Delicious Baked Apples could be my favorite warm, healthier dessert, stuffed with cinnamon sugar, nut filling and baked until warm and caramelized. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce on top, for an extra sweet treat.

Looking for more apple recipes? Try my popular Apple Crisp, Apple Cake, or Caramel Apples!

A warm baked apple on a plate with ice cream on the side.

Why I love them:

  • Fast – Only 5 minutes of prep time and they’re ready for the oven!
  • Healthier – Perfect dessert to satisfy that sweet tooth while still eating something a little lighter. They’re delicious without the ice cream, too.
  • Individually portioned: conveniently adapt the recipe for your family size, and use whatever apples you have on hand. The larger the apples, the more filling will fit inside.

How to make healthy Baked Apples:

Remove Core: Use a paring knife to make a deep hole in the center of the apple, where the filling will go.

Four large apples on a cutting board, with the cores removed.

Filling: combine brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix well. Add nuts, then spoon mixture evenly into each of the apples.

Butter, cinnamon and brown sugar in a bowl, then mixed together and added to apples.

Bake: Add ¼ cup water to a baking dish and place apples on top. Bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Four whole baked apples in a baking dish.

Serve warm with ice cream and spoon the sauce drippings from the pan over the apples.

Overhead view of a baked apple with a bite taken out, to show the filling in the center.

Recipe Variations:

  • Baked Apples in Microwave: Baking in the oven is preferred, but for the microwave, place prepared apples in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5-8 minutes, or until tender.
  • Sliced Baked Apples: Try my Apple Crisp!

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Recipe

A warm baked apple on a plate with ice cream on the side.
Prep 5 mins
Cook 40 mins
Total 45 mins
Save Recipe

Ingredients
 
 

  • 4 good-quality apples (I like to use red apples, but baking apples, such as Granny Smith, work great to!)
  • 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar , packed
  • 2 Tablespoons butter , room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Ice cream , for topping, optional

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Use a paring knife or apple corer to remove the stem and seeds from the apples, making a deep hole where the filling will go. 
  • Combine the brown sugar, butter and cinnamon in a small bowl and mix well to combine. Add the nuts. Spoon mixture evenly into each of the apples. 
  • Add ¼ cup of water to a baking dish and place apples on top.
  • Bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. 
  • Spoon the sauce drippings from the pan over the apples. Serve with ice cream, if desired.

Notes

Variations:
  • Baked Apples in Microwave: Baking in the oven is preferred, but for the microwave, place prepared apples in a microwave safe dish and microwave on high for 5-8 minutes, or until tender.
  • Sliced Baked Apples: Try my Apple Crisp!

Nutrition

Calories: 240kcalCarbohydrates: 39gProtein: 1gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 57mgPotassium: 238mgFiber: 5gSugar: 32gVitamin A: 275IUVitamin C: 8.3mgCalcium: 27mgIron: 0.5mg

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*I originally shared this recipe September 2015. Updated October 2018 and December 2021.

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About The Author

Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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Comments

  1. This is a good basic recipe. I made a few changes. I peeled the apples, added nutmeg to the mix then I wrapped them in pie crusts. Instead of using water in the pan to bake them, I made simple syrup and spooned the syrup over the apples. Served with a side of vanilla ice cream and caramel! Yummy

  2. Awful, didn’t bake at all. Total mud Puddle, followed recipe and everything.

    very dissapointed as this was Supposed to be for a Special occasion….

    1. 4 stars
      No One,

      Who/what did you find yourself disappointed in? I presume you to mean that you were disappointed in the oven for not turning on after your having asked it to do so, rather than in the recipe itself yea…..?
      You said that you even ‘followed the recipe and everything’…..darling, isn’t that why we are all here? Having said that, the recipe does say to preheat the oven to 350…..did you do that? Did the oven heat to 350 as instructed? And then you put the apples in a pan and into the hot oven, closing the door and not opening it until about 40/45mins later? Then VOILA!!! HOT, juicy, soft and mushy, sweet and yummy baked apples!!!

      I think that it would be more fitting, and less ‘review’-like, if you had said something like.,’haha, oh boy! Did everything just as the recipe said…..except I didn’t turn on the oven….’ lol. Or ‘gosh these would’ve been so good if .y oven hadn’t failled on me! 🙁 I can’t wait to try again once I can buy a new stove! Mmmmmm)

      “Awful, didn’t bake at all……followed the recipe and everything……..very disappointed”

  3. 5 stars
    Lovely substitute for apple pie with less sugar/fat and all the flavor. Love the sauce that forms under the apples. We drizzled it over the ice cream and the apple. Yummm!!

  4. 5 stars
    The baked apples were amazing and easy to make! I will save this recipe for future use. I didn’t care for the apple peel because I always peel my apples so next time I will try to make this without it.

  5. 4 stars
    I used Granny Smith apples and had pecans on hand, and just a little granola left. Decided to throw that in too. They were very good!

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