Baked Apples

One of my favorite smells is the scent of apples and cinnamon baking in the oven.  With the addition of raisins and pecans, these smell almost as good as they taste!  Baked apples make a great dessert for holiday dinners.  Serve them with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Like apple pie without the crust (great for gluten-free eaters)!



Ingredients:

4 large good baking apples, such as Rome Beauty, Golden Delicious, or Jonagold (see cooking apple varieties)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup currants or chopped raisins
1 Tbsp butter
3/4 cup boiling water


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Wash apples. Remove cores to 1/2 inch of the bottom of the apples. It helps if you have an apple corer, but if not, you can use a paring knife to cut out first the stem area, and then the core. Use a spoon to dig out the seeds. Make the holes about 3/4-inch to an inch wide.  (See photos below for demonstration.)

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, currants/raisins, and pecans. Place apples in a 8-inch-by-8-inch square baking pan. Stuff each apple with this mixture. Top with a dot of butter (1/4 of the Tbps).

Add boiling water to the baking pan. Bake 30-40 minutes, until tender, but not mushy. Remove from the oven and baste the apples several times with the pan juices.

Serve warm with vanilla icecream on the side.

(Recipe and photos courtesy of Simply Recipes.)