Caramelized Apple Grilled Cheese

The other day I was in the mood for something out of the ordinary for lunch.  I didn't have a lot of ingredients to work with, so it was a bit of a challenge.  I decided to make a Caramelized Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwich.  I found the recipe at Our Eating Habits.

Lunch only took 10 min from start to shoving the food in my mouth.  That included cutting and cooking the apples, then preparing the grilled cheese.

I used a smallish apple, and there was lots of extra caramely bits left in the pan.  The next time I make this I will use two apples and save the leftovers for lunch or a snack the next day.  Of course, if you were making this for a crowd, or didn't want to be bothered with peeling and cutting up fruit, you could certainly use apple pie filling!

What really made this sandwich extraordinary was the bread.  I was fortunate enough to have leftover French Toast in the freezer.  I used that instead of plain bread.  It made the sandwich even more cinnamon-y.  For someone who can't get enough cinnamon, this was heaven.

The recipe says to use good quality cheddar cheese.  I bet that would have been even better.  I didn't have that, all I had was processed sliced cheddar and shredded jalapeno Mexican blend cheese.  I went for the sliced because I wanted the cinnamon flavor to dominate.  I'm sure that the spicy and the sweet would have been a good match as well.

Here's what you need to do if you want to make your very own fancy schmantcy caramelized apple grilled cheese sandwich:

1 T butter
1 T brown sugar
1 dash of cinnamon (I used 1/4 t)
1 apple (peel, core and slice) (You could use 2 apples, and make 2 sandwiches/have leftovers)
2 thick slices of good cheddar cheese (I used one slice of processed cheddar)
2 slices of good bread (I used French toast made on regular sandwich bread)
butter for grilling bread

In small pan melt 1T butter.  Add brown sugar and cinnamon. Cook til brown and bubbly. Add apples and cook 5 min. Butter each slice of bread.  Place buttered sides down on skillet. Top with cheese then apples. Cook on med, flip when golden brown, continue cooking til second side is golden brown.  (Recipe from Our Eating Habits)