Baked Apples

This recipe is a dish that stands out from my childhood. I have distinct memories of my mom making these as a special after-dinner treat. In her version she would stuff the apples with butter, brown sugar and raisins, then drizzle them with maple syrup. It’s such a simple, delicious and healthy-ish dessert recipe, perfect for a cold winter’s night.

This is my riff on my mom’s recipe. I added oats to make it more like an apple crumble, and topped the apples with vanilla ice cream to take things up a notch. For a lighter version feel free to leave out the ice cream!

serves 4

5 medium, or 4 large, good baking apples*, cored

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/2 cup water

vanilla ice cream, for serving

*Apples that are good for baking (i.e. won’t get compeltely mushy when cooked) are Jonogolds, Pink Ladies, Honeycrisps, and Braeburns,

Preheat oven to 350 F. Use a knife to cut a circle around the stem of each apple, pop the circular piece out, then scoop out the seeds and flesh, creaing a hole for the crumble.
In a bowl, combine the oats, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, and whisk to combine. Add the melted coconut oil, and mix well.
Place the cored apples in a baking dish, and stuff the crumble mixture into the centre of each apple. Pour 1/2 cup of water into the bottom of the pan (this will prevent the apples from sticking to the bottom and burning). Bake for 30-40 minutes until apples are soft but not completely broken down and still hold their shape. Allow to cool slightly and serve with vanilla ice cream.