These Baked Apples are a cozy, fall dessert (or delicious homey breakfast!) Filled with toasted nuts and dates, dried cherries, cinnamon, and orange zest, they are maple-sweetened with no refined sugar! This baked apples recipe is vegan and gluten-free.
Beauty is not caused. Â It is. Â ~Emily DickinsonÂ
Tender Baked Apples with a gooey, flavorful center are like eating apple pie and pecan pie in one bite. Â Lightly sweetened with maple syrup and dates, these are good for breakfast or dessert. Â My mom makes these apples for holiday breakfasts when you just want something light yet homey and special. Â You can prepare apples a day ahead and bake the next day. Â They are perfect with a little ice cream, whipped cream, or Greek yogurt.
Our favorite Baked Apples Recipe!
These baked apples have so much flavor! Pecans and walnuts are toasted first for added depth. Dates and dried cherries are pulsed in the food processor along with the nuts just enough to bring it together. Toasted fennel seeds, cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg combine to create lively complexity. Orange peel and ginger give a bright zesty balance.
Baked Apples Ingredients
- Apples: choose apples with a softer consistency like Honey Crisp, gala or
- Nuts: Pecans and walnuts
- Orange: zest & orange juice
- Dried fruit: Dried cherries and dates
- Spices: Cinnamon powder, Fennel seeds or powder, Cardamom powder, fresh grated nutmeg
- Fresh ginger root, grated
- Pure maple syrup
The Best Apples for Baked Apples!
There are so many apple varieties available these days! Good baking apples work well here. You want the apple to get soft and break down a bit.
- Honey crisp
- Gala
- Johnathan
- Braeburn
- Fuji
- Pink lady
How to make Baked Apples
Step 1: Toast. Toast nuts in a preheated oven at 350°F for 8-10 minutes.
While they are baking, toast whole fennel seeds in a dry skillet until just slightly color and smell fragrant.
Step 2: Grind. Coarsely grind the fennel by hand or in a spice grinder.
Gather spices, zest orange and grate ginger.
Step 3: Pulse. In the food processor pulse together toasted nuts, orange zest, dried cherries, dates, cinnamon, fennel seed, cardamom, nutmeg and ginger.
It’ll just take about 6-8 pulses; you want the pieces to be coarsely chopped, keeping the texture.
Step 4: Combine. Add orange juice and maple syrup, and pulse 2-3 times just to incorporate.
Step 5: Core the apples. The easiest way to do this is with an apple corer. Alternatively, you can hollow them out with a knife, just enough to remove the entire core.
Step 6: Stuff the apples. Eyeball the mixture and divide it into 6 clumps. Squish and roll together and push into the cored apples.
Step 7: Place the stuffed apples in an oiled baking dish (coconut oil is nice here). Peel â…“-inch of the apple peel away for a cleaner edge.
Step 8: Bake. Place in oven, covered with foil at 350F for 45-70 minutes. Â Bake until the apple itself is tender. *The baking time greatly depends on the type and size of apple you use.
Serve them warm right out of the oven with homemade ice cream.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve as a dessert with ice cream or whipped cream.
- Serve as a brunch or breakfast entree with creamy vanilla yogurt
- Serve as an afternoon snack with chai tea.
Storing Baked Apples
The baked apples keep up to 4 days in the fridge and can be reheated.
More recipes you may enjoy
- Easy Apple Pie with Pie Crust Cookies
- Apple Crisp
- Baked Apple Pancake (Pannekoeken)
- Apple Brown Butter Bouchons
- Vegan Cranberry Cake
- Rustic Pear Galette with Walnut Crust
- Poached Pears with Pomegranate
- 65 Best Breakfast Ideas!
- Mother’s Day Brunch Ideas!
Cozy Vegan Baked Apples Recipe
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 apples 1x
- Category: Dessert, fall dessert, Brunch recipe, apple recipe,
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These Baked Apples are a cozy, fall dessert (or delicious homey breakfast!) Filled with toasted nuts and dates, dried cherries, cinnamon, and orange zest, they are maple-sweetened with no refined sugar! This baked apples recipe is vegan and gluten-free.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups nuts: combination of pecans and walnuts
- 1 tsp freshly grated orange zest
- 1/4 cup dried cherries
- 1/4 cup pitted dates (medjool are recommended)
- 2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 2 tsp whole fennel seeds (toasted and lightly ground)
- 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
- 2 tablespoons orange juice or water
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 6 medium-sized apples- Honey Crisp, Gala, Johnathan, Braeburn, Pink lady
Instructions
- Toast nuts in a preheated oven at 350 F for 8-10 minutes.
- Filling. In the food processor pulse together pecans, walnuts, orange zest, dried cherries, dates, cinnamon, fennel seed, cardamom, nutmeg and ginger. Â It’ll just take about 6-8 pulses, you want the pieces to be coarsely chopped, keeping the texture.
- Add orange juice and maple syrup and pulse 2 -3 times just to incorporate.
- Core the apples. Â The easiest way to do this is with an apple corer. Â Alternatively, you can hollow them out with a knife, just enough to remove the entire core. Peel away a â…“-inch from the edge.
- Stuff the apples. Eyeball the mixture, dividing it into 6 clumps. Squish and roll together and push into the cored apples. Place stuffed apples in an oiled baking pan (coconut oil is nice here).
- Bake. Place in oven, covered with foil, and bake at 350F for 45-70 minutes. Â The baking time greatly depends on the size and type of apple you use. Bake until apples pierce easily with the tip of a knife.
- Serve with a scoop of ice cream or vegan ice cream.Â
Notes
Leftovers will keep up to 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat in a microwave or 350F oven. Serve with ice cream.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 apple
- Calories: 330
- Sugar: 29.4 g
- Sodium: 4.2 mg
- Fat: 20.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 40.9 g
- Fiber: 8.1 g
- Protein: 3.3 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Love the dates & Ginger in these. Can’t wait to make them again!
Glad you enjoyed!
This was fantastic. The perfect blend of sweet, tart, and warm spices. It’ll definitely be on repeat at our house.
Awesome Paula, great to hear!
Hi there from across the pond! I want to make this gorgeous looking dessert for my family which includes vegans. To not trip up on the timing, please state which apples you usually prefer to use and/or used here and how long they took to roast until soft. Many thanks.
P.s. I’ll be starting the meal with your Vegan Shepherd’s Pie, it looks totally yummy!
Hi Maggie, Glad you are here! In the notes of the recipe card I just added apple variety suggestions. The softer the apple the faster it will break down. I like to use something in between firm and soft. 🙂 Even the same brand can vary in baking time depending on the freshness of the apple. You also can also bake a couple hours ahead of time and then reheat if desired.
They were yummy! Not too sweet and wholesome
Julie
Thanks Julie!
Excellent recipe with great instructions. Used medium sized honey crisp apples. Baked it for about 50 minutes. Served with ice cream. What a treat!
Thanks Lisa, so glad you enjoyed!
Hi,
I tried making these today and while the the filling turned out great, the apples stayed pretty hard, even after cooking an hour and a half. Should I have added apple juice or, maybe, water to the pan?
Thanks for all the wonderful recipes.
Shoot Pete, that is a bummer. The type of apple does make a difference. A good baking apple should break down more easily. Though adding water or apple juice is a really good idea!