Ah, mid-September.  The time of year where all of the fall things come into the world, regardless of the actual temperature outside.  We are huge fall fans in this household, as we are both from the East Coast where fall is an actual changing of the seasons, much unlike the climate here in Southern California.  Regardless, we still celebrate the feeling of fall as much as we can during our time out West. Over the weekend, we jumped on the opportunity to stock the house with plenty of pumpkin spice and apple related products during our Trader Joe’s run.  I consider myself more of an apple girl myself while Chris is a huge fan of anything pumpkin, so the house has been stocked with a healthy mix of apples and squash-based items for the week.

While I am still happily enjoying tomato toast season, I figured it would be fun to make a fall version of my daily toast featuring apples.  I took a piece of seedy bread, topped it with peanut butter and cinnamon sugar, and very thinly sliced red apples.  The result was very pretty, and very fall.  This would be a perfect breakfast or lunch option for days where you are craving something a little sweet and need a nice, cozy vibe.  Apples, cinnamon, and peanut butter all work so well together from a flavor perspective, and the addition of seedy bread adds that whole grain/nutty note that ties it all together.  This is a great little fall treat that I hope you enjoy!

Obviously, you are welcome to substitute out the bread for your favorite type, and feel free to use your nut butter of choice.  The sugar from the cinnamon sugar can be skipped if you are sugar conscious, and just the cinnamon will add a very nice flavor that works well with the natural sweetness of the apple.  Any favorite variety of apple will work great too, although I recommend using apples that are ideal for eating (opposed to baking).

Recipe down below, photo up top!  This makes enough for 1 toast.

Apple Toast with Peanut Butter and Cinnamon Sugar

Ingredients:

• ½ of apple of choice
• 1 ½ tbsp peanut butter
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp sugar
• 1 slice of seeded, whole wheat bread

Method:

1. Using a toaster or toaster oven, toast the bread to desired level of done-ness.  Once toasted, set aside to allow to cool slightly before adding the toppings.
2. Add the cinnamon and sugar to a small bowl.  Mix to combine, set aside.
3. Wash and thoroughly dry your apple of choice.  Slice in half lengthwise (through the core), and cut that half in half again (lengthwise).  Remove the core by slicing it out with a knife, or by using an apple corer/melon baller.  Slice the quarters of apples lengthwise into very thin slices (about ¼ inch thick).  Set sliced apples aside.
4. To assemble, spread peanut butter into a nice layer on top of the bread.  Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top of the peanut butter into a thin layer.  Finally, arrange the apple slices on top of the peanut butter so that they overlap slightly.
5. Enjoy!