Episode 14: Baked apples

My mom bought two giant containers of apples this week at Costco and the very best thing about that is that we have had baked apples for dessert THREE nights in a row! The first night we halved them, filled them with brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins and butter and then baked them until the whole house smelled good enough to eat. The second night we did pretty much the same thing, except we used dried apricot pieces instead of raisins. Tonight we went nuts and filled the whole apple, loosely following a recipe from one of our Martha Stewart magazines. Delicious! That sauce that gets drizzled on in the end is sooo yummy ... I could eat that all day!

Here's my recipe for Baked apples with dried cherries and pecans:

Ingredients:
4 Gala apples
1/3 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup pecan pieces
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons sour cream
3 tablespoons crushed gingersnaps

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Core apples with a knife and use a melon baller to scoop out some of the flesh, making about a 3/4-inch-wide cavity. Peel top inch of apples; fill with cherries and pecans and sprinkle with cinnamon. Arrange in an 8-inch square baking dish.
Drizzle maple syrup over apples; top each with 1/2 tablespoon butter. Bake, brushing occasionally with accumulated juices, until apples are tender, 45 to 60 minutes.
Transfer apples to a plate. Pour liquid from dish into a bowl; whisk in sour cream. Drizzle over apples; sprinkle with gingersnaps.

EAT THEM UP!