Healthy Baked Apples Dessert
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This Baked Apples recipe is a delicious, easy dessert! Healthy and made with only 9 ingredients – they’re the perfect low calorie, simple treat!
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There are few things I love more than healthy baked apples—they’re simple, sweet, and absolutely delicious!
Every year, we go apple picking, and it’s one of my favorite activities. Growing up, my mom would make baked apples almost every time we came home from the orchard, and I love to continue this tradition with our family.
While other recipes use a lot of butter and sugar, apples are naturally so sweet that you really don’t need much for a dessert that still has all the flavors of apple pie.
With just a few simple, wholesome ingredients, you can make a cozy baked apple treat that’s every bit as satisfying—and yes, still totally healthy!
Liz’s tips for baked apples
- Use a Sharp Knife: Make sure to use a sharp paring knife to safely core the apples. It doesn’t have to be perfect!
- Customize to fit your needs: Make it nut-free by skipping pecans, paleo by swapping oats for more nuts, or even change up the sweetener or oil to suit your pantry.
- Keep apples fresh: It’s ok if your apples get a little brown while you’re preparing them – it won’t affect the taste. However, to prevent this, you can squeeze a little lemon juice on top of them.
Healthy Baked Cinnamon Apples Ingredients
Substitutions for this recipe:
Spices: I sometimes will add even more cinnamon to this recipe. You can add more cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, or any spices you choose!
Nut free: You can make this recipe nut free by simply omitting the pecans
Paleo: You can make this recipe paleo by skipping the oats and doubling up on the pecans. It is less ‘filling’ but will be equally as delicious!
Maple Syrup: You can sub with honey
Oil: You can sub coconut oil with olive oil or avocado oil
Oats: You can sub quick cook oats in this recipe. You can’t substitute steel cut oats in this recipe.
How to core apples:
- To core apples, first, slice off the top to make it flat – removing the stem. You can eat the tops – don’t throw them away!
- Take a sharp paring knife (this is the one I have– it’s expensive but SO worth it) or apple corer and cut out the center of the apple.
- The center doesn’t have to be perfectly cut out or rounded, you just want to get the seeds out. You’re going to fill this with the oat mixture, so you won’t even see it.
How to make baked apples:
- Core your apples. See above for instructions on how to do this. If you don’t want to core your apples, try our Apple Crisp recipe, or just slice your apples and put them in a baking dish.
- Mix together your apple ‘filling’.
- Stuff the apples with the filling + bake!
Once your apples are baked, allow them to cool for a little bit and top with high protein ice cream.
Can you make these without keeping the apples whole?
You can make these without keeping the apples whole. If you’d prefer baking the apples in slices, check out this Healthy Apple Crisp recipe. It’s very similar to this recipe and will give you more of the treat you’re looking for!
You also can cut these apples in half down the stem-line and core them that way. They will cook a little bit quicker. Either way will work!
You also can peel the apples if you prefer not to eat the skin. We actually like the skin and the added nutrition it gives!
What are the best apples for baking?
ANY apple will work for baked apples, but each variety has a slightly different taste for different apple recipes.
If you prefer sweeter apples, Cortland or Fuji are good choices. For a more tart dessert, Braeburn, McIntosh, and Granny Smith are better choices.
This post lists all of the different apples and flavors they bring to a dish.
There’s really no ‘wrong’ apple to use – when you bake them, they will become softer & sweeter.
In the summer peach season, try Healthy Baked Peaches!
Serving and Storing Cooked Apples
Serving: I like to serve these with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but they’re delicious on their own! You can also serve them with vanilla or plain greek yogurt, which will add some protein too.
Storing: These apples will stay in your refrigerator for up to 4 days (if they last that long!)
Can you freeze these baked apples? I wouldn’t recommend freezing these baked apples. You can bake these ahead of time + then reheat them; however, they’re best when eaten fresh out of the oven.
Baked Apple FAQ
Yes! Baked apples are totally good for you. They’re a nutritious treat that is great for dessert. This baked apple recipe is lower in calories, sugar, and fat than most other baked apples.
If you want to soften apples for baking, the best thing to do is pop them in the microwave for a few minutes. Most baked apple recipes don’t need to be softened, though, so unless it calls for this, we wouldn’t recommend it.
It’s up to you if you want to peel the apples before baking them. If you’re baking apples whole, I like to keep the skins on. If you’re baking apple slices, it’s best to peel them before.
Healthy Baked Cinnamon Apples
Ingredients
- 6 small-medium apples honeycrisp, braeburn or empire are best
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup pecans chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil melted
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- ½ cup apple cider or water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Core apples. See above graphic – slice the tops of the apples flat +remove the stem with a sharp knife. Cut about 1/2 the way down to remove the seeds from the center. You can peel the apples but we prefer to keep the skin on.
- Grease an oven safe baking dish with cooking spray or coconut oil (8×8 will work best), and place the apples in the dish.
