Perfect Baked Apples
These delightful baked apples turn out perfectly! This baked apple recipe features tender apples stuffed with a buttery oat filling.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
Craving something sweet? These baked apples are a delightful dessert featuring seasonal fruit. They taste like an apple crisp but look much cuter.
This baked apple recipe is all in the technique, but it’s not complicated. I’ll walk you through it below.
You’ll need a short list of ingredients to make this recipe—apples, oats, coconut or brown sugar, optional pecans or walnuts, and butter. We’ll add a little bit of cinnamon and salt to take the flavor over the top.
Serve these wholesome baked apples with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or creamy yogurt. They’re sweet enough to taste like a treat, but wholesome at the same time. Serve your baked apples as a special dessert, or make them as a fun weekend project!
Watch How to Make Baked Apples
How to Make Baked Apples
This recipe is actually a fully reworked version of one of my oldest desserts: Individual Pear and Apple Crisps. You’ll find the full recipe below, but are some key elements that make this recipe work:
Choose your apples wisely.
Honeycrisp and Gala apples worked best in my recipe tests (I also tried Granny Smith and Fuji). If I had to choose, I’d pick Honeycrisp, as shown in these photos. They are substantial in size, full of flavor and vibrant even after baking.
Prepare the apples carefully.
This baked apple recipe yields beautiful and delicious results, in large part because of how we slice the apples (a trick I found in my trusty America’s Test Kitchen cookbook).
Slicing off the tops of the apples gives us easier access to the insides for scooping and provides greater surface area for steam to escape from the apple flesh, reducing the likelihood that the skin will split open. The tops create a micro-environment that helps the apple bake evenly throughout and prevents the filling from becoming too golden. All that, and the apple tops are cute!
Add water.
Once you’ve nestled the prepared apples into a square baking dish, pour some water into the dish. The water will help steam and soften the apples while they bake, preventing them from drying out.
More Apples Recipes to Enjoy
It’s apple season! Here are a few more apple recipes on Cookie and Kate:
- Apple Crisp
- Apple Steel-Cut Oatmeal
- Gluten-Free Apple Tart
- Healthy Apple Muffins
- How to Make Applesauce
Perfect Baked Apples
These delightful baked apples turn out perfectly, every time! This baked apple recipe features tender apples stuffed with a buttery oat filling. It’s easy to make gluten free, dairy free/vegan and nut free—see the recipe notes for details. Recipe yields 4 baked apples.
Ingredients
- 4 medium Honeycrisp or Gala apples
- ½ cup old-fashioned oats
- ¼ cup lightly packed coconut sugar or brown sugar
- ¼ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional but recommended)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of fine salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- ¾ cup water
- Optional serving suggestions: Scoop of vanilla ice cream or plain Greek yogurt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the oats, sugar, pecans, cinnamon and salt. Mix in the melted butter. Stir until the mixture is well combined and moistened throughout. Set aside.
- Slice off the top of the apples below the stem line (about ¾ to 1-inch down the apple), reserving the tops. Then use a small spoon (a grapefruit spoon is ideal, otherwise be extra careful) to scoop out the centers, leaving ½-inch around the edges and along the bottom. Just make sure you don’t core through the bottom of the apple.
- Place the apples upright into a medium-sized baking dish (large enough to accommodate the apples without them touching each other or the sides of the pan). If the apples wobble at all, slice off a small piece on the base to make them more flat and stable.
- Divide the filling between the apples, then pile any remaining filling around the top of the holes before placing the apple tops back on.
- Pour the water into the base of the dish to surround the apples. Bake the apples for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a skewer or small paring knife inserted through the side and down to the base meets only mild resistance. If you prefer softer apples, try baking them for the full 55 minutes.
- Let the apples cool a bit before carefully transferring each to an individual plate. Serve as desired.
Notes
Make it gluten free: Use certified gluten-free oats.
Make it nut free: Skip the nuts.
Make it dairy free/vegan: Substitute vegan butter, such as Miyoko’s Creamery. I haven’t tested this, but it should work well.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Sounds delicious! What is the carbohydrate and protein count?
Hi Sherry! Under the recipe, you’ll see a “nutrition information” label. Click on that, and it should offer a full breakdown.
If I don’t want it to be dairy, can I use oil instead of the butter?
Hi Sara, I think so, but oil won’t bring the same flavor (you would really only need to use enough to moisten the mixture). Miyoko’s Creamery vegan butter would likely be a better bet (same amount as called for in recipe).
I live abroad so I’ll have to see what I can find in my area. Thanks, though!
I’ve done this in a crockpot before – so easy!! I have a mini-crockpot that holds 2 apples perfectly!
Great idea!
What about a Dutch oven? I have the terracotta style. Would that work?
I haven’t tried it. Let me know if you do and how it turns!
