A couple of days ago I woke up from a dream where I watched a tree turn colors right before my eyes and did a little joyful jig right in the middle of the forest. See? Even my subconscious loves it. And what’s not to love? ‘Tis the season of apple picking. If you’ve never gone before, now is the time. Rows and rows of apple trees with apples all ripe for picking. Some are better for eating, some are better for baking, but all are delicious in their own way. Besides, it’s incredibly satisfying to bake with something you picked yourself (even if you didn’t grow it).
The turn of the seasons always means that I start drinking tons of apple cider, I can’t help it. The more spices the better. I like to make my own so it’s not packed full of high fructose corn syrup and sugars – I’d highly recommend it! What goes better with apple cider than baked apples? I honestly can’t think of anything. Usually I’ll bake my fruit in wine if I want to make it into a fancy dessert, but all I had was a bottle of brandy sitting around. Since brandy is just distilled wine, I figured it would be just as good (or better). I was right.
I love baking fruit with spices because it makes such an incredible, healthy dessert. These apples are packed full of protein, antioxidants, and omega 3 fatty acids from the walnuts, as well as fiber, vitamin C, and vitamin b6 from the apples and raisins. All of the flavors mesh together to create one perfectly autumnal dessert – this is a recipe that is easy enough to make for yourself, but impressive enough to deliver to a handful of guests.
Ingredients
- Ingredients
- 2 apples of your choice (I used gala, but choose your favorite!)
- 1 cup brandy
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 tablespoon nutmeg
- 1/4 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/4 tablespoon ground cloves
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Slice the very top and very bottom off of each apple. (The top allows for more room to stuff with goodies, the bottom allows the apples to soak up all the nice sauce).
- Core both apples to the bottom, but not all the way through.
- Mix brandy, spices, walnuts, and raisins in a small bowl.
- Pour half of the brandy spice mixture into each apple.
- Place on baking sheet and bake 20-25 minutes, or until apples are soft. I like to pour any remaining sauce mixture into the bottom of the pan so the apples can soak up the flavors.
- Serve and enjoy! My roommate enjoyed his with a side of vanilla coconut milk ice cream.
I just stumbled on your site and these apples look so good! Do you have any tips on how to core the apples without going all the way through? I have no idea how to do that, haha! Looking forward to trying these though 🙂 Pinned!
I had the same question. The recipe looks absolutely delicious and I cannot wait to try it. But my confusion comes when you write “Slice the very top and very bottom off of each apple. (The top allows for more room to stuff with goodies, the bottom allows the apples to soak up all the nice sauce)” . Then the next step core, but not all the way through. I am hoping to do this recipe this weekend. Thanks for the explanation.
Is this Paleo? What about the Brandy?
I’m soooo confused