Stuffed Baked Apples

The short version: core a firm baking apple like Rome Beauty, Granny Smith or Honeycrisp, leaving the bottom closed. Fill it with rolled oats, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Set it in a casserole dish with a little water and bake at 375°F for 35 to 45 minutes, until a knife slides in with no resistance.

There is a short stretch every fall when the apples are good and the evenings finally turn cool enough to want the oven on. A baked apple fits right there. You core an apple, fill the hollow with oats and brown sugar and butter, and bake it until the whole kitchen smells like cinnamon. It is a pie without the crust and without the hour.

You do not need any special equipment. A casserole dish works perfectly, and it lets you bake as many apples as you have people. I bake mine in a single-apple ceramic baker I found at a thrift store, and I think it is so cool, but it is a bonus, not a requirement. If you have one, there are directions for it below too.

Start with an apple that can take the heat

This is the part that decides whether you get a beautiful stuffed apple or a small pile of applesauce, so it is worth being picky.

These hold their shape:

• Rome Beauty. The classic baking apple. If your store has them, buy them.
• Granny Smith. Firm and tart, and the tartness is a real advantage once brown sugar is involved.
• Honeycrisp. Sweet and sturdy.
• Braeburn, Jonagold, Pink Lady, Winesap and Northern Spy. All dense enough to stay whole.

These will collapse:

• McIntosh. It breaks down beautifully, which makes it wonderful for sauce and wrong for this.
• Red Delicious. Goes mealy and watery.
• Gala and Fuji. Softer than they look once they are hot all the way through.

If you are at an orchard and not sure, ask which one they would use for baking. They will know.

The filling

Rolled oats, brown sugar, soft butter, cinnamon, a scrape of nutmeg and a pinch of salt. That is the whole thing, and it is better than it sounds. The oats soak up the butter and the juice the apple gives off and turn into something between a crumble and soft oatmeal, right in the middle of the fruit.

Worth adding if you have them:

• Chopped pecans, toasted first
• Raisins or dried cranberries, which plump up in the steam
• A spoonful of apple butter in the bottom of each apple before the oats go in

How to bake them in a casserole dish

Core each apple from the stem end, going most of the way down but not through the bottom. You are making a cup. Leave about half an inch at the base so the filling stays in. Widen the opening to about an inch and a quarter across. It always looks like too much room, and it never is once the oats go in.

Score a shallow ring through the skin around the middle of each apple. The skin shrinks faster than the flesh, and the scored line gives it a clean place to open instead of splitting wherever it wants.

Pack the filling in, mound it a little over the top and dot each apple with butter. Set the apples in the dish and pour about a quarter inch of water or apple cider around them, not over them. That steam keeps them tender while the tops brown.

Bake at 375°F for 35 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of your apples. Start checking at 30. They are done when a knife slides into the side with no resistance and they are still standing up. Spoon the syrup from the bottom of the dish back over the tops before serving.

If you have a single-apple baker

An apple baker has a cone in the center. Core the apple all the way through, score the ring around the middle and set it down over the cone. The cone heats up and bakes the apple from the inside out, which helps, because the center of a dense apple is the last place heat reaches. Pack the filling in on top, mound it a little and bake at the same temperature and time.

The recipe

Stuffed Baked Apples
Prep 15 minutes · Bake 35 to 45 minutes · 1 apple per person

Ingredients, per apple

• 1 firm baking apple (Rome Beauty, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp or Braeburn)
• 2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 to 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• A scant tablespoon of soft butter, plus a dot for the top
• A pinch of cinnamon, a tiny scrape of nutmeg and a pinch of salt
• Optional: toasted pecans, raisins, dried cranberries or apple butter
• About 1/4 cup water or apple cider for the dish

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 375°F.
2. Core each apple from the stem end, stopping about 1/2 inch from the bottom. Widen the hollow to about 1 1/4 inches. (Using an apple baker? Core all the way through.)
3. Score a shallow ring through the skin around the middle.
4. Stir together the oats, brown sugar, butter, spices, salt and any add-ins.
5. Pack the filling into the apples, mounding it slightly, and dot the tops with butter.
6. Set the apples in a snug casserole dish and pour the water or cider around them. (Apple baker: set the apple over the cone.)
7. Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until a knife slides into the side with no resistance.
8. Spoon the pan syrup over the tops and serve warm.

Eat them warm

Vanilla ice cream is the obvious choice, or pour a little cream over the top. A cold leftover apple chopped into oatmeal the next morning is a good reason to make extra. They keep 4 to 5 days covered in the refrigerator and reheat well, covered, in a low oven.

More fall from our kitchen: our pumpkin bread and hot apple cider with a ginger kick. You can find everything we put up and bake in Canning and Preserving.

Baked apple questions

What are the best apples for baked apples?

Firm apples that hold their shape: Rome Beauty, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Jonagold, Pink Lady, Winesap and Northern Spy. Skip McIntosh, Red Delicious, Gala and Fuji, which turn soft or mealy in the oven.

Do you peel apples before baking them?

No. The skin holds the apple together while it bakes. Score a shallow ring around the middle so it does not split.

How long do you bake stuffed apples at 375°F?

35 to 45 minutes, depending on size. Start checking at 30 minutes. They are done when a knife slides into the side with no resistance.

Can you make baked apples without an apple baker?

Yes. Leave the bottom of each apple closed and bake them in a casserole dish or any snug baking dish with about a quarter inch of water or cider around them.

Can you make baked apples ahead of time?

Yes. Bake them, cool them and keep them covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat covered in a low oven until warm all the way through.