Cinnamon Baked Apples; 2 Very Easy Recipes for a Delicious Winter Dessert

Nothing beats that apple pie kitchen smell on a cold Sunday afternoon, but not every Sunday afternoon has me wanting to make apple pie! Ah well, thankfully there are shortcuts in life. Here’s one that I found in an old Gourmet magazine that is a particular favorite of mine and which gives you a warm apple dessert after dinner - with only a couple of minutes of work.

Sweet Spiced Baked Apples

1. Pre heat your broiler to high
2. Peel and core an apple or two, or three as needed, as cut into flat slices, about a half an inch in thickness
3. Lay these apple slices out onto a baking sheet (I like to use a little parchment paper here to minimize clean up…another shortcut!)
4. Brush a little melted butter over each of the slices
5. Sprinkle white sugar over the apple slices
6. Dust on a very scant pinch of cinnamon and cloves over the apples
7. Broil for 2 or 3 minutes, and remove the sugar has melted and is lustrously browned over the apples
8. Serve with vanilla ice cream, straight out of the oven

These are much better eaten fresh and hot, and since they’re so easy to prepare, there is no real advantage to pre-making these.

Baked Whole Apples

For something a little different, but just as easy, you can try whole baked apples, also served with vanilla ice cream.

1. Preheat your oven to 375
2. Take whole apples, and use a paring knife to remove the core, leaving a cylindrical hole in the center of the apple, but taking care not to cut through to the bottom.
3. Combine brown sugar and butter in a ratio of 3 parts sugar to one part butter. For every half cup or so of sugar/butter mixture, you’ll want to use about a ½ tsp of sweet spices – I like an equal mixture of ground cloves and cinnamon. You can also add walnuts or raisins to this mixture if desired.
4. Fill the holes you made in the apples with the butter/sugar mixture and bake for 30 – 40 minutes, or until the apples have softened throughout, and then serve hot from the oven, with some good vanilla ice cream.

The timing on these is about perfect so that if you just get these in the oven before you sit down to dinner they are done when you’re ready for dessert.

A couple of very easy, homey recipes that are just perfect for cold winter nights – Enjoy!