Maple Sweetened Apple Butter: Cut 20 apples into eighths and place in stock pot with 1 C apple cider; cook down until mushy. Put though seive or food mill to remove seeds, stems and skin. Put in slow cooker and mix in 1 C maple syrup, juice of 1 lemon, 2 tsp each vanilla and cinnamon, 1 tsp each ginger and nutmeg, and 1/2 tsp cloves. Cook covered on low for 8 hours or overnight. Cook uncovered on high the next day, stirring often, until mixture holds its shape when stirred. (This may take all day.) Add maple (or brown) sugar to taste. Fill sterilized jars to 1/4″ inch from top and can in hot water bath for the appropriate amount of time given your jar size and altitude. Makes around 20 cups. That’s where maple meets the apple harvest!
Maple in harvest food! That means maple paired with seasonal fruits like apples and pears, late season berries, nuts, whole grains, and squashes. It means putting pumpkin in your maple and maple in your pumpkin. It means meats and poultry, fall spices, and lots and lots of sweets. Here’s a variety of ways to satisfy your harvest-time palate with maple all day long!
Breakfast
At breakfast, maple at harvest gives us oats: Cinnamon-Apple Baked Oatmeal, Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal, Pumpkin Pecan Overnight Oats, Pumpkin Spice Overnight Oats, Maple Almond Granola, Coconut Almond Granola, and Oatmeal Banana Pancakes. It’s a maple-forward harvest morning with Maple-Pumpkin Oatmeal with Chia or, that cousin-of-oats, Cinnamon-Toast Breakfast Quinoa.
Maple also helps us get our apple- a-day first thing in the morning with Maple Glazed Apple Fritters, Apple Dutch Baby, Vegan Apple Blackberry Brioche French Toast, and Apple-Pecan Pancakes with Maple Apple Syrup.
Lest ye forget the pumpkin, try a simple slice of toast with Maple-Pumpkin Peanutbutter; it pairs well with Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew. Or perhaps you’d like Cinnamon Roll Pumpkin Pancakes, Pumpkin Spice Mochi Waffles or Pumpkin Spice and Ricotta Pancakes with Buttered Maple.
And maple keeps us trending at harvest time with Ricotta Pear Toast (move over Avacado!) and the Matcha Green Smoothie Bowl.
Lunch and Dinner
Maple in harvest food means maple all day!
Lunch in seasonal style with Maple Roasted Salmon Sandwiches and a side of Maple Potato Chips. Do you lunch on salad? Try Tuscan Kale and Cranberry Salad, Blueberry Pecan Salad with Maple Balsalmic, Apple Salad with Maple Vinaigrette or a classic Cobb Salad with Spicy Maple Candied Nuts and Maple Chipotle Chicken. It’s finally soup season. So, try Butternut Squash Soup with Maple, or Roasted Garlic Pumpkin Soup.
Eat your maple at dinner too with Cajun Black Salmon and Maple Coffee Butter, Maple-Chipotle Air Fryer Pork Chops, or Sheet Pan Pork with Sweet Potatoes. Try Chipotle Maple Chicken Thighs, Roast Chicken, Potatoes and Maple Parsnips, Maple, Pork and Basil Dumplings, Maple-Butter Glazed Turkey, Maple-Chicken Skewers, Maple Roasted Chicken or Baked Gammon with Maple. Seasonal sides consist of Maple Roasted Carrots, Maple-Glazed Carrots with Mustard Dressing, Bang Bang Cauliflower, and Sweet Spiced Roasted Pumpkin. Or try Maple-Roasted Butternut Squash, Roasted Acorn Squash with Maple Goat Cheese and Pecans, Maple Butternut Squash, Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Maple Roasted Brussel Sprouts or Brussel Sprout Petals with Bacon and Onion.
Dessert
Maple in harvest food means ending the short day on a sweet note. To maximize the maple-to-other-ingredients ratio, try Maple Syrup Pie. Add apples for Maple Apple Pie. Keep the crust and swap out the apples for a Maple Bacon Walnut Tart. Or switch it up all together with an Autumn Fruit Custard Pie, or Apple Pie Bites with Apple Pie Ice Cream.
If pie just isn’t your thing, there’s always Apple Maple Crinkle, Saffron Panna Cotta with Poached Pears, Vegan Caramel Apple Pecan Cookies, and Maple Chili Popcorn Clusters. You could also try Maple Walnut Cake, Baked Apple Oatmeal Bites or Apple Walnut Bread Pudding. Other maple-in-harvest options include Maple Gingerbread, and Miso Maple Loaf Cake.
And now all the PSL enthusiasts out there can bookend the day with pumpkin spice. For maple in harvest food also means Pumpkin Cookies, Pumpkin Bread Pudding, Harvest Pumpkin Smash Cake, Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes, Pumpkin Cupcakes with Maple Frosting, Pumpkin Flan with Maple Caramel, Pumpkin Pie Buns with Maple Cream Cheese Glaze, and Pumpkin Spice Snickerdoodles. That’s a whole lot of pumpkin.
But don’t forget the maple-forward harvest time drinks: the Spiced Coconut Mocktail, the Pumpkin Smash Cocktail and the Healthy PSL.
All-in-all, there’s plenty of maple in harvest food to go around!