Any meal can be improved with a quick dessert of hot, baked apples. A wonderfully seasonal treat for your Thanksgiving dinner as well.
Apples may be easy enough to find all year round, but they are the tastiest (and cheapest) during the fall harvest time. Bakes apples are a tasty treat to serve for dessert, and so easy to make. Serve them up after your Thanksgiving dinner to top off your meal. Nothing says fall like the smell of apples and cinnamon.
You can use your favourite apple variety for any of these recipes, either a mellow Red Delicious or a tart Granny Smith. You'll find the final product to be very different, depending on your choice. Baked apples are perfect with vanilla ice cream, but can certainly be enjoyed all by themselves too.
Basic Baked Apples
You can't get much simpler than this. An easy baked apple recipe that will create a delicious dessert in no time.
- 6 apples
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 tbs powdered cinnamon
- ½ tbs powdered nutmeg
Preheat your oven to 350F. Cut out the core of the apple, being careful NOT to cut entirely through the bottom. Just enough to create a nice hole. In a small mixing bowl, blend together the butter, sugar and spices. Then spoon the sugar mixture into the hole of each apple, dividing it all up equally. Place the apples in a shallow baking pan, and bake for about 15 minutes. The sugar will begin to melt and the apples will be just tender. Bake longer if you prefer softer apples. Serves 6.
Honey Baked Apples with Cranberries
A bit more fancy, but the flavour is worth the effort. Cranberries are another great fall fruit.
- 6 apples
- 1 ½ cups cranberries, fresh
- 2 cups water
- ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
- 4 tbs honey
Preheat your oven to 350F. Remove the cores of each apples, taking care not to puncture right through. Peel of the skin around each hole, for about an inch. Put cranberries into each hole, as many as will fit without tumbling out. Sit each filled apple in a baking dish (a cookie sheet will be too shallow). In a saucepan, combine water, sugar and honey. Heat and stir until all dissolved. Pour the sweet mixture over all the apples. Bake for about an hour, spooning the excess sugar water over top every 20 minutes or so. Serves 6.
Nutty Baked Apples
This recipe has a bit more crunch and spice to it.
- 6 apples
- ½ cup raisins
- ¼ cup walnuts, chopped
- ¾ tsp grated orange zest
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup water
- 3 tbs butter
- ¾ tsp powdered cinnamon
- ¾ tsp powdered nutmeg
Preheat oven to 350F. In a small bowl, stir together raisins, walnuts and orange zest. In a saucepan, heat water, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg until boiling. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue to heat for about 2 minutes. Meanwhile, remove the cores of the apples, and set them in a 1 ½ quart baking dish. Stuff the nut mixture into each apple hole. Pour hot sugar mixture over each apple. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the apples are nice and soft. Serves 6.
