One of my best friends taught me this recipe a few years back, and now autumn just isn’t autumn without baked apples. I’m still experimenting with what I add to the mixture.
Preheat the oven. Depending on how baked you want them, either change the oven temp or the baking time. I usually do these at 250 degrees.
Slice off the tops of the apples so the result is caps and cups.
Scoop out the apples caps and cups with a mellon baller, making sure to leave enough of the fruit so that the skin of the apple retains its shape. Be careful not to poke holes through the bottom of the apple when you scoop out the core bits. Save the fruit bits you’ve scooped out, and discard the seeds and core bits.
Take the apple fruit bits that you’ve scooped out and chop them into small pieces. Combine with homemade (or storebought, but it won’t taste as good) granola. You can use anywhere from 1 part apple with 2 parts granola, to 2 parts apple with 1 part granola according to taste. Toss in some brown sugar according to your own sweet tooth level. If you’d like to add cinnamon and/or nutmeg, go for it. Consider adding fresh or frozen blueberries, cranberries, or currants.
Take that mixture and stuff it back into your apple cups. Put the caps back on, and place each apple upright onto the center of a square of aluminum foil. Wrap the foil up around the apple, completely covering it.
Place the foil-wrapped apples upright on a cookie sheet or into a baking pan. Bake until you get the softness you desire. I usually try for 20 to 25 minutes, then pull the pan out and gently squeeze one of the apples with an oven-mitted hand to see if they’re getting done.
Oh, and you may end up with extra of the apple/granola mixture when you’re done stuffing the apples. That’s fine, just bundle it up in a foil package and bake it with the apples. It will probably be done slightly before them.
Note that this recipe will make your kitchen, and probably your whole home, smell wonderful. Mmmmm.
Thanks, Janis.