"This is no ordinary apple, it's a magic wishing apple...

One bite and all your dreams will come true."
Snow White should have known better, that old lady was creeeepy.

For some reason I was afraid of baked apples. I don't know why? Maybe it was just because I hadn't made them before and I chose to make them for the first time when people were coming over. I really should stick with making things I've made at least once before when other people have to eat it too:). Maybe one day I'll learn my lesson. Needless to say they came out really well! I didn't fall in love with any recipe I saw on-line so I kind of made it up as I went.

Baked Apples


You will need:

• 4-6 medium sized Gala apples
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 cup golden raisins

You can also add walnuts or pecans. When I make these again I will probably add some oats, make it sort of apple crispy-ish:).

Wash your apples and peel the top inch or so from the stem. Core the apples, not going all the way through to the bottom. I don't have an apple corer so I used a sharp knife, cutting into the top diagonally. Then I used the blunt end of a spoon and surprisingly the core came out pretty easily, in one chunk. Make sure all the seeds are removed.

 These are the apples only cored half way.

Cut the very bottom off of your apple to give it a flat surface to sit on. Remember to make sure you're not cutting too much off so that you make a hole in the bottom, allowing the filling to leak out!

Mix together your brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins and any other fillings you're using. Fill each apple with approximately 2 tbsp of filling. Pour 1/2-1 cup of apple cider into the bottom of your 3-4 quart baking dish and place your apples in. Put a pad of unsalted butter on each apple.

Cover with foil and poke a few small hold in the foil with your knife. Bake for 45min to an hour at 350 degrees.

Test your apples by sticking them with a fork, when they are tender and the fork goes in easily, they're finished.

You could pair these with so many things. We had them with Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Ice cream. But it would be good with a caramel ice cream, caramel drizzle, whipped cream- the list goes on (or top them off with a little rum, or bourbon or some Navan from the apple pie martini drink last week:))! One recipe I saw had you drizzle maple syrup over them before you baked them, which sounds amazing to me, but I know some don't like maple as much as others:).

Any way you make them, and anyway you serve them, I hope you enjoy!

(p.s. Props to Stephanie for getting her baked apple into my blog!)