Baked Apples

It’s been a rough week at the Sykes house hold, and I won’t bore you with details, but creating this recipe yesterday was extremely cathartic.  I’m sure you know by now how much I love fall, and I hope you do too.  This recipe is right in line with the spirit of the season.  I put a special twist in it that gives it an extra kick.  You’ll just have to make the recipe to find out what the “secret” ingredient does!  Enjoy these baked apples!

Makes 8 servings

Serving size 1/2 apple

Calories: 232 Fat: 9.5g Carbohydrates:  34.9g  Protein:  3.5g  Sodium:  190mg

Ingredients:

4 granny smith apples, cored

1/2 cup flour

1 cup uncooked oats

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 cup butter

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons sugar in the raw

1 teaspoon vanilla

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Core the apples.  I will not tell you how I cored my apples, because it was most definitely the wrong way to do it!  Best use an apple corer, or check out this article by ehow.  Spray the bottom of your baking dish with nonstick spray.  You will need a dish big enough to fit 4 apples.

Apples Core the apples

2.  Mix flour, oats, salt, and spices in a medium sized bowl.

Flour Spices Spices

3.  Chop the almonds, and add to the dry mixture.

Chopped almonds Baked apples

4.  Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly.  Probably best to use your hands to incorporate the butter.  Usually this would be the last step when making a crumble, but I wanted to add the sugar last so that it would caramelize better.

Cut in butter Cut in butter

5. Add the sugar, honey, and vanilla.  Mix well.

Honey Baked Apples

6.  Add the mixture evenly to the apples.  I packed as much of it as I could into my apples, but I still had some left over.

Baked Apples Baked Apples

7.  Bake for 30-40 minutes.  45 minutes is too long.  If you overcook your apples, they will split and spill out into your baking dish.  I topped mine with a sprinkle of brown sugar when they came out of the oven.

Baked Apples

8.  Let cool and serve warm.

That’s all there is to this easy and perfectly fall dessert!  The granny smith apples give the perfect tang to balance out the sweetness of the oat mixture.  And boy it smells like fall!  Until next time, stay happy and healthy!!



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