These easy Baked Apples are a delicious healthy fall dessert. Crisp fresh apples stuffed with a cinnamon sugar, walnut mixture and baked until warm and tender. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Baked Apples
Hooray for apple season! I have so many favorite apple recipe this time of year, It would be hard to choose a favorite! Top contenders are my Grandma’s apple cake, and the most popular apple crisp.
What I love about baked apples is you still get the sweet tooth fix, without all of the extra calories. My love for this healthy treat comes from my Mom. Whenever we had a big sweet tooth, but didn’t want a heavy dessert she would make baked apples.
They take all of 5 minutes to prepare and the end result is sweet, tender apples with a delicious sweet filling. I love to top mine with low fat vanilla ice cream and a little drizzle of my favorite homemade caramel sauce. It’s perfection.
How to make baked apples:
Use a pairing knife to cut a deep hole into the apples, removing the core; this is where the filling will go.
Combine brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and nuts and fill the apples with this mixture.
Pour about 1/4 cup of water in a baking dish, place the apples on top. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until they are tender when poked with a fork.
When serving baked apples I like to scoop the juices from the bottom of the pan on top of the apples. Yum!
WHAT ARE THE BEST APPLES FOR BAKING?
Granny Smith apples are my favorite for any kind of baking, especially in dessert recipes like apple crisp, or Apple Cake where the apple is really the star of the show. For this recipe, I love to use large red apples, but you can really use any type of apple.
Consider trying one of these easy Apple Recipes:
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Crisp fresh apples stuffed with a brown sugar, pecan mixture and baked until tender. One of my favorite healthy treats!
- 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
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 1/4 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.
Recipe Video
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
*I originally shared this recipe in September 2015. Updated October 2018.
Lindsay says
Made these tonight. Even made the caramel sauce (my husband dove into the sauce with a spoon!!!) Served with ice cream and it was heavenly. The apples baked while we painted pumpkins. I think we have a new family fall tradition.
Lauren Allen says
Sounds like the perfect night! I’m so happy you liked them!
Amy says
Looks delicious! I feel silly asking, but do you make two holes to scoop out the seeds or just one so the filling doesn’t fall out?
Laura says
We were really looking for something to satisfy our sweet tooth, without a ton of calories, and decided on your baked apples recipe. They were exactly what we were looking for, and sooooo good.
Food lover says
I have made these for years they are always popular, I even put sultanas inside the apples too, nice with custard if you want something hot
Lee says
I make these with golden raisins instead of pecans, skip the water in the bottom of the bowl and microwave them. I eat them for breakfast, either plain or with a little milk poured over. I’ve never tried topping them with yogurt, but thats an option. And I will try adding the pecans.
CHARLES says
Try a few raisins or dried cranberries in the sugar/nut filling. Adds a little complementary flavor.
Lauren Allen says
Love that idea!
Becky says
Why does the recipe call for 1/2 cup water but the directions say add a 1/4 cup? Sorry Im confused
Lauren Allen says
Hi Becky,
Thanks for pointing out the typo. The recipe should call for just ¼ cup water!
Jane says
Hmmm…..breakfast or dessert? Hard to decide! Going for dessert…..a needed change from Christmas cookies! Also, I had an epiphany on coring……cut out the stem per usual, then…..a grapefruit spoon to dig out core!
Frances says
What temperature to cook apples
Lauren Allen says
Hi Frances,
You can find all the instructions in the recipe card. Cook the baked apples at 350 degrees!
Allison says
Bake covered or uncovered?
Lauren Allen says
Uncovered. Enjoy!
Kathleen says
Delicious recipe, easy, simple, common items that you may have already. We used red delicious apples, we didn’t have nuts on hand so we used dried cherries, they came out perfect. Thank you for sharing this recipe which will now be a dessert staple in our home.
Lauren Allen says
I love to hear that you made it work with what you had on hand! I’m really happy you liked them! 🙂
Gaye Norberg says
Perfect dessert for 2. Our empty nest loves these baked apples for a warm dessert that’s not too sweet. Delicious!