- If you love the cinnamon sweet goodness of apple pie,
but don't want to peel and slice a whole bunch of apples,
I think you're gonna love today's recipe for baked apples.
There's very little effort required for this recipe.
All you've got to do is core a few apples
and then stuff them with an oatmeal raisin sugar mix
that is perfectly spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg,
and then bake them.
The end result is a deliciously warm, soft apple
filled with the best of fall's sweet flavors.
And because it is warm, I think it's just begging
to be topped with a scoop of ice cream, some whipped cream,
or some of my salted caramel sauce.
Now before we dive into today's recipe,
make sure to hit that subscribe button
if you're not already subscribed, because I've got
a bunch of new recipes coming your way for fall and winter.
All right, let's make some baked apples.
To get started, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit,
and then we'll measure out our filling ingredients.
That includes a third cup of old fashioned rolled oats
and a quarter cup of coconut sugar, which also
imparts a slight caramel sweetness.
Then you'll need a quarter cup of chopped nuts.
I love pecans, they're my favorite nuts for holiday baking,
but you could also use walnuts, pistachios
or any other net you prefer.
And then use a large chef's knife to roughly chop them up
and transfer them to a mixing bowl.
Next you'll need a quarter cup of raisins,
dried cranberries or any other dried fruit.
And while the reasons are already pretty small
and don't really need chopping, I still like to give them
a rough chop, just so that every bite of the baked apple
gets a little bit of all of the flavors.
To that I'll add some autumn-appropriate spices,
including one teaspoon of ground cinnamon
and a quarter teaspoon of ground nutmeg,
and to help bind everything together,
two tablespoons of melted butter or ghee,
and if you're vegan, you can also use coconut oil.
Then give that a stir so that it's all combined
and just set it aside.
So let's chat about apples and the best variety of apples
to use for this recipe, because if you didn't know,
all apples do bake a bit differently.
For this recipe, you want the apples to be
soft on the inside while maintaining their firm shape.
I'm using honeycrisp apples today,
which are one of my personal favorites,
but any large baking apple like Fuji, gala,
Cortland, pink lady, jazz, or Braeburns
should work just fine.
You'll need four apples, and once they're selected
and washed, you'll want to scoop out some of the inside
and the best way to do that is to use a melon baller.
But if you don't have a melon baller,
you could use a paring knife and a small spoon.
So I'll scoop out the core and make sure to get
all of the seeds out, then remove some of the apple
so that I have a cavity about an inch and a half wide.
And you want to get close to the bottom
without coring all the way through,
otherwise your filling will just fall out the other end.
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Next, I'll use a paring knife to remove
about a half inch of the skin around the top.
Not only does this help to prevent the apple
from bursting while baking, but it also gives
a slightly flatter surface on top,
and if you notice at the beginning of the video,
I really stuff my apples with a ton of filling,
probably 50% more than most baked apple recipes
and pile that filling high on top
because I think that's the best part.
And I also think it makes them prettier to serve
when the filling is sort of overflowing out of the apple.
Also, if you notice an apple sort of wobbling,
you can slice a little bit off the bottom
to make it more stable, but try not to take too much off
as it will deflate a little bit where you've sliced it.
Once that's done place the apples upright in a baking dish.
If you're doing just four apples,
a square eight inch by eight inch pan works great.
Then squeeze a little bit of fresh lemon juice
over the edges of the apples and inside the apples.
All right, now it's time to stuff the apples
with the cinnamon oat raisin sugar mixture.
You want to do your best to evenly divide the mixture,
so I tend to stuff them with a heaping spoonful
the first round, then evenly divide
whatever filling is left over.
And I just squish it down on top pretty tightly
to make sure that it stays put and the chopped raisins
help with this part, keeping the filling
sort of stuck together.
Add three quarters cup of apple cider
or apple juice to the bottom of the pan.
This helps to steam the apples and we'll use it
for basting here in a second.
Then transfer the stuffed apples to the oven
and bake for 45 to 60 minutes.
Because all ovens do cook slightly different,
keep an eye on your apples after the 45-minute mark
and check on them every five minutes or so
to see if they're done.
Now, you don't have to do this,
but I like to baste the apples
a couple of times throughout the cooking process.
And if you don't have a baster, you could always use a spoon
though I do think it's worth grabbing a baster
especially as I've got some turkey recipes coming up
and a baster is just a good item to have in the kitchen,
so I'll link the one I'm using below.
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Towards the end of the baking time, you may notice
the apples slightly deflate and that's fine,
but they're done when they're tender
when pierced with a fork or knife
and just personal preference, I like my apples
on the softer side rather than the firmer side
so I always cook close to the full amount of time.
Remove the baked apples from the oven,
and you'll be rewarded with two things,
an amazing dessert and a home that smells like
all of the flavors of fall.
Before serving, I like to spoon or baste
any leftover syrupy liquid from the pan,
because now it's sticky sweet with sugar mixed in,
and you don't want that to go to waste.
The baked apples are done at this point
and you can serve them as is, but I think
these warm apples are just begging
to be topped with ice cream or whipped cream,
and you could use dairy or dairy-free options.
You could also drizzle some of my homemade
vegan caramel sauce on top for ultra-decadent baked apples.
One thing to note is that the apples will crinkle
and deflate a bit as they cool
and that's normal and to be expected.
I think it adds to their overall character
but before they cool down too much,
I do want to top them with a mini scoop of ice cream.
The ice cream will melt and ooze down the sides
and when you slice them up, you'll get a scoop of apple,
the filling and the melted ice cream, all in one bite.
These baked apples are an easy sweet treat
that's perfect for fall and winter,
and I hope you guys love this recipe as much as I do.
Don't forget that the principle version is always linked
in the description box below and there's extra tips
on the website as well.
And with that, I will take my bite
and I will see you guys again next week.
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