Baked Apples

Another time-tested recipe from Kitchen Parade, one of my very oldest recipes, a favorite of my mom's dating way back to my childhood! Years later, Baked Apples remain a fall tradition in my own kitchen. I just love how small apples soak up the luscious, rich apple-flavored brown-sugar sauce. Utterly addictive!

Real Food, Fresh & Seasonal. A Fall Classic. Budget Friendly. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Naturally Gluten Free.

~ Skip Straight to the Recipe ~

COMPLIMENTS!

• "... tasty :) ... essentially an apple pie without the pie." ~ Anonymous

BEST RECIPES

• Baked Apples Made the List!
• Best Recipes of 2003

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No Regrets.

Is anyone sad to see the end of summer's much-loved strawberries and blueberries and peaches? Here's a solution: seasonal eating.

You see, seasonal eaters revel in the foods of the moment, strawberries in spring, blueberries and peaches in midsummer, plums in late summer ... and yes, come fall, apples.

Our modern food distribution system is a marvel, delivering so many seasonal foods year-round. Whether January or June or October, supermarkets pile up enticing piles of apples.

But during fall's apple-picking season, so many apple choices! Call me smitten, my apple recipes are both savory and sweet, classics like Naturally Sweetened Apple Butter (no added sugar) and Apple Crisp (it's extra crispy).

Bye-bye berries! See you next year.

When "Supper's a Little Skimpy"

Baked Apples were my mom's favorite. She loved to bake apples (and other sweets) when supper was what she called "a little skimpy".

At a young age, I copied Mom's recipe onto my own 3x5 card just to make them myself – and I still do! Baked Apples are a fall tradition here, that's when the local apples are just-picked, the selection and freshness so good. But thanks to imports and new storage techniques, apples are available year-round so apples can be baked year-round on a whim.

In the oven, the apples turn dark and soft. The real attraction? The simple brown sugar sauce takes on sweet apple flavor: utterly addictive! Less sauce would do, but then again, the apples are small. :-)

So if your supper is a little skimpy tonight? Add hot, rich baked apples to the menu and your family will leave the table with big smiles. Try Baked Apples with a bit of vanilla ice cream – or a splash of cream. Delicious!

How to Make Baked Apples, Just Apples + Pantry Ingredients

Just three easy steps!

• MAKE THE SAUCE The sauce is so delicious, a simple mix of brown sugar for sweetness, cornstarch for thickening, water for volume, spices and butter for flavor. You'll cook the sauce on top of the stove first.
• CORE THE APPLES While the sauce cooks, remove the apples' center cores, this creates an inner open area that will help the apples cook and soften evenly and for the sauce to grab delicious apple juices.
• BAKE EM' UP! The oven is where the real magic happens! As the apples soften, the apple juice infuses flavor into the sauce, so so delicious.

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BAKED APPLES

Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Total preparation time: 1 hour
Makes 9 servings with small apples, fewer servings with larger apples

BROWN-SUGAR SAUCE
• 1-1/2 (300g) cups brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• Dash cinnamon
• Dash nutmeg
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick/56g) butter

• 9 small or medium apples

Heat the oven to 325F/160C. Rub a 9x9 (or similar) baking dish with butter.

COOK THE BROWN-SUGAR SAUCE In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and spices; stir together with a wooden spoon to remove any obvious lumps. Add the water and stir. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir in the butter and cook the sauce until it thickens, stirring occasionally.

WHILE THE SAUCE COOKS Wash and core the apples and arrange the apples right-side up in the dish. Pour the hot sauce over the apples, be sure to get some sauce inside the apple centers.

BAKE Bake for 45 minutes, about halfway through baking, remove from the oven and spoon the hot sauce over the apples again. Return to the oven to complete baking.

Serve hot or cold with a drizzle of cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

HOW TO CORE an APPLE To "core" an apple means to remove the middle core of the apple (from the stem end to the blossom end, including the apple seeds) while leaving the apple still fully intact. Stores sell special tools called "apple corers" (affiliate link) that make quick work of removing the cores. But an apple corer isn't required. A paring knife or a serrated grapefruit knife are good substitutes, inserting it from first one end and then the other. Perfection is unnecessary, the apples will soften and collapse in the oven anyway.

ALANNA's TIPS Look for small apples in three-pound bags in the produce section. They're less expensive, too! Are "dashes" of cinnamon and nutmeg enough? You bet, even if I always feel tempted to add more. But small dashes are perfect, allowing the delicate apple flavor to infuse the sauce without competition from the spices.

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving (assumes 9): 241 Calories; 5g Tot Fat; 3g Sat Fat; 13mg Cholesterol; 46mg Sodium; 51g Carb; 2g Fiber; 46g Sugar; 0g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 5 & PointsPlus 7 & SmartPoints 14 & Freestyle 12 & myWW green 12 & blue 12 & purple 12

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More Apple Recipes, Perfect for This Year's Crop

~ My Best & Favorite Apple Recipes ~
more
~ apple recipes ~

• THE RECIPE Roasted Butternut Squash & Apple Unexpected layers of flavor and color, a very pretty dish.
• ANOTHER TAKE Steamed Butternut Squash in a Collapsible Steamer Basket

• THE RECIPE Chicken with Apple & Creamy Cider Gravy Another one-skillet dinner, chicken thighs in a mahogany-colored sauce.
• ANOTHER TAKE Chicken Cacciatore The classic Italian dish, chicken slow-cooked in a rich tomato sauce.

• THE RECIPE Thick Chops with Sauerkraut & Apples A Quick Supper, moist chops in apple-chunky sauerkraut.
• ANOTHER TAKE Thick Iowa Chops with Easy Stuffing Crust Thick Iowa chops capped with a stuffing-like crust.

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This Recipe Has Moved

Wondering How to Make It Yourself?
please see

~ How to Make Homemade Applesauce ~

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Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ apple recipes ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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