Apple bread, apple cake, apple butter, apple tarts a bag of dried apples.
But from all the teachers I know I am sure she would rather have a gift card to wal-mart than yet another basket of baked goods.
Linda C

Rob, I have to agree with Linda. Teacher's are under paid as it is. The teacher's I know would really enjoy a gift card the most.
Save yourself some work during this busy season..

Nancy

I make these every Christmas, they are really delicious, and it seems the longer they are around the better they taste:
Apple Crisp Cookies
Cream Together:
1 c. shortening
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. sugar
Add:
1 (0.7oz.)pkg. instant spiced apple flavored drink mix
1 T. cinnamon
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
3 eggs
2 t. vanilla
3 c. flour
3 c. oatmeal
1 1/2 c. raisins
1 1/2 c. chopped dried apple
Drop by teaspoon onto sheets sprayed with Pam. 350* for 12 min. Makes 7 dozen.

She's getting both the basket and card. Thanks for the start!

Buy 2 cards and leave the basket.
Ever been in a teacher's kitchen at Christmas time? The counter is piled with baskets of cookies and coffee mugs filled with spiced tea bags and jars containing brownie layered mix.
One teacher I know after about her 15 year teaching, would go the last day before christmas vacation directly to the Salvation Army and take all the stuff there.
My daughter is a Spanish teacher and when she was teaching in the grade schools, she had something like 120 students and while every kid didn't give a gift to the Spanish teacher, many many did!
Now they have started a new program, some time in the fall each teacher picks where they would like to get a gift card from....and everyone who wants to give a gift can send money to that spot.
Last March, she went to Williams Sonoma and bought a Le Cruset Dutch oven....and had a few $$ credit left.
How about getting a basket, buying a nice dish towel with an apple on it and filling the basket with 6 beautiful red apples....and a gift card to wherever?
Linda C

I think this must be different from region to region. Last year I gave gift bags containing half a dozen each of 4 different kinds of cookies. I gifted each of my grandson's teachers, the principal, and the women who worked the office. DGS delivered them. Then I discovered I had to run in to the school office on another matter and when I did I found the principal with his mouth full of cookie. The family living class teacher called me and asked for the recipe of one of the kinds of cookie she had been given. And another teacher gave Jesse a hug and told him how thoughtful she thought the gift was.

Now I recognize that in some schools the kids are so rough that the teachers worry about there being something baked into the cookie that would hurt them. What a sad commentary about our society.

I'll be baking chocolate chip cookies and brownie cookies this year for teachers. I do understand they're not paid very well but then neither am I. I'm sure they'll appreciate the effort, as many of the high school kids don't do anything for them at all. If they don't want the cookies, they will be packaged nice enough that maybe they can regift them. --Ilene

Here is one of the recipes that was in my grandma's stash..
It actually is more like a gingerbread..but is soooo delish!

I'll have to find the other apple cake recipe that I make in loaf pans from my grandma and type it out..

Here is a link that might be useful: One Bowl Applesauce Cake

I am a teacher and I would appreciate the time and effort and sentiment that went into a gift basket and be grateful for whatever gift someone wanted to give me. And I would like an apple themed basket!

How about some of those mulled hot apple cider mixes? I have had them and liked them in the past. A couple of years ago, someone gave me an apple shaped baking pan with an apple crisp topping mix inside. I liked that a lot, but then I bake apple crisp all the time!

I love this bread.

Praline-Apple Bread - BHG

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 8 oz. carton sour cream
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cups chopped, peeled apples
1 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease the bottom and 1/2-inch up the sides of a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Set aside. In a bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large mixing bowl beat together sugar, sour cream, eggs and vanilla with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add flour mixture to sour cream mixture, beating on low speed until combined. Stir in apples and 1/2 cup of the pecans. Spread batter in the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with the remaining pecans; press lightly into batter.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. If necessary, cover bread loosely with foil the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan.

Meanwhile in a small saucepan combine the butter and brown sugar; cook and stir until mixture begins to boil. Reduce heat and boil gently for 1 minute. Drizzle brown sugar mixture over top of bread; cool.

