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I was in New England a few weeks ago, at the height of apple picking season. I’m guessing they’re all down now, but our apples here in Northern California are at their peak. There are so many great varieties in the market to choose from!
We first posted this recipe in 2006, during another trip east to visit my goddaughter and her family. A gang of us went apple picking and came home with so many we spent a week cooking them into pies, crisps, and these fabulous baked apples.
The girls and I used Rome Beauties, a variety of apple that is particularly well suited for baking this way. We based our recipe on one from the Joy of Cooking, with butter and brown sugar, and we fancied it up a bit with chopped pecans and raisins.
Growing up we always had baked apples served with a generous portion of vanilla ice cream, a combination I highly recommend.
For more information on which apple varieties are best for baking, check out our Guide to Apples.
Baked Apples Recipe
"Rome Beauty" is the variety of apple that is best suited to baking, and is worth seeking out if you are making baked apples!
Ingredients
- 4 large good baking apples, such as Rome Beauty, Golden Delicious, or Jonagold
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)
- 1/4 cup currants or chopped raisins
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 3/4 cup boiling water
Method
1 Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
2 Cut out holes in apples for stuffing: Rinse and dry the apples. Using a sharp paring knife or an apple corer, cut out the cores, leaving the bottom 1/2 inch of the apples intact.
If using a paring knife, first cut out the stem area and then use a small metal spoon to scoop out the seeds. Cut the holes so that they are an inch or so wide.
3 Stuff with brown sugar, cinnamon, and extras, dot with butter: Place the brown sugar, cinnamon, currants or chopped raisins, and chopped pecans (if using) in a small bowl and stir to combine.
Put the apples in a baking dish and stuff each apple with the sugar stuffing mixture. Place a dot of butter (a quarter of the tablespoon called for in the ingredient list) on top of the sugar.
4 Bake: Pour the boiling water into the bottom of the baking dish. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 30 to 45 minutes, until the apples are cooked through and tender, but not overcooked and mushy.
When done, remove the apples from the oven and baste them with the juices from the pan.
Terrific with a side of vanilla ice cream.
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My helpers—Reilly and Alden, Piper, Teddy, and George.
Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
Baked Apples
I want my apples baked plain so I don’t push my pre diabetes to full blown diabetes. I also want a slow lower rise in blood sugar rather than a spike, which plain apples will provide. Every excess now can ultimately contributed to disease and suffering later. Am having a hard time find recipes that are healthy and preserve my health.
Hi Miriam, it’s a big adjustment changing your diet, and sugar is in almost everything, it seems. Here’s a list of low carb recipes on the site that might be useful to you. Cheers to you for taking the initiative for good health! Good heath is the most precious thing, and keeping yourself healthy is the best gift you can give to people who care about you.
Try cinnamon, pecans, erithritol and coconut oil instead might be a healthy version
Delicious! Loved it with raisins and pecans. And I only did 2 apples so I had extra sugar mixture left. I stirred it into the water in the pan before baking, which then became a wonderful syrup for generous basting and for drizzling on the ice cream. Thanks for sharing.
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Love it! Easy and great with ice cream. Thanks.
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Can I prepare these apples ahead of time and bake later ?
Hi Carol, some varieties of apples brown very fast, so even if they are stuffed with sugar and butter, by assembling them ahead of time you might risk them oxidizing. I’d say it’s a safer bet to bake these ahead of time and simply reheat them for serving.
I prepared them then wrapped them in plastic wrap until putting them in the oven. Worked great
Growing up in New Jersey, decades ago, my mother would make baked apples throughout the fall, as we picked local grown apples. Now I am planning and testing recipes for my Thanksgiving meal. The only change I made was to use longan honey as the sweetener. Came out great. Your recipe has now travelled to my home , in Vietnam.
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