I’m on a cake kick, for sure. Something is just very comforting about cake this time of year, and I need all the comfort snack breaks that exist. Pass me a fork and a plate!

This recipe is a one-bowl, throw everything together and mix kind of recipe. Even the glaze takes about two seconds to throw together. When you’re done, there’s a fluffy apple cake with a lovely honey glaze that looks like it took hours to make, but in reality might have taken 10 minutes. Are you game?

I’m so excited for apple season. Once a year, my family goes to an orchard (it’s about 26 miles away, so it’s not super nearby) for their annual pumpkin festival. While I love the corn maze (not) and the hay rides (yay!), the best part is undoubtedly their caramel apples.

Yep, it turns out that not much in life is more delicious than a freshly picked orchard apple smothered in caramel, peanuts, sprinkles and sea salt. I get mine with the works every year, and then I hide from my kids while I eat it on top of a hay bale. That way, Mommy doesn’t have to share.

This time of year also beckons the upcoming Jewish new year, otherwise known as Rosh Hashanah. That’s Hebrew for “head of the year.” To celebrate, it’s traditional to dip apples into honey (so good!) to beckon a sweet new year.

A few days ago, my daughter (the baby, she’s 4 and change) saw me baking this cake. When she found out that it was an apple cake, she immediately figured out that it was for our upcoming new year festivities. She’s smart, that one! And then she said, “Mommy, put honey in it.” Because of course, she knows that’s a winning combo this time of year.

To make her (and myself, honestly) happy, I put a simple honey glaze over the cake. It was really the perfect finish, and I’m so glad my kid figured that out for me.

Like I said, if you’re short on time, this cake is the way to go. My family really enjoyed it, and I plan on baking several more this autumn. It’s that time, after all. Let’s get our apple on!

As long as the holidays keep coming, I’m going to keep baking pie! How can I not? Crust is just such a happy thing.

One of my favorite pies of all time is Dutch apple, and this pie goes to a whole ‘nother level with salted caramel on top. This kid’s a showstopper.

It’s funny, but I can pass up regular apple pie any day of the week. When it’s covered in crumb topping, though, just give me a giant serving fork and watch me dig in. I really can’t hold back. And ever since salted caramel became a thing, I just can’t get enough.

When I was growing up, we had dear family friends in the neighborhood. The oldest son was my brother’s best friend, and it was fairly common for our two families to get together for holidays and other occasions.

One unforgettable day, we were having dinner at their house and dessert was served. It was a Dutch apple pie, and I’d never seen one before. Hearing that it was apple pie, I took a small portion to be polite, but I wasn’t that excited. Until, that is, that first bite hit my taste buds.

I was pretty shy as a kid, but I went up to the mom and asked her how to make this pie. Mind you, I’d never baked anything. This was the first recipe I actually made.

She taught me how to do it, writing the recipe out in detail on an index card and walking me through the process by showing me how it was done one sunny day. I’ve never forgotten that this adult was willing to pay attention to me and teach me something, and that’s why Dutch apple pie will always hold a special place in my heart.

This recipe is the exact one she gave me on that index card, except I’ve drizzled Smuckers salted caramel over the pie. As a big fan of caramel and apple together, this was just a natural next step. Besides, I can get the salted caramel at my local Target, and they’re running a cartwheel deal on it now! Hello, holiday baking.

The pie itself is a miracle. Both the crust and the topping are the same dough, so you only have to dirty one bowl for that. Plus, there’s no fancy food processing or mixer action necessary. This is made with just you and your spatula!

The filling is super quick, too. I just slice up a few granny smith apples, toss them with some cinnamon-sugar and vanilla, and that’s it. For not a crazy amount of effort, you have a beautiful holiday pie!

This season, share a recipe you love with someone else. I will always cherish this pie because it was shared with me, and now I want to spread the joy. Here’s to making beautiful baking memories!

This morning, I crossed an important item off my life bucket list: stand up paddleboarding, or SUP, as it’s known to the cooler masses. It felt really good to face my terror and prevail. More on that in a moment.

I figure that as long as I continue to face the challenges that scare me, it’s okay to ease up in other parts of life. Baking has always been that place of respite for me, and this apple cake is no exception. It’s quick, simple, and slathered in an unbelievable brown butter icing.

A couple of years ago, I started seeing pictures of celebrities in my trashy magazines doing something that looked like so much fun. It was SUP, only I didn’t know anything about it at the time. It just seemed so peaceful: standing up on a board with an oar, bonding with nature or the water or whatever. I didn’t really think it through much more, since I figured it was one of those things that people in L.A. do that people in D.C. don’t have access to.

Last summer, I learned that SUP lessons were available right off the Key Bridge in Georgetown, which is a very frou-frou area of the city. Georgetown is full of expensive shops including, of course, the famous Georgetown Cupcake. Want a hint from a local? Next time you’re in town, head toward Baked and Wired instead. It’s also in Georgetown, and it’s worth the trip.

Anyway, this summer I bit the bullet (or paddleboard) and signed Kenny and me both up for a lesson. We were supposed to go a month ago, but then we had a traumatic tubing incident and my body was too sore to do any SUP action just a couple of days later. Our lesson date was moved to September, and I tried not to think too much about the terror.

