Baked Apples - YUM!!!

Hubby decided that we should do something a bit more healthy for his (and dd's) dessert project this weekend, so baked apples it was. Oh, and they were so good too:) You'll have to forgive the picture quality. We have very poor lighting in the house and it was already dark when we got started on these. I used the best pictures that I got, but they still aren't all that great.



 

 

 First hubby cut off the top of the apple and scooped out the core, but not all the way through, you want the bottom part attached to the apple so the filling doesn't fall through.

Then he mixed up the filling. This was an experiment as this is the first time he has made these from his own mixture and we weren't sure how much of the filling it would make or how much we would need.

Then he stuffed the apples full, really pushing it into the apple to get as much in there as possible.

We smoked our apples to give it a hint of smokey flavor, which was really good, but these could easily be done on a gas grill (indirect heat) or in the oven as well.

We only made 3 apples as there is only 3 of us :) but the filling made enough for at least 5 apples. I think I'm going to add a bit of coconut oil, shredded coconut and some diced apples and bake it to make a small batch of granola with the leftover filling!!!

Here is the recipe...

1 c. oatmeal (we used gluten free old fashioned rolled oats)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. chopped walnuts
5 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 c. dried cranberries

Mix dry ingredients together and then add melted butter. Mix until all ingredients are moist. Add cranberries. Stuff as tight as you can into large apples. Should be enough for about 5 apples. We used honeycrisp apples.

Cook in a smoker grill at 200 for about a hour, then turn up the heat to 350 for about 30-45 min longer. Or cook indoors at 350 for about a hour. Check for desired tenderness. Our apples were mostly soft, with just a bit of crunch left.

Like I said, these were really good, but would have been slightly better if we had vanilla ice cream to serve them with!! :)