Mar 18, 2010

Apple Sauce Easter Craft & Apple Sauce Pie Recipe from Musselman's

My kids love Musselman's apple sauce, so I readily accepted when Musselman's offered to send me some applesauce for a craft as well as to eat. I was curious about the craft, which turned out to be for Bunny Place Cards that uses apple sauce in a very non-traditional way. Here's the "recipe":

What you'll need:
1/2 cup Musselman's Apple Sauce
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons cinnamon (one 2.37 oz bottle)
glitter (optional)
white craft glue (optional)
waxed paper
bunny (or other Easter shape) cookie cutter
paint pens/glitter glue pens

Instructions
1. Stir together apple sauce and 1/2 cup cinnamon until the dough becomes soft. Knead the dough with your hands for several minutes until it holds together and is completely incorporated. If desired, add glitter while kneading for extra sparkle, and craft glue for extra strength. If the dough is too wet, add 1 tablespoon of flour and knead until the flour is completely incorporated.

2. Shape the dough into a disk and place it on a sheet of waxed paper. Place a sheet of waxed paper over the dough and roll it out to 3/4 inch thick. Use the cookie cutter to cut out bunnies or other shapes.

3. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons of cinnamon on a cookie sheet and place bunnies on the sheet. Bake at 200 degrees for approximately two hours, turning bunnies periodically so they dry evenly and the edges don't curl. Brush of the excess cinnamon and air dry the bunnies overnight on cooling racks before decorating.

4. Once the bunnies are completely dry, write each guest's name with a paint or glitter glue pen and use them as place cards. You can add extra embellishments with acrylic paint, ribbons and/or fabric.

Note that these place cards are not edible.

If you're looking for something edible, I highly recommend Musselman's Apple Raisin Crumb Pie. I've adapted the recipe as follows:

Apple Sauce Raisin Crumb Pie
Serves 8

2 cups Musselman's Natural Apple Sauce
2/3 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup raisins
4 eggs
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 9-inch unbaked pie shell with high fluted edge

1. Combine the apple sauce and brown sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add 3 tablespoons butter and stir until melted. Stir in the raisins. Set aside and cool to room temperature.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

3. In a small mixing bowl, beat the eggs and add to the apple sauce mixture. Pour the apple sauce mixture into the pie shell. Bake for 20 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, blend the oats, sugar, cinnamon and butter until crumbly. Remove the pie from the oven and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the top. Bake the pie for another 25 minutes, or until the top and crust are golden brown.

This pie was a huge hit at my house. I reduced the sugar from the original recipe because I thought it was a little sweet. The mixture was a tad loose, so I might add another egg the next time.

Musselman's has some printable coupons on their web site, including $1/2 42-48 oz. Apple Sauce.

Disclosure: Musselman's sent me the supplies to make the bunny place cards, but the boys and I haven't gotten to them yet and I'm not sure when we'll have time. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

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