Baked Stuffed Apples

I know that Halloween is around the corner, and I should be carving pumpkins. But I decided to carve and stuff apples instead. Baking apples, scented with cinnamon and packed with a mixture of pecans and dried fruit, says that happy fall days are here.

These baked stuffed apples are based on a recipe from “The Weekday Cook” column by Karen Kaplan and Kristine Kidd in the October 1986 issue of Bon Appétit. While a baked dessert seems like a big undertaking for a weeknight, this dish comes together quickly.

The stars of this dish are also the vessels for holding the stuffing. Kaplan and Kidd recommended Golden Delicious or Rome Beauty apples, but I had picked up some locally grown Cortland apples (similar to Macintosh) at the farmers market, and they worked great.

The filling combines flavors that match up beautifully with apples: brown sugar, lemon zest, spices, and pecans. Toasting the pecans briefly before chopping them helps the nuts to stay crisp throughout their baking time. I exchanged currants for the diced dried pears Kaplan and Kidd used in their filling. But really, any dried fruit would work here—cherries or raisins come to mind. You would just want to snip them into smaller pieces. I also increased the amount of lemon zest and subbed in cinnamon and nutmeg for the ground mace the original recipe called for.

As you core the apples to create a space for the filling, you have to be careful to avoid piercing the bottom of the fruit. I used a paring knife to remove most of the core and widen the opening to make room for filling, then used a spoon to scrape the bottom-most seeds out. Next I peeled the skin from the top of the apple to allow it to soak in the basting sauce while in the oven.

I decided to use coconut sugar, which has a lower glycemic index than brown sugar, to top the apples before baking.  Before you give me stars for being virtuous, I have to admit to using the whole amount of applejack the original recipe called for. I discovered that applejack was one of the first American liquors produced by European settlers. They allowed their cider to ferment in barrels outside during the winter and chipped off the ice that formed as alcohol was produced, creating an apple-flavored brandy. Breaking the ice off was called “jacking,” thus the name. If you don’t want to spring for a bottle of applejack, Kaplan and Kidd recommend using apple cider instead. Applejack baking in the oven does make a kitchen smell magical though!

As I basted the apples from time to time, the scent of cinnamon and nutmeg and brandy wafted through the kitchen. After the apples had baked, the fruit was soft, easily scooped up in spoonfuls with topping in each bite.

Partnered up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, these stuffed apples were a true fall treat.

Baked Stuffed Apples

Dawn Dobie

Apples stuffed with spices, pecans, currants, and brown sugar

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 2 tablespoons pecan halves
• 2 tablespoons dried currants or dried fruit of your choice, chopped in small dice
• 1 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 large apples-- I used Cortland
• 2 teaspoons butter divided
• 1 tablespoon coconut sugar or brown sugar
• 1/2 cup applejack or apple cider
• vanilla ice cream optional

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place pecan halves in small roasting pan in single layer and bake for about 4 minutes, until they’re just toasted. Remove from oven and place in bowl, allowing to cool.
• Chop pecans into small pieces. Place brown sugar in small bowl and break up with fork . Mix with pecans, currants, lemon zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
• Core each apple with a small knife, being careful not to pierce through the bottom of the fruit. If necessary, use a spoon to scoop out seeds and tougher core flesh from bottom. Widen the hole in each apple a bit. Peel the top half of the apple.
• Stuff the hollowed core with the pecan-brown sugar mixture. Dot each filling with 1 teaspoon of butter, broken into small pieces. Sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons of coconut sugar around the top of each apple. Place in a small baking pan and pour applejack into the bottom.
• Place on middle shelf in oven and bake for about 50 minutes, basting every 15 minutes or so with pan juices.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool a bit. Serve as is or with vanilla ice cream, drizzling some of the pan juices over.

Notes

Recipe doubles, triples, quadruples easily. Kaplan and Kidd suggest baking extra apples and serving them with yogurt for breakfast.

Adapted from Kristine Kidd and Karen Kaplan in Bon Appétit (Oct 1986)