Apple Butter Hot Cereal (and Other Things!)

Ok, Apple Butter, where have you been hiding all these years?
Why have I only just discovered you now?! 

This might become a new obsession. I stopped at a produce stand to get my yearly pumpkin plunder and saw a shelf of homemade apple butter that looked like it needed a go. Boy am I glad I spent the $3.50! Apple butter is miraculous! A little sweeter than my typical fare, but oh so perfectly spiced and comforting. I knew I had a recipe to make some from scratch with no added sugars, and would like to try that some time, but the ingredients on this jar were quite harmless so I decided why not?!

Best shopping trip of the year!

First I tried it on some perfectly-spiced veganized veggie cookies that I made this week (which Zach rightly points out are more like scones... but yummy scones, for sure). The spices in the apple butter with the spices in the cookies were a perfect combination... :)

Then I tried it on a slice of homemade honey wheat bread that turned out to be a home-made honey boulder (read: first-time user bread-machine failure - but more on that later). The apple butter definitely redeemed the lumpy rock that came out of my new bread machine and made it worth eating again.

Our edible murder weapon. That dense thing weighs a ton...

Then I thought: this needs to go into hot cereal and/or oatmeal! So in it went!

Apple Butter Hot Cereal 

• 1/2 cup hot cereal 
• 1/2 cup nondairy milk
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp chia seeds/gel 
• 2 - 2.5 tbsp apple butter (to taste)
• Walnuts, pecans, etc.  
• Extra cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice 
• Diced apples 

Cook hot cereal according to directions or consult this recipe. After cereal is cooked, remove from heat, stir in apple butter, walnuts, and extra spices. Top with ground flaxseed and some diced apples. Mmmm!

This would probably taste fabulous with pumpkin puree mixed in or some ever-glorious peanut butter. Just sayin'.

All in all, I'm going fall crazy over here! We're making two butternut squash recipes this week and pumpkin bread to boot! How are you guys "eating up" the season? :)