Remember those apples from my apple orchard visit last week?
I wanted to do something delicious with them.
Last year, I made caramel apples.
They were yummy to be sure, but I wanted something that was less work to make and to eat. 🙂
So I decided baked apples were a perfect alternative.
I was right.
They are very easy to make and very tasty.
All you need to do is…
Gather similar sized apples. I’m using a mixture of honey crisps and galas.
Wash and core. If you don’t want your filling to drain out during cooking, leave the bottom intact. You’ll have to eat around or pick out the bottom later, but I prefer this method so that the sugar really bakes into the apples.
I found an apple corer was super helpful for this step.
Make your filling. How you do this is really up to you. It’s hard to go wrong here. I just threw together about 1 cup of brown sugar {which turns out was too much 1/2 – 3/4 was plenty}, about 1 tsp. of cinnamon, a couple dashes of nutmeg, and a handful of coarsely chopped pecans. Then mixed it up.
Now place your apples in a baking dish.
Add your filling and pack it in nice and tight.
Cut very thin pats of butter to top the apples with. Each pat is about 1/4-1/3 TBSP. {total about 3 TBSP. butter}
Add about 1 cup of apple juice to the pan. You can add water instead, but I think the apple juice gives it better flavor, so use it if you have it on hand.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 F for 30 minutes. Uncover, turn up the heat to 375 F and continue to cook until it reaches the desired softness you want {about 30-45 minutes}.
Hmmm.. Yum. Good huh?
I prefer to serve it with my absolute favorite ice cream – Breyers Natural Vanilla – and a little more brown sugar filling on top.
With this pregnancy I haven’t been to keen on junk food and sweets like I was with my second child, but this dessert is right up my alley. Sweet, yet healthful feeling, and not too heavy. Oh, and absolutely perfect for getting in the mood for fall.
Thanks for reading. 🙂
 I hope you’re enjoying a bit of fall where you are.
Those look super delicious! I'm definitely book marking this. We love apples and especially apple crisp at our house. I'm thinking this recipe will be a welcome addition. 🙂
YUM! Can't wait to try.
I'm totally doing this! Thanks for sharing. Mmm… Looks good!
That looks so yummy! You can make ANYTHING look yummy, I'm convinced:).
These look delicious! I also wondered where the apple orchard is up here ?!? THanks !!!
We used to make them in the microwave (one at a time). They make volcano action that way. 🙂
Oooo! I was just thinking about making apple crisp last weekend. I like the flexible nature of this ‘recipe’, it will make it easier to add or subtract apples based on company 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Yum! they look gorgeous, I’ll have to have a go! Love the blog!
This looked so amazing I went to the store after work, got some apples and made this that very night!! They came out great. Thanks so much for sharing!
Yummy!! This looks so delicious! I had to share over on my blog today:
http://www.shepaperieblog.com/2011/11/doesnt-this-look-delish.html
Thanks for inspiration.