Christmas Dinner - Garlic Knots and Apple Pie

Christmas Dinner was pretty much full of what I consider the Christmas basics: ham, lasagna, salad, and smashed red skin potatoes. We also added in brussel sprouts and garlic knots to the mix. For dessert we had an apple pie with a cinnamon roll crust and crumble topping and homemade peppermint/candy cane ice cream. The garlic knots were the star of the show in my mind although the pie was delicious too. Those recipes are below although be warned, it wasn't until the apples were peeled and sliced and I was about to start making magic happen when I realized I didn't even consider looking up a recipe for the pie! I winged the apple pie when making it so I've put my best guesses for measurements in the recipe. You can't really screw it up so go with your gut!

Garlic Knots

2 tubes (12 oz each) Pillsbury Golden Layers Refrigerated Buttermilk Biscuits
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons parsley flakes

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees.
2. Combine olive oil, garlic powder, parsley in small bowl (I also added a touch of melted butter)
3. Roll each biscuit into a 12 inch rope, brush with olive oil mixture, tie into a knot and tuck ends under. Place onto a greased baking sheet.
4. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 20 garlic knots.

**This recipe is doubled to accomodate our crew but can easily be halved.

Original garlic knot recipe: http://realmomkitchen.com/609/easy-parmesan-knots/

Apple Pie with Cinnamon Roll Crust and crumble topping

Crust:

1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust (not the frozen kind)

1 tablespoon melted butter

2 tablespoons cinnamon

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Pie:

6 apples

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping:

1 package of instant oats (I like to use brown sugar and cinnamon)

1 tablespoon flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons softened butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Unroll the pie crust on lightly floured surface. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle on cinnamon and brown sugar (as much or as little as you'd like). Roll the pie crust back up and cut into 1/2 inch rolls. 

3. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate. Place about 4 cinnamon rolls near each other and press into plate. Do not leave any gaps between the cinnamon rolls. Continue until the bottom and sides of the plate are filling with smashed cinnamon rolls and your crust is ready.

4. Peel and slice apples and coat with lemon juice. Toss apples with sugars, flour, and cinnamon and pour into prepared cinnamon roll crust.

5. In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the crumble. Sprinkle on top of apples.

6. Bake at 400 degrees for about 40-45 minutes or until filling is bubbly and apples are tender.

AEM