Apple recipes aren't limited to only pies, crumbles, and cakes. If you're looking to enhance your favourite baked goods with a touch of natural fruit sweetness and moisture, homemade applesauce is an excellent multipurpose ingredient to have on hand. With just a few basic ingredients and no special equipment needed, you can make this apple puree by boiling apples until they are soft and then blending them. You can also store your homemade applesauce in the fridge and use it whenever your baked goods need a little more liquid. Because of its natural fruitiness and capacity to add moisture without masking other flavours, applesauce is a great addition to baking recipes. Depending on the baked item, you may need to change the amount of unsweetened applesauce to replace some of the sugar or fat in specific recipes. Its tender texture is ideal for baked goods including muffins, quick breads, spice cakes, and brownies. You have complete control over the sweetness, texture, and flavour of homemade applesauce, which is its finest feature. Apples that are naturally sweet may not need much sugar, and a dash of cinnamon adds a cosy touch that is perfect for fall-themed baked goods. This applesauce is perfect for your next baking session since it can be chilled and stored in the fridge for short-term use or frozen in measured amounts.

Pumpkin recipes tend to be either elaborate baked goodies or sweet pies, which is what makes this maple pumpkin butter a welcome change when it comes to preparing autumn food. You just need a saucepan, seven ingredients, five minutes of preparation time and half an hour of simmering. What comes out is a thick, velvety, lightly spiced spread that works on breakfast toast, on top of pancakes, as easily as it works as a gift in a small jar. If you like apple butter, think of this as its autumnal cousin. Pumpkin butter has the same smooth, spoonable texture, but it's lighter and not overly sweet. The reason is that instead of using water or cream, the pumpkin puree is cooked with unsweetened apple juice, which brings out the pumpkin flavour just well enough that even people who aren't very enthusiastic about pumpkin flavour tend to enjoy it. Pumpkin pie spice does the rest of the flavour work, adding a warmth with vanilla rounding things out, and a quarter cup of maple syrup adds a subtle, caramel-like depth without hijacking the flavour of the butter. Everything in this pumpkin butter goes into a deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan and comes up to a soft boil over medium-high heat. Then the heat drops, the lid goes on slightly tilted so steam can escape, and the butter simmers for 30 minutes with an occasional stir to keep things moving. The mixture becomes very thick and bubbles and spits as it cooks, so you need a deep pot and a tilted lid to keep the stovetop clean. Adjust the thickness with more apple juice. Once the liquid is done cooking and has infused, it is cooled and used as an infused butter.

Corn salad recipe searches spike every monsoon season for good reason, and it's the one dish that needs no stove, no oven, and almost no effort. Introducing cowboy caviar, which is somewhat a cross between pico de gallo, bean salad and guacamole. It brings Tex-Mex flavours to your plate from the heart of the American Southwest. This is also one of the corn recipes that makes for the perfect party appetiser, especially if hosting a party or going to a potluck that leans towards Mexican flavours. Among corn recipes, this one stands out for how little planning it needs, and everything goes into one bowl, diced into tiny bits. You can easily scoop this cowboy caviar with a sturdy chip like a tortilla or nachos instead of pairing with other dips or adding it to an appetiser platter. The corn salad recipe is best made with fresh corn kernels, cut straight off the cob and dry-roasted till charred in a pan. This gives it a smoky flavour that raw corn does not have. You can use thawed frozen corn or tinned corn too. Aside from the sweet corn, black beans, tomato, avocado, and crunchy bell peppers are part of this corn salad recipe and get tossed with a lime-and-oil dressing, typical of American Tex-Mex cuisine. As for the dressing, it is made with olive oil, fresh lime juice, a little vinegar for that sharp edge, and a pinch of sugar to round off the flavour. Whisk separately and pour over the chopped vegetables right before serving. Among corn recipes, this one stands out for how little planning it needs, and can be fixed in less than 30 minutes.