Baked Apples

Celebrate Halloween with these jack-o’-lantern inspired baked apples. Filled with a brown sugar, raisin, rolled oats, pecan, and cinnamon crumble, this is the definition of classic comfort food.

Oct 31, 2023

Today’s baked apple recipe offers a healthy Halloween dessert for your trick-or-treaters. After an evening of candy collecting, a fiber-filled baked apple is a welcomed treat. If you have the time, it’s fun to gently score the skin of the apple with a paring knife to create little jack-o’-lantern faces.

The most time consuming aspect of this recipe is coring the apples. I found using a melon baller was the easiest way to get the job done. If you don’t have a melon baller, a simple paring knife or apple corer will do the trick. No matter the instrument you use, try to leave enough of the core at the base of the apple to hold in the filling.

For best results, use apples that can stand up to baking without turning to mush. Granny Smith, Gala, Fuji, Jonagold, Honeycrisp, Mutsu (also known as Crispin), Pink Lady (also known as Cripps Pink), Jazz, Paula Red, and Sweet Tango work well.

Cooking times will vary depending on the type and size of apple you choose. Baked apples are done when they are tender but still have structure. Use a paring knife to check for doneness. It should slide in and out of the apple easily. The Granny Smith apples I baked took 35 minutes and the Gala apples needed about 45 minutes to soften.

Place filled apples in a baking dish that contains one cup of warm water. These apple jack-o’-lanterns are ready for the oven.

Happy Halloween!

Darlene

Follow Recipes Made Healthy on Instagram

BAKED APPLES

Yield: 5 servings

Serving Size: 1 baked apple

Prep: 20 minutes

Ready: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS

5 small to medium apples (Gala, Granny Smith, and Paula Red work well)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons raisins
2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats
2 tablespoons chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons spreadable butter and oil blend (such as Challenge Spreadable Butter)
1 cup warm water

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Core each apple, leaving the bottom intact to hold the filling.
In a bowl, mix brown sugar, raisins, oats, pecans, and cinnamon. Add butter and oil blend and, using a fork, work into dry ingredients until crumbly.
Fill each apple with brown sugar filling and place in baking dish containing 1 cup water. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until apples are tender.

Nutrition Information per Serving

200 Calories, 6 g Total fat, 2 g Saturated fat, 0 g Trans fat, 6 mg Cholesterol, 21 mg Sodium, 38 g Total carbohydrate, 5 g Dietary fiber, 30 g Total sugars, 9.5 g Added sugars, 1 g Protein, 0 mcg (0%) Vitamin D, 10 mg (0%) Calcium, 1 mg (6%) Iron, 67 mg (2%) Potassium