Baked apples
Whole baked apples stuffed with oats, walnuts, raisins and cinnamon, baked until soft enough to eat with a spoon. 230 kcal each, and the apple does most of the sweetening.
- 230
- kcal
- 3g
- protein
- 8g
- fat
- 41g
- carbs
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Serves
- 4
Photograph by Valeria Boltneva on Pexels
Ingredients
- 4 medium baking apples, such as Honeycrisp, Rome, Braeburn or Jonagold
- 1/3 cup (27 g) old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/4 cup (28 g) chopped walnuts or pecans
- 2 tbsp raisins or chopped dates
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or packed brown sugar
- 1 tbsp butter, softened
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- A pinch of ground nutmeg
- A pinch of kosher salt
- 1/2 cup water or apple cider
Method
-
1
Heat the oven
Heat the oven to 350°F.
-
2
Core the apples
Cut out the core of each apple from the top with a paring knife or melon baller, making a cavity about 1 inch wide. Stop about 1/2 inch above the bottom so the filling cannot leak out.
-
3
Score the skin
Run the tip of a knife around the middle of each apple, just through the skin. It lets steam out, so the apples do not split.
-
4
Make the filling
Mix the oats, nuts, raisins, maple syrup, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, and pack it into the apples, mounding it on top.
-
5
Bake
Stand the apples in a small baking dish and pour the water around them. Bake 40 to 50 minutes, until a knife slides into the side of an apple with no resistance. If the filling browns too fast, lay foil over it loosely.
-
6
Serve
Let them cool 10 minutes and spoon the juices from the dish over them. Serve warm, with Greek yogurt.
Which apples hold up
A baked apple needs to soften all the way through without collapsing into applesauce. Firm apples that keep their shape work best:
- Best: Honeycrisp, Rome, Braeburn, Jonagold, Pink Lady.
- Fine, but tarter: Granny Smith. Add an extra teaspoon of maple syrup.
- Avoid: McIntosh and Red Delicious. McIntosh bursts and turns to mush, and Red Delicious goes mealy.
Choose apples of the same size so they are done at the same time, and pick ones that stand up straight. The same apples, sliced, make a healthy apple crisp.
Keeping them from splitting
As an apple bakes, steam builds up under the skin. If it cannot escape, the skin bursts and the apple slumps. Scoring a thin line around the middle gives the steam a way out. The water in the dish also helps: it keeps the bottoms from scorching and turns into a light syrup with the juices.
Baked apples in the microwave
Prepare the apples the same way, put them in a microwave-safe dish with 2 tablespoons of water, and cover loosely. Microwave on high for 4 to 6 minutes for two apples, or 6 to 8 minutes for four, until tender. The filling does not crisp the way it does in the oven, but it takes 10 minutes instead of an hour.
Variations
- Without the filling: core the apples, put 1 teaspoon of butter, 1 teaspoon of maple syrup and a pinch of cinnamon in each, and bake as above. About 150 kcal each.
- With cranberries: use dried cranberries instead of raisins, and add a little orange zest.
- Nut-free: replace the walnuts with an extra 2 tablespoons of oats and a tablespoon of pumpkin seeds.
- Halved: cut the apples in half from stem to base, scoop out the core with a melon baller, and pile the filling on top. They bake in 25 to 30 minutes.
Keeping them
Baked apples keep 3 days in the fridge, covered. Reheat in the microwave for about a minute, or eat them cold for breakfast with yogurt.
What they are worth nutritionally
One baked apple with its filling, baked in water, has about 230 kcal, with 3 g of protein, 8 g of fat and 41 g of carbohydrate, including about 6 g of fiber. Most of the sugar comes from the apple itself, and the recipe adds only about 1/2 tablespoon of maple syrup per apple. Eaten with the skin, a whole apple provides more fiber than most desserts. With 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt, it becomes a breakfast with about 15 g of protein.