Hi Kate,
I love your recipes and the way that you present them…I have ONE question about the recipe for baked apples: can it be possible that one apple is really 330 calories???
Ronnie
Hi Ronnie, yes, that’s what my nutrition calculator reported. Not sure where that falls on the spectrum for you, but of course recipes will always vary a bit with the size of the apple, etc.
It was the perfect October dessert. I forgot to pour the water around them but it turned out ok.
Oh no! I’m glad they still turned out ok.
You’re right – the apple lids are SO cute. It makes so much sense to sort of gently hollow out some of the apple and then to replace the tops. There are a bunch of orchards near where we live so guess we need to take a field trip! Happy autumn…
Just made these tonight. Served them with nonfat Greek yogurt on the side. Fabulous!
Sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing, Kathleen.
I’m about to to bake these but a little confused — you do not cover them with tin foil before baking?
Hi, no need to cover! I hope you love them.
I’ve been making baked apples since I was a kid, and this preparation technique with the little apple “hat” was a real improvement! I have also never thought to add oats – yum! I used raisins instead of nuts because that’s what I have always put in my baked apples and it was delicious. These go best with vanilla ice cream, but in a pinch I will take a couple tablespoons of half and half, add a tiny bit of vanilla (and maple syrup if the apple is a tart one) and drizzle it over the top of the apple. Not as good as ice cream, but certainly better than plain yogurt.
I’m glad you liked it and it worked well, Sarah! I appreciate you taking the time to review and share your variation.
Attractive and tasty! Even my son went out of his way to say how much he liked this. I didn’t know whether to cover or not, but thought that covering would steam through the apples. I covered my pan with foil for the first 40 minutes and then uncovered for 10 minutes more. Very soft and tasty. The water at the bottom of the pan gets syrupy and I spooned it on the apples when I served them.
What do you do with inside of apples
That have been scooped out?
Hi Josephine, I discard them as it is primarily the core of the apple. I hope you try them and like them!
Hello again,
I made these delicious apples. What a treat! They taste like an old fashioned apple pie minus the crust. By the way, I used apples from the orchard, the Golden delicious and it worked beautifully . Thank you
Marie-Louise
BC, Canada
OMG!! what a fantastic recipe!! I just went for apple picking and I have been thinking of ways to finish them up.. I am tired of making same old Apple pie … this looks fantastic!! I have to try this!!
I love apples so much and this recipe looks delicious. I would love to see an apple pie made by you, that would be amazing!
I invite you to my blog, I’ve made a very yummy tiramisu :)
I made these yesterday… so simple and also delicious. We served them with plain natural yoghurt. Also we doubled the quantity of apples to have them 2 nights in a row.
Butternut soup was delicious!!
Wow! It was an amazing recipe. I was curious about the name of the recipe while I’m browsing so I read how did you bake the apple. And I liked it because not only are the ingredients you used nutritious but it also looks delicious. This is a big help especially since I will be a nutritionist one day. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe with us.
I’m glad you loved these apples! I appreciate your review.
This was so amazing! I can’t imagine the baked apple but after reading this I am encouraged to do this. It not only looks delicious but is also nutritious as well. It was a big help to me as a soon to be a nutritionist :>
Thank you for your review! I’m glad you enjoyed them.
Hi Kate! Can honey or maple syrup be used instead of the sugar?
Hi Kate! I find it works best as written.
Has anyone tried to make this with coconut oil?
I find it is best as written.
Hi Kate!
I made this for a small family gathering on the weekend. These turned out amazing! Thank you for the recipe!
I’m excited they were a hit!
hey kate tried this recipe tonight and it was delicious thank you! i have some leftover how do they store
I am so excited about these! I made the NYT baked apples for Rosh Hashanah, but I think the ginger might’ve been a little too much for my toddler. These look absolutely perfect for our Maddie AND the adults. Thank you for the great idea!
Thank you for sharing!, Jennifer! You’re welcome. I hope you make them a lot this season.
Cookie and Kate for the win again! What a fun and delicious way to use my freshly picked apples. A mouthful of fall happiness :)
Brown sugar isn’t easily available in my area, would it be fine for me to use white sugar instead?
I recommend it best as written. You could try it, although you would have different results.
I substituted the oats, nuts, and butter with 1c of diced strawberries and 1 pint of blueberries.
Absolutely delicious.
Great to hear, Andrew! I appreciate your review.
Perfect. Thank you.
I made them with vegan butter and substituted maple syrup instead of brown sugar,adding some xtra cinnamon .LOVE these. I have made them 3 times in the last few weeks.so delicious.
Great to hear, Wendy!
I love your recipes!!
I look forward to your next cook book I have Love Real Food.
I have so many favorites but the super hero muuf9ns are everyone’s favorite