Yield:
"1 loaf"

I've made quick breads every year for my dd's teachers and they claim to always look forward to it as it saves them time in the kitchen. This way they have something to take to that unexpected gathering. I've baked applesauce bread, cranberry apple bread etc. Many recipes out there on the web or in your favorite cookbook. I think most appreciate it as a consumable gift and one that they can share with family and friends at the holiday. If nothing else they can freeze it for later too.

Apple Crunch Cake
Double batch:
4 c chopped, peeled apples
3 c flour
3 c sugar
1 1/2c oil
3 eggs
1 T cinnamon
1 T baking powder
3/4 t salt
1 1/2 c chopped nuts
Single Batch:
2 c apple
2 c flour
2 c sugar
1 c oil
2 eggs
2 t cinnamon
2 t baking powder
1/2 salt
1 c chopped nuts
Combine all ingredients in order. Mix Well. Will be quite thick. Put in 9x13 pan bake at 350F for about 1 hr 15 minutes
~I always use the double batch and baked in loaf pans until it was done..the top crisps up(kind of pebbly), yet it's thick and moist.

Gift packaging:

Michaels usually has ceramic mini-loaf pans for $1 each. Most shortbread recipes that would fill two 9" loaf pans will fill 5 or 6 of the ones at Michaels. They are great for giving baked goods in. People are usually so happy when they realize they can keep the pan. Several teachers in my school received them (I taught and received one of these and now I give them too) and kept pencils in them after the bread was gone.

Makes it easy to make a couple batches of quick bread and have gifts for 5 to 12 people already half-wrapped when they come out of the oven.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to loaf pan pic

Not shortbread. Quick bread.

dixiedog,

I made the Praline-Apple Bread recipe that you posted above yesterday. It's delicious! Thanks for posting!!

My girls had teachers that specifically liked home baked goodies because they said no one actually bakes any more, and if they got one more tube of hand lotion they could start their own store. There were a couple of exceptions, including one teacher who was diabetic, she got a loaf of homemade whole wheat bread and some home canned all fruit spread. Fortunately our school was very small and the office secretary used to work for me, so I called Tracey and asked about any health issues or special circumstances.

We usually baked something or made fudge, and one year we made homemade bath salts, but since so many teachers here buy materials for class room projects out of their own pockets, I also went the gift card route to go along with the goodies. Sometimes we bought gift cards for specific restaurants locally, so we knew they'd at least have a dinner out. That doesn't always work either, I know at least once a teacher used that card to buy pizza for the student council at Homecoming.

We LOVE these cookies, thanks to SharonCB:

Willow's Glazed Apple Cookies
Cookies:
1/2 cup soft margarine
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teasp cinnamon
1/2 teasp cloves
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teasp baking powder
1 teasp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 teasp salt
2 peeled and grated medium size Granny Smith apples
1 cup chopped raisins
1/4 cup milk
Glaze:
1 1/2 cup icing sugar
1 TBS soft butter
dash of vanilla
pinch of salt
dash of cinnamon
2 - 3 TBS cream
Stir well to make a very soft but not runny icing.
1) Cream margarine with sugar . Add egg and spices. Beat until well blended.
2) Add apples and milk.
3) Sift together the dry ingredients adding raisins (& nuts).
4) Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture and stir well until blended.
5) Drop by tablespoons onto greased cookie sheets, 2 inches apart.
6) Bake 13 - 14 minutes at 375F.
7) Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack and cool approx 10 minutes then glaze while still a bit warm.

Annie

lowspark - what a nice surprise for me to see this! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I haven't made that in a while. I live in Apple Country in VA and love to make that bread (it's cake like IMO).

Thank you for responding to me. It really made me smile!

It's definitely more cake like than bread like - I agree! I HAD to have a piece right out of the oven (after adding the topping) - oh man!! And I also had a piece later when it had cooled. I actually made two loaves, one for us and one for a friend.