Heather's Bytes

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie is Peanuttiest Blondies, chosen by Nicole of Bakeologie.

I had to race to get this one done and photographed since things around here are pretty busy (aren’t they always this time of year?).

These peanut butter blondies are delicious, and really easy to put together. Oddly enough, they called for cinnamon, which I’m still not 100% sure about taste-wise, but no one is complaining so I’ll just keep that to myself.

Overall, these are a definite hit!

I love fall baking more than just about anything in the world, and today was such a perfect day for it since our temperatures have finally dipped below 90°!

Appropriately, this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie is a Double Apple Bundt Cake, chosen by Lynne of Honey Muffin.

I had everything I needed for this one, and I chose to use Granny Smith apples. However, the one thing I did forget to pick up at the store was raisins so I used some Craisins I had in the pantry instead. They turned out very well and give the cake a little extra tartness.

I didn’t make the cake ahead of time and let it sit out as suggested, but I did sneak a few bites after I took the pictures above and even without a full “melding,” the flavors were yummy and fall-ish, and with a whole jar of apple butter still in the fridge I’m going to have to make it a few more times. When it’s ready to serve (probably tonight) I’ll make up a glaze to pour over it.

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie was chosen by Leslie of Lethally Delicious. This is really a forgiving recipe: As easy and delicious as this was, I managed to have nothing but issues with it!

I started off having to go to three different stores to find the puff pastry. My usual grocery store (Albertson’s) has had it in the past but they seem to be phasing a lot of stuff out lately, and no longer had it. The golden delicious apples that I did manage to find went rotten within three days of bringing them home, which, even for Albertson’s, is a new record. I think I need to start shopping at Smith’s.

Then, when I was prepping the apples, I managed to read the recipe on the opposite page of the one I was supposed to be using, and cut them a little thicker than they were supposed to be (not a big deal, they ended up getting cooked through anyway.) I put the tarte in the oven for the least recommended amount of time and still managed to get a little too much color along the edges. And, in my eagerness to try the tarte and get pictures, I completely forgot the apricot glaze. It’s a good thing I’m not a rocket scientist.

I did add a little bit of cinnamon to the sugar sprinkled over the top, and I think if I make this again I’ll go with Granny Smith apples, which I prefer for baking.

But as I said, it still turned out very yummy and the kids loved it, too.

This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie is one of my favorite cookies ever – peanut butter! They were chosen by Jasmine of Jasmine Cuisine.

I lamely forgot to check the TWD site before I went grocery shopping last week so I could add any missing ingredients to my list, but I was happy to find that I had pretty much everything I needed for these. The one thing I was missing was the salted peanuts, and though those were obviously what set these cookies apart from regular peanut butter cookies, I went on without them and actually ended up substituting Heath bits instead. They turned out perfectly!

The recipe makes a lot of cookies, but my family are peanut butter cookie fans too, so they’re not going to go to waste!