Cozy like a hug, old fashioned baked apples with cinnamon and nutmeg are an easy, comforting dessert. Super fresh fall apples are hollowed out and filled with brown sugar, spices, raisins or dried berries, and butter and baked until tender. Serve this maximum impact dessert that takes minimum effort with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, or a glug of heavy cream.
Old-Fashioned Baked Apples
I was lucky enough to grow up in a family whose activities largely revolved around food; cooking it, of course, but also growing, picking, canning, and freezing it, thinking about it, and talking about it! I’ve joked about it, but I’m pretty sure if we were to have a family crest, it would have an overflowing cornucopia on it.
And while I love all of the food seasons of the year, fall is definitely closest to my heart. Squash, corn, apples, grapes, potatoes, the tail end of tomato season, autumn hues and falling leaves, and cool weather combine to make me feel sentimental and happy.
In our area of New York State, apples are a huge part of our economy; more than 32 million bushels of apples are produced in New York. Apples are even the official fruit of New York State! It’s impossible to drive through the countryside without seeing signs for fresh apples.
My best-loved Saturday activity in the fall is scooting over to an Amish produce stand. You get a blast of pure apple perfume when you walk into the stands because they have giant, open bins of variety upon variety of apples. The one I go to most often usually has at least six to eight varieties on hand, changing as the season progresses.
I love to take my time and rummage through the bins, filling a peck bag with the most perfect, firm, crisp specimens of each variety. Where else can you put together a 10 pound bag of honey crisp apples for $8?
Baked Apples with Cinnamon
I almost inevitably buy too many apples to eat plain. If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, at the rate I’m going at, I shouldn’t have to see a medical professional for decades.
What to do with the abundance of fresh apples? Why, old-fashioned baked apples with cinnamon of course!
I remember my mom, bonus mom, and grandma all making these throughout my life. There’s not an aroma on earth more comforting and cozy-making than the smell of a fragrant, sweet baking apple stuffed with brown sugar, butter, dried cranberries (or raisins if you insist), cinnamon, and nutmeg.
You don’t even need to work to smell it. It’s a scent that surrounds you like a warm hug. It’s as good as a comfy blanket!
And happily, all this comfort comes with very little effort attached. You core your apple with a melon baller (trust me!), stuff it with the mixture of sugar, spices, and butter, and toss it in a baking dish with some boiling water. before slapping it in the oven. No covering the pan, no fussing with peeling the apple.
Within mere moments, you have set the wheels in motion for a dessert that is old-fashioned like your grandparent’s living room and every bit as filled with cozy vibes.
What Apples Are Best for Baking?
The best apples for baking have firm, crisp, fine flesh, because they hold their shapes best. You don’t want a softer or mealy apple because they turn to mush.
I’m clearly partial to New York apples, but there are a lot of great choices out there. Here a list of the best baking apples with some of their defining characteristics :
- Honey Crisp: Honey sweet with a hint of tart and the perfect texture for baking and eating fresh. They stay firm and keep their shape when baked! This is a good all-purpose apple but is often pricier than other apples
- Idared: This is an excellent baker and has a very strong apple aroma and flavour.
- Crispin: Snappy, firm apple with nice acidity. This is an excellent choice for baking!
- Braeburn: hints of spicy pear, nutmeg, brown sugar, and cinnamon
- Empire: crisp, sweet, tart, juicy, slow to brown when cut. This is my pick for a lunchbox apple!
- Granny Smith: excellent balance of sweetness and tartness, holds shape beautifully when baked.
- Cortland: very juicy, tart, firm fleshed apple.
- Snapdragon: Firm, great crunch, nice acidity/sweetness balance. This apple is hard to find out of New York state but makes an excellent baker. And perhaps more importantly, it’s the official apple of the Buffalo Bills (Go Bills!)
If you’re having trouble locating any of these, your best bet is to try a bite of whatever apple you’re contemplating. Is it tart and sweet? Does it have a great snap and crunch? Is it juicy? If you answered yes to all of those questions, it’ll make a good baker!
Looking for more tasty apple treats? Try Maple Chai Apple Pie: Maple Chai Apple Pie: Creamy, rich, chai spiced apple pie with a tiled, sugar glazed, maple leaf crust. It tastes like apple pie meets chai latte!
And Maple Apple Upside Down Cake: this Apple Upside Down Cake is one simple-to-make tender, rich, indulgent-tasting cake that is absolutely covered in apples that bake to being meltingly soft in a pure, dark maple syrup caramel sauce. And bonus: It’s vegan friendly!
If you are feeling more old-fashioned, try out Apple Coffee Cake Recipe
Old Fashioned Baked Apples
Rate RecipeIngredients
- 4 tart baking apples
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 cup raisins or any dried berries or cherries
- 1/4 cup softened butter divided
- 1 cup boiling water
- vanilla ice cream whipped cream, or heavy cream for serving.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F with a rack positioned in the middle. See Notes!
- Use a fork to mash together half of the butter with the brown sugar, raisins or dried berries, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl.
- Use a sharp paring knife to remove the stem and top part of the core, but leave the apple intact at the bottom. Use a small spoon to scoop out the remaining core and seeds.
- Stuff the butter and sugar mixture into the apples, then arrange them in a baking dish. Dot the top of each apple with the remaining butter.
- Pour the boiling water around the apples in the baking.
- Bake, uncovered, for 50-60 minutes or until the apples are very soft and easily pierced with a knife, but not disintegrating.
- Serve apples hot or warm with a scoop of ice cream, dollop of whipped cream, or glug of heavy cream, as desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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