- In a bowl combine oats, pecans and spices. Add in melted coconut oil + maple syrup. Stir to combine.
- Place apples in baking dish. Divide oat mixture evenly among the center of the apples, pressing the filling in towards the center of the apples.
- Pour apple cider or water into the bottom of the baking dish. Cover apples with foil and bake for about 30 minutes, making sure to baste the apples with the cider every 5-10 minutes. Uncover the apples for the last 5 minutes.
- The apples should be fork tender when cooked. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Well it is taking way longer than stated. Still in the oven now going on 50 minutes and the apples aren’t even close to done. I think this one is a dud for me.
Put the aluminum foil back on, added more water.
How big were the apples? If you used larger apples, that might be the issue. Your oven temp could also be off. I’d love to help – please let me know how they came out!
I made this recipe tonight and was not impressed. Very dry.
Sorry to hear you weren’t a fan Lisa. What was dry? the apples? the topping? We just made this last week and didn’t have an issue. Did you bake them covered?
I was another skeptic but was willing to give this recipe a try!
I was also surprised at how tasty this simple dish is. I think the sweetness and creaminess of ice cream or whipped topping does tie the flavors all together and adds a needed element. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I am on a diet and I think this dessert provides a low calorie, minimal sugar option with beneficial nutrients. It’s the tri-fecta of desserts!
P.S. I am about to reheat a couple. I imagine they should be reheated at 400 degrees. Any idea for how long? And should liquid be added to the pan again?
Thanks again!
I usually don’t add water to the pan. I’d honestly just microwave it, I think that will be easiest way to reheat but you could put it in the oven. Makes ure you’re not putting a cold ceramic pan into your oven as it could crack. I would cut the apple in half and it should warm up in 5-10 minutes. Hope that helps!
Delicious and extremely easy to follow. I’m not a raw apple girl, but love love baked apples, and this recipe is my favorite so far. I enjoy the fact that I can add anything to this. I used a pinch of coconut, opted for water instead of apple cider, and used stevia maple. Yummy🤗 Thank you!
Delicious!!! I made this and I only have one regret and that is I didn’t make more but I will definitely be making this recipe again ☺️
So good! I’ll definitely make this again. The only thing I didn’t like is that I could taste the apple cider too much, I want to reduce it for next time because I felt it overpowered a bit. Not a big deal, I’ll halve it for next time. Thanks for a great recipe!
Where are the 23 grams of sugar coming from? 23 grams of sugar is not considered healthy. Any suggestions? Other than that, it seems pretty healthy and something I would like to make. Thanks
I do not know what you mean when you say it needs moderation. I have not made them so I cannot rate them. Thanks
On average a plain apple has 19g of naturally occurring sugar, so there’s not really much I can do to reduce the amount of sugar in fruit. I have comments go to moderation before they’re posted publicly to make sure people don’t leave inappropriate comments on my website.
19G of natural sugars is not unhealthy, at all. There is no recommended daily limit on natural sugars, like those found in fruit, because there are no health risks associated with these sugars. They’re just natural and healthy carbohydrates. Plus, apples have a good amount of fiber as well. As long as you’re not going overboard on carbs, you don’t have to worry about the natural sugars in fruits, vegetables, milk, etc. These baked apples would only have 4 grams of added sugar from the maple syrup. Adults should limit themselves to 24-36 grams of added sugar a day. These baked apples can definitely fit into a healthy well-rounded diet. You can leave out the maple syrup if you’re concerned about added sugars. The natural sugar from the apples is not unhealthy, though. Unless you think fruits are unhealthy.
Elaine- U do know that many fruits and vegetables have naturally occurring sugar right? Apples have a lot of natural sugars, that’s why they are used for juice butters etc. And btw- sugar is brain food as your brain needs glucose
Liz- thanks for this recipe!! I love apple pie, and esp apple crisp- so this was a nice way to still enjoy that taste with less process!
Just made this with sliced apples and I had a apple cider syrup so I halved it with water. It turned out sooooo good. I put the topping across the top and baked like a crisp. Perfect healthy warm apple fix! Perfect for this time of year.
Yum! That sounds delicious!
Would it be possible to stuff them (I’m not using oats) and wait until the next day to cook them? I am going to my parents for dinner and want to have everything done that I can. I’m so excited to try them!
Hi Holly- I haven’t tried this but I think it would work! The apples might get brown, but they brown anyways in the oven. Let me know if you try it! :).
Really delicious and easy to make.
Thanks, Jennifer! Glad you enjoyed them!
It was delicious! Of course we added ice cream and took the health-grade down a smidge, but it would be great without as well.
Glad you enjoyed it, Donna! The ice cream makes it sooo much more delicious 🙂
I’m not going to lie, i was skeptical that this would be as good as regular baked apples with butter and sugar.. but they were pretty tasty! My whole family liked them. I didn’t use nutmeg, added a little extra cinnamon. Delicioius!
Glad you liked them, Katelyn! They really are just as good as the regular baked apples 🙂