like recipes that made smaller amounts. Thanksgiving is of course a bigger party but I’m not in charge of dessert.
Thanks!
Darla
Oh, those look amazing!
You are right, the presentation makes them very special!
I’m curious, too…
I looked it up and some sites say 2 Tbls while others say 1/2 cup.
Hey Di, 1/2 cup :) I’ll make the change :)
Yum! We make a traditional apple pie along with the pumpkin for Thanksgiving, but those look wonderful. Might give those a try instead.
We love my Grandma’s apple crisp recipe and Granny’s apple butter! I bought a couple of cases of the little 1.5 oz hex jars and we gave apple butter and some candy corn and chocoate away for the ladies at the coffee last month as well as to the conciereges downstairs and some of our faovrites at the grocery store we frequent- big hit! :) Your treats sound delicious!!!!!!
Those look yummilicious! But I have a question. What’s a “cube” of butter? Is it a stick? A pat? A chunk? LOL! I’m just not sure that in all my days of cooking I’ve heard of a cube of butter.
Have a fabulous day my friend.
1/2 cup … I’ll make the change! :)