I just have to share — the smell of these juicy, sweet baked apples stuffed with oatmeal, brown sugar, cranberries, and walnuts roasting away is making my house smell insanely good! Hooray for apple season!!
Easy Baked Apple Recipe
I love this simple, old-fashioned, comforting dessert. It always reminds me of Sunday dinners at my grandmother’s. Easy, fruit desserts were kind of her thing, and this recipe is adapted from hers.
This is the ultimate low-maintenance dessert. And they’re are perfect for feeding a crowd. It takes only a few minutes to prep them, and you can do that well in advance if desired. And the dish requires very little attention during baking.
And while they’re perfect for an unfussy, healthy(ish) dessert, they could also work for breakfast. It’s just fruit, nuts, and oatmeal, after all, right?
Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions
- PREP: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- CORE: Core the apples using a pairing knife and/or a melon baller removing enough of the fruit so you can easily spoon the oatmeal mixture inside but being careful to leave the bottom of it intact so the juices stay in the apple during baking. Reserve the tops, if desired. And place in a roasting pan. Set aside.
- DICE REMAINING FRUIT: Core, peel and cut the remaining apple into a small dice (if using).
- MAKE SUFFING: Mix together the diced apple, butter, oatmeal, cranberries, nuts, cinnamon, salt, and orange zest.
- FILL: Fully fill (or overfill) the prepared apples with the oatmeal mixture. Top with reserved caps, if using.
- BAKE: Add maple syrup and cider to the pan and transfer to the oven. Bake until tender, about 40 minutes, basting every 10 minutes or so with the syurp/cider mixture.
- SERVE: When done, transfer the apples to a serving plate and drizzle with any remaining syrup/cider sauce. Add topping of your choice. The apples can be eaten warm or cold.
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More Recipe Tips
- What Apples to Use: For this baked apple recipe, I like to use sweet ones. My favorite varieties are Fuji or Gala. Pick ones that are ripe but not overly so. You don’t want them to get mushy while roasting!
- How to Core the Apples: To remove the cores, use a pairing knife or melon baller (like this one) to scoop out the core. You’ll also want to remove enough of the fruit so you can fit the oatmeal mixture inside. Just be careful to leave the bottom intact so the juices stay in the fruit during baking. If your apples don’t stand up straight, you can shave a thin slice off the bottom. Again, be careful to leave the bottom of the apples intact.
- What Kind of Baking Dish?: Use one that that will easily hold as many apples as you choose to cook without much empty space around them.
- What to Use for Topping: Go with what works for you! These are great topped with ice cream (and a drizzle of salted caramel sauce), as well as whipped cream or vanilla yogurt.
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Easy Oatmeal Baked Apples
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This easy and healthy(ish) apple dessert is perfect for Fall!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 7 sweet, firm apples like Fuji or Gala
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
- 1/3 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts (or pecans)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- A pinch of kosher salt
- Zest of 1 small orange
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup apple cider (you can also use water if you don’t have cider)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Core 6 apples using a pairing knife and/or a melon baller. Reserve the tops, if desired.
- Also, remove enough of the fruit so you can easily spoon the oatmeal mixture inside, being careful to leave the bottom intact, so the juices stay in the apple during baking. Place in a baking pan and set aside.
- If your apples aren’t all standing up straight, you can also shave a thin slice off the bottom. Again, be careful to leave the bottom intact.
- Core, peel, and cut the remaining apple into small dice.
- Mix together the diced apple, butter, oatmeal, cranberries, nuts, cinnamon, salt, and orange zest.
- Fully fill (or overfill) the prepared apples with the oatmeal mixture. Top with reserved apple caps if using.
- Add maple syrup and apple cider to the pan and transfer to the oven. Bake until tender, about 40 minutes, basting every 10 minutes or so with the syrup/cider mixture.
- When done, transfer to a serving plate and drizzle with any remaining syrup/cider sauce.
- Add topping of your choice. The apples can be eaten warm or cold.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 apple
- Calories: 299
- Sugar: 33.7 g
- Sodium: 219.3 mg
- Fat: 14.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 41.8 g
- Protein: 2.9 g
- Cholesterol: 25.4 mg