Good thing too, guys. I didn’t fully allow myself to realize the horror of our situation until we were on the water, leashed onto the board, being told to stand up and look at the horizon. I had two choices: stay on my knees and whimper, or just woman up and do it. Guess which one I picked?

You’ll be happy to learn that over the course of the two hours on the water, I got up and down several times without falling over once. It was scary, and I’m not going to lie. It was very, very far from being relaxing. But it was worth it, and I’m so glad I did it. I’m also so glad that there was apple cake to come home to.

This cake mixes up in one bowl, and it’s absolutely no-fail. To dress it up a little, I added the icing, which just required some brown butter for flair. To make brown butter, cook the butter in a saucepan over low-medium heat, swirling the butter often, for anywhere between five and 10 minutes, depending on how much butter is in the pan. When the butter starts to darken in color and smell nutty, it’s done.

Not everything in life can be so simple, but baking should not be a place where you feel any stress. Save it for the open water as you’re wobbling around on a SUP. That’s where you can face the real fears!

Apple pie has always been a little bit of a seasonal question mark for me. It comes out at Thanksgiving, so that would suggest that it’s an autumnal food. But then it also comes out for summer potlucks, and that makes it…summer food? Instead of remaining confused, I’ve decided that apple pie is American, delicious, and year-round.

Slab pie is even better. That’s when you bake pie into a square or rectangular pan instead of a pie plate. Nothing is more satisfying than a lovely rectangular slab of apple pie. That is, of course, unless you up the ante. This apple slab pie is covered in Hannah Max oatmeal raisin cookie chips crumble, and it’s impossible to stop eating.

When my son saw me opening a cookie chips bag this morning, his eyes lit up. “Oatmeal raisin? Yay, my favorite!” No, I still don’t understand how this child is related to me. I head straight for the chocolate chip. But while he was busy surreptitiously pulling cookie chips out of the bag as I baked and pretended not to notice, I grabbed a couple too. I’m not normally an oatmeal raisin girl, but these? I can make an exception for these.

The thing is, I’m not sure we ever truly know ourselves. That applies to food preferences, which change over time, and just who we are in general, which changes even more. I used to be all about striving for perfection and being invincible. I thought those were characteristics that a modern woman should have.

Turns out, life and time along with motherhood have been pretty big game-changers. Not only do I no longer want to be perfect, but I think it’s actually a flaw to strive for flawlessness. Good enough is, well, good enough. I say that a lot. And perfect sure is boring. As for being invincible, well, that’s just stupid. We shouldn’t walk around being super vulnerable all the time, sure. But when did seeming completely imperturbable become the thing to do? It can be stronger to show our human side sometimes.

Like, I epic fail in baking. A lot. And these photos were hard to take. So there. I just shared.

Luckily, the recipe today was not an epic fail at all. While I’m not usually the biggest apple pie girl, I could not stop eating this. The bottom crust is made from my five-minute, no equipment needed pie dough. It’s easy and amazing. The middle is apple pie filling. Nope, I’m not going to stand around peeling and slicing in summer. There’s a beach chair outside with my name on it, and life is short. The top is a simple crumble made up of broken oatmeal raisin cookie chips, butter and sugar. That’s it.

Inside of half an hour, the best apple slab pie ever will be in front of you, begging for vanilla ice cream on top. But it’s pretty dang good plain, too. Besides, even though I wasn’t expecting this to be a dessert I ate way too much of, life is fun like that. We might change over time, but that’s a good thing. Our tastes change and so do our expectations of ourselves, and both bring us closer and closer to the elusive question of who, deep down, we really are.

And these will be appearing on our Thanksgiving table, too, thanks to the glory of the freezer. So if you need a visual for Thanksgiving this year, just picture me eating lots and lots of pie. I’m also planning on doing a pies-in-review special after the holiday!

First up is a pie my brother requested. I love my brother, so I try to make him happy when I can. Honestly, I miss him. We used to see each other a lot more, and now we have kids and jobs and live 45 minutes apart, so I have to work harder to show him the love. But here’s my attempt!

My grandmother used to make my brother an apple pie on Thanksgiving, but her crust wasn’t the traditional pastry crust. Instead, it was very reminiscent of cookie dough. It’s heavier and doesn’t make as perfect a lattice, but it’s a lot sweeter and does taste kind of like a sugar cookie. Hers was the best.

Mine is not as good, but that’s partly because part of her recipe got smudged for all time, so each time I bake it, I have to guess on amounts and proportions. Eventually, I’ll figure it out. When I do, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, this one is still pretty darn good.

The filling is perfect, for one thing. I love its simplicity. And the dough can be made in a stand mixer, since it doesn’t involve a pastry blender or cutter. The butter here is actually softened, which is not typical for pie crust. So be aware that this is not flaky. It’s cookie dough in disguise!

Once you’ve made your pie and cut into it, the only thing left to do is eat. Hey, it’s apples, so talk about your healthy turkey day dessert options! Sorta. I’ll be bringing you some ridiculous pie decadence Monday morning bright and early, so stay tuned!