Stuffed baked apples are a simple and comforting dessert, made with a few unpretentious ingredients. The result is pleasant to look at and delicious to eat, making it a perfect after-meal treat for everyone, even those with little cooking experience. Also try the drunken pears in red wine and spices.
The cooking of my stuffed baked apples was done with the air fryer, a very useful appliance that solves every problem. Even at the last minute, you can make this delicious dessert, and if you don’t have an air fryer, bake them in a traditional oven.
In the stuffing, you’ll find honey instead of sugar, the same chopped apples and seasoned with butter and breadcrumbs, all flavored with cinnamon, vanilla, and lemon and orange zest. If you like, you can also add a crunchy note with some chopped walnuts, something I didn’t do to avoid problems for some intolerant guests I had for dinner.
You can serve them hot, just out of the oven, or cold, and accompany them with a light cream.
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 4 Golden Delicious apples
- 3.5 tbsp butter (soft)
- 3.5 tbsp breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (or powdered vanillin)
- orange zest and lemon zest (grated)
- 1 pinch fine salt
- 1/2 lemon juice
- to taste powdered sugar
Steps
Wash and dry the apples. If they have a stem, do not remove it.
Cut the top off at about 1-1.25 inches and then, using a sharp knife, gently remove the central core and scoop out the apple flesh, setting it aside. Scoop some flesh from the top as well, so you can close the stuffed apples better.
Coarsely chop the scooped apple flesh and add all the ingredients, the juice of half a lemon, the soft butter, the breadcrumbs, the honey, the cinnamon, the pinch of salt, the grated orange and lemon zest (to taste), and the vanilla extract or vanillin.
Mix the mixture well, divide it into 4 parts, and stuff the apples.
Place the top on the stuffed apple and press lightly to close it.
Place the apples on parchment paper in a baking tray, or in the air fryer basket. Brush them with a thin layer of honey and bake.
In the preheated air fryer, bake at 356 degrees Fahrenheit for 18 minutes, while in a preheated traditional oven, bake at 356 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.
Serve hot or cold with a sprinkle of powdered sugar.
