Fall appetizers use seasonal ingredients like maple sugar, walnuts, and cranberries. Baked brie, cheese balls, pumpkin spread, and stuffed mushrooms are popular choices. Onions cooked in apple or pear cider and thinly sliced apple with walnuts are great accompaniments.
When the fall leaves start painting the trees in a kaleidoscope of color, home cooks start thinking about food differently. Summer dishes are typically lighter, such as berry or grape salads, standard greens, cold soups, and anything that can be grilled. In the fall, the garden produces more abundant greens, and diners are drawn to dishes that complement the cooler weather. Choosing the best fall appetizers is largely a matter of taste, but the wise cook takes advantage of seasonal treats like maple sugar, walnuts, and cranberries when planning a fall appetizer platter.
Nothing says fall like a wheel of baked brie. The simplest of fall appetizers requires little more than baking the wheel until the cheese oozes and serving it with hearty crackers or bread. One way to dress up a baked brie is by adding chopped pecans or walnuts and some dried fruit, such as golden raisins or dates. Cooks can top the brie with strawberry jam, blueberry jam or mixed fruit and wrap it in flaky pastry before baking for a brilliant presentation.
One use for any leftover brie is to spread it on small rounds of bread along with onions that have been cooked in apple or pear cider. These open-faced delights are especially tasty served with thinly sliced apple and sprinkled with walnuts. These will disappear from the serving plate even before it sets.
Cheese balls are perfect fall appetizers and easy to create. Cream cheese and shredded cheddar or jack jack form the base, and creative cooks can decide what to add. A little pumpkin puree adds flavor and a decidedly autumnal orange color. Stirring in the finely chopped apple offers a crunch.
A wonderful winter squash or pumpkin spread takes a number of ingredients but is well worth it. Cooked and diced pumpkin or squash, roasted pumpkin seeds, and sun-dried tomatoes or small backyard tomatoes that have been oven roasted is where this appetizer begins. Minced garlic and onion and some fresh sage or basil add complexity to the flavors. Softened cream cheese or a little sour cream also works for those who like creaminess.
Another proven favorite among the wealth of fall appetizers is the wonderfully versatile stuffed mushroom. The filling can be as simple as seasoned breadcrumbs or it can offer a symphony of flavors to savor by adding blue or cheddar cheese with chopped onion and garlic. Other possible additions include cream cheese and pine nuts or other chopped nuts. For diners who don’t limit meat, sausage or ham turn these morsels into a mini meal.
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