As we move into fall The Witch and I have been planning and thinking. This is a time that’s always been important to us. The leaves change, the weather changes, and we change. I personally start to feel more like myself. I’ve always loved the fall and looked forward to it. What it is I can’t always say. Halloween and Thanksgiving are in the fall. Both are times that my dad enjoys. That makes them enjoyable times for me. I have a memory of being on a family friend’s farm in the fall. In this memory I’m probably no more than 10 years old. It was the last time we’d been at this friend’s farm. They were an elderly couple who had always been there and treaty my dad very well. We made caramel popcorn from scratch. The farmer’s wife popped the popcorn and made caramel from scratch. Once they were both ready she put the popcorn in a brown paper bag and drizzled the caramel on it. She closed up the bag and shook it all to mix it. It was amazing. I was in awe. This was in the fall when the air was crisp.

The crispness of the air, the crunch of the leaves, the spiritual feelings, and spookiness all draw us in. The flavors of the season only ever seem to work during this time frame. Because of this we wanted to get an early start. Caramel apples, or apple spice, or oatmeal cookies all feel like fall to me. What if we threw them all together? That’s just what we did. We tested out some flavors on some baked apples to see how long they’d need to bake and what spices gave us the fall flavors we were looking for. This is the most testing I’ve ever done in a recipe before throwing things together. We did the rest of the testing by doing a batch and a half. The Witch wanted to try and make some Witch hat cookies with some and I wanted to test out flavor and flour needs. The first batch didn’t have enough flour and were just giant puddles. The second batch didn’t have enough flour and the Witch hats failed, but the cookies were close. In the last 2 batches we finally had the proper amount of flour and the cookies were perfect. Not only were the cookies perfect, but the Witch hats worked out too!

One of the days, when I’m feeling confident enough, I’ll try and make my own caramel. I’m sure that’ll add more time to this recipe but then you have full control over everything. Once I do that I’ll link that to this.

Fall is coming and the spiritual feeling in the house is growing as it does. We’ve been baking together and decorating together more. This was our original plan and hope. Not sure why it’s taken us so long. Ok that’s not true. I can be a bit of a pain to bake with. Now that we’re planning together we wanted to do another collaboration at this time. What you’ll notice is a tarot card with these cookies. That card is the five of cups. I’ll let The Witch take it from here and explain this card. The Witch is a bit behind so I’m stepping in. Don’t worry she’ll review this and correct me!

The five of cups shows a figure standing holding themselves next to three tipped over cups that have spilled their contents, and two cups still standing. In the river behind the figure is a person that appears to be begging for help. The sky is cloudy, grey, gloomy, and overcast. It seems to be a fitting card for the changing of the seasons and cooler coming temperatures.

The spices in the cookie tie into this card as they are warming spices that make us feel more whole. The person holding themselves may be attempting to stay warm. They could also be protecting themselves at the expense of the person in the river who is struggling. It is important to remember that your own mental health and self care should come first. You can help others, but that should not come at the expense of your own self.

The five of cups is the card of desolation and sorrow, devastation and loss. To me it’s very fitting for 2020. This is how most people are feeling during these dark days. We’re afraid of another massive round of Covid infections and other possible horrors. As we all continue our slow move through life we should take this a sign to try and see the grief we may be feeling. It’s also important to ask ourselves if we can help others. Are we in a place to do that? If not then we need to make sure we’re looking out for ourselves.

Be safe out there.

Ingredients

Cookies:

1 Cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter - room temp
1 Cup dark brown sugar
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoon of vanilla
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of all spice
1/4 teaspoon of cloves
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 1/2 Cups all purpose flour
3 1/4 Cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 Cup of apples cut into 1/4 inch chunks (3-4 apples)
3/4 Cup of caramel candies cut into fourths

Instructions

Apples:

Preheat oven to 325
cut the apples into 1/4 inch chunks (discard the core)
spread out on a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil
bake for 12 minutes and 30 seconds
remove foil, with apples on it, from the pan and let cool while making the cookies

Cookies:

Preheat the oven to 375
Add the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer, with a paddle attachment, and cream for 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed
Add eggs one at a time, only adding the next one when the previous is fully incorporated
Add the vanilla and mix
Meanwhile in another bowl whisk together the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and flour
Slowly add the dry ingredients, (minus the oats) in batches, to the butter mixture until combined
Add the cubed apples and caramels and mix on low
Slowly mix in the oats. make sure you scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed
Scoop the cookies in 3 Tablespoon portions onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper
Bake at 350 for 13 minutes and 30 seconds
Remove cookies from the oven and cool on pan for 5 minutes
Remove the parchment paper, with the cookies still on them, to a cooling rack for another 10 minutes to let the caramel to cool
Move to a wire rack to cool