Baked apples are one of the greatest winter desserts. Don’t you agree? It’s perfect to make around Christmas time. Because there’s something magic in the baked apples; the sweet and cinnamon aroma simply makes you happy and peaceful. So they are a great ending to an amazing Christmas evening.
I remember my grandmother used to make baked apples quite often during winter time. Maybe that’s why I like them so much. They bring back nice memories. Baked apples are easy to make, really simple, but at the same time very special.
This recipe is for four small portions. I used small cute apples, but you can also use bigger ones and adapt the amount of the ingredients to it. I would say you just double the amount of the filling if you’ll take big apples. But I am going to give you a tip while writing the recipe.
Ingredients for 4 small baked apples:
- 4 small apples
- 2-3 Tbsp of cottage cheese (4-5 for big apples)
- 1 Tbsp of home-made granola (2 for big apples)
- 1 date (chopped) (2 for big apples)
- 2 tsp of soft butter
- cinnamon
- 1 tsp of cranberries (chopped) (2 for big apples)
- 100 ml of orange juice
- 1 tsp of Bourbon vanilla sugar
First, cover a baking dish with some aluminium foil and try to fold it in a way to form higher edges so the juice will later stay in. Then preheat the oven to 200º C and prepare the apples. After washing the apples, cut the top of each apple off (ca 1 cm thick), but do not discard it. With a sharp knife core the apples, but be careful not going completely through the base of the apple. I helped myself to remove all the apple seeds also with a teaspoon.
Next mix together the cottage cheese, chopped dates, cranberries, granola and cinnamon in a small bowl. Then fill each apple with this great filling and put a small piece of butter on top. Place them in the baking dish, sprinkle with some more granola and place the apple tops back on top.
In a small pan heat the orange juice with the vanilla sugar. Once hot, pour it gently on the apples, using a spoon. Put the baking dish in the oven on the middle rack for 30-35 minutes. If you decide for the big apples, you might bake them for 45-50 minutes or until they get soft.
Serve the baked apples while still steamy and warm. Maybe with a nice ice-cream of your choice next to it.
Enjoy! Merry Christmas!
