Louisburg Cider Mill

Make this quick bread recipe and enjoy with your favorite soup recipe or chili.

• 3 C. Self-Rising Flour

• 3 Tbs. Granulated Sugar

• 1 12 oz. bottle Lost Trail Root Beer

• 3 Tbs. Melted Butter, divided

Preheat oven to 350º. Prepare a 9”x5” bread pan by greasing with 1 tablespoon of butter. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine self-rising flour and sugar with a whisk. Make a well in the center. Add the Root Beer into the well. Stir the mixture with a spoon until combined.

Pour the mixture with a spoon until combined. Pour the mixture into your prepared bread pan. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of butter. Bake for 55-60 minutes, until browned on top and loaf thumps when you tap the top.

Place on a wire rack and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Remove bread from the pan and allow it to cool on the wire rack. You can brush with more butter if you choose.

 

FOR THE CRUST:

• 1 C. Unsalted Butter, cut into small pieces

• 2 C. All-Purpose Flour

• 1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt

CHEESECAKE LAYER:

• (1) 8 oz. pkg. Cream Cheese

• 1/2 C. Granulated Sugar

• 1 Large Egg, room temperature

• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

FOR THE STREUSEL TOPPING:

• 1 1/2  C. All-Purpose Flour

• 1 1/2 C. Confectioner’s Sugar

• 3/4 C. Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces

• 1/4 tsp. Kosher Salt

• 1/4 C. Pecans, chopped

• 2 C. Louisburg Cider Apple Butter

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350º. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and flour until crumbly and combined thoroughly. Transfer the mixture to an ungreased 13×9 inch baking dish and pat the crust firmly and evenly into the dish using your hands. Bake for 15 minutes, remove and allow to cool completely. In a bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth on medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla and continue beating until combined. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, using a pastry blender, combine the flour, confectioners’ sugar, butter, pecans and salt until mixture comes together and forms coarse crumbs. Using your hands or a fork, toss until the ingredients are combined and set aside.

Once the crust has cooled, spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the top of the crust leaving a 1/4 inch edge all the way around. Spread a thin layer of apple butter over the cream cheese and then sprinkle the streusel topping over the entire top. Bake for 40 minutes, remove and cool completely. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let it set overnight before cutting into squares. Store in an airtight container.

 

These cupcakes are delicious with just the cream cheese frosting, but once you drizzle the reduced apple cider over the top, they transform into something out of this world!

 

FOR THE APPLE CIDER REDUCTION:

• 3 C. Louisburg Cider Mill Apple Cider reduced to 1/2 C. for cupcake batter

• 2 C. Louisburg Cider Mill Apple Cider reduced to 1/4 C. for drizzle

FOR THE CUPCAKES:

• 1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

• 1/4 tsp. Baking Soda

• 1/2 tsp. Salt

• 2 1/4 C. Flour

• 2 1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp. Ground Nutmeg

• 1 C. Buttermilk

• 10 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, softened

• 1 C. Granulated Sugar

• 1/2 C. Light Brown Sugar, packed

• 2 Eggs

• 1 tsp. Vanilla

FOR THE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

• 1 1/2 C. Unsalted Butter, softened

• 12 oz. Cream Cheese, softened

• 4 1/2 C. Powdered Sugar

• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla

For the Apple Cider Reduction:

Add 3 cups of apple cider to a saucepan and 2 cups to another saucepan. Bring cider to a slow simmer over medium low heat. It takes a long time to reduce the cider to the right consistency, about 30 minutes or so.

For the Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350º. Start by creaming 10 Tbs. of softened, butter together with 1 cup of granulated sugar and 1/2 cup of packed, light brown sugar. Then mix in 2 eggs and 1 tsp. vanilla. Next add 1 cup of buttermilk and the 1/2 cup portion of reduced apple cider and combine. In a separate bowl sift together 2 1/4 cups of flour, 1 1/2 tsp. of  baking powder, 1/4 tsp. of baking soda, 1/2 tsp of salt, 2 1/2 tsp. of ground cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg in a medium sized bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine. Line cupcake pan with cupcake liners and fill each liner 3/4 of the way full. Bake the cupcakes for 19-21 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean from the centers. Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting them.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

Add 12 oz. of softened cream cheese to a large mixing bowl and mix until smooth. Then add 1 1/2 cup of softened butter and mix until smooth. Add 4 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, a little at a time until it is all combined. Last, add in 1/2 tsp. of vanilla.

Assembling the Cupcakes:

When cupcakes are completely cooled, pipe a generous amount of cream cheese frosting onto each one. Lastly, take 1/4 cup portion of reduced apple cider and drizzle it over the tops of cupcakes. *Store leftover in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

 

These whoopie pies are like a snickerdoodle cookie, but on steroids! The cream cheese filling with our apple butter and caramel sauce drizzled in between the two cookies turn an ordinary cookie into extraordinary goodness!

WHOOPIE PIES:

• 1 C Louisburg  Apple Cider

• 1/2 C Butter, room temperature (divide 6 Tbs. for dough and 2 Tbs. melted to brush baked cookies)

• 1 3/4 C Flour

• 1/2 tsp Salt

• 1 tsp Baking Powder

• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda

• 1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp Ginger

• 1/2 tsp Nutmeg

• 1/2 C Granulated Sugar

• 1/4 C plus 2 tsp Brown Sugar

• 1/4 C Louisburg Cider Mill Apple Butter

• 2 Eggs

• 1/4 tsp Vanilla

• Louisburg Caramel Sauce

CINNAMON SUGAR COATING (if desired):

• 3 Tbs Butter, melted

• 1/4 C Sugar

• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

CREAM CHEESE ICING:

• 4 1/2 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature

• 3 Tbs Butter, room temperature

• 1/4 C plus 3 Tbs Brown Sugar

• 2 C Powdered Sugar, sifted

• 1/2 tsp Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350º. In a small pot, bring the apple cider to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until cider is reduced down to 1/4 cup. Set aside to cool before using.

In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, beat 6 tablespoons of the butter with the sugars, on medium speed until combined. Add the vanilla followed by the eggs. Add the apple cider followed by the apple butter. Turn the mixer on low and mix in the flour until just combined. Turn the cookies out into mounds about 1 1/2 Tbs each, placing them 3 inches apart on the baking sheet. Rotate the pan halfway and bake 11-13 minutes or until cookies spring back when touched lightly with your fingertip. Once out of  the oven, allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to wire rack. Brush the cookies with the reserved 2 Tbs of melted butter and sprinkle them with the cinnamon sugar or toss them in the cinnamon sugar. Allow cookies to cool completely on rack before filling them with cream cheese icing and either drizzle Louisburg caramel sauce over the frosting or a dollop of  Louisburg Apple Butter in the center.

CREAM CHEESE ICING: In a large bowl mix the cream cheese and butter on medium speed for one minute until creamed and combined. Add the brown sugar and mix for another minute. Mix in the vanilla then turn the mixer on low and gradually mix in the powdered sugar. Pipe or spread the icing on one half of the whoopie pie. Gently top with another cookie.