What could taste better than warm apple cobbler for breakfast?

Follow this recipe for easy apple breakfast Cobbler and put the ingredients in your crockpot overnight, and you'll wake up to the delightful aroma of apples and cinnamon.

Fresh, crisp apples are arriving by the bushel-baskets in grocery stores and farmers' markets across the Cedar Valley, and it's time to add a few new apple recipes to your repertoire.

Most apple growers in the Midwest, including Michigan, are reporting the best crops in recent memory. These recipes are from the Michigan Apple Committee, created by top chefs.

Cider-glazed chicken with apple-raisin stuffing is a perfect taste of fall and sticky toffee apple crisp with candied bacon streusel offers balance between sweet, spicy apples and salty bacon - real comfort food. A North Carolina cook won the Michigan Apple Committee's 2009 contest with the recipe.

Easy Apple

Breakfast Cobbler

Makes 4 servings

4 medium-sized apples (Cortland, Gala, Ida Red, Jonathan, Northern Spy or Rome), cored, peeled and sliced

¼ cup honey

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter or trans fat-free margarine, melted

2 cups low-fat granola cereal

Place apples in a crock pot and stir in honey and cinnamon. Top apple mixture with granola and drizzle with butter. Cover and cook on low 7-9 hours or on high 2-3 hours. Serve warm and top with low fat milk or vanilla yogurt, if desired.

Cider Glazed

Chicken with

Easy Apple

Raisin Stuffing

Makes 4 servings

1 ½ tablespoon all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

4 (6 ounces each), boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup apple cider or juice

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Combine flour, salt and allspice in a resealable plastic bag.

Add the chicken; seal and shake bag to coat chicken evenly. Place oil in pan. Add chicken, and cook 4-5 minutes. Turn chicken over and add apple cider and vinegar to pan; cook 5 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken from pan and drizzle with cider glaze.

Easy Apple Raisin Stuffing: Prepare 1 box whole wheat chicken stuffing mix according to directions, adding 1 large apple, cored and chopped and 1/2 raisins to boiling water just before adding stuffing mix.

Sticky Toffee Apple

Crisp with Candied

Bacon Streusel

½ cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces

1 ¾ cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed (divided usage)

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (divided usage)

1 ½ teaspoons apple pie spice (divided usage)

¼ cup bacon, cooked crisp and finely crumbled

½ cup finely chopped walnuts

8 Golden Delicious apples, peeled and cored

¾ cup chopped dates

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; reserve.

Prepare streusel by combining the butter, ¾ cup of brown sugar, 1 cup of the flour and ½ teaspoon of the apple pie spice in a bowl. Work together with fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal; add crumbled bacon and walnuts, blending well. Reserve.

Slice each apple into 8 wedges. Place into a large mixing bowl. Combine remaining 1 cup brown sugar, remaining ¼ cup flour, and remaining teaspoon apple pie spice; sprinkle over the apples, tossing thoroughly to blend. Add chopped dates, distributing evenly, and place mixture into prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle reserved streusel mixture evenly over apple mixture. Bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes, or until apples are tender and bubbly and streusel is golden brown.

Yield: 8 servings.