Even if you are not an "apple" person, trust me, these baked apples are life changing. I've perfected this recipe since I was 15 years old, and well, I'm, way past that now! This recipe is one of my mother's favorite things I cook. She declares, "It is not Christmas without your baked apples." They are wonderful anytime as a side dish or a dessert served with ice cream and are very easy to make and prepare a few hours ahead. I promise they will become a staple of your repertoire. Featuring an overload of butter, sugar and cinnamon, how could they not be amazing?
INGREDIENTS
4 Gala Apples
8 tbs Brown Sugar
1 tbs Ground Cinnamon
2 Lemons
4 tsp Butter
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
METHOD
Preheat Oven to 400 Degrees
Grease an 8x8 Pyrex Dish
Cut the top and bottom off of the apple with the peel on and core the apples with an apple corer.
Place the apples in the Pyrex dish and cover each apple top in the juice of a half a lemon
Pack the core space of each apple with brown sugar and cinnamon making sure to end with sugar as too much exposed cinnamon can burn and turn bitter. Make sure to also cover the apple top, lightly with cinnamon and heavy with brown sugar.
Place a 1 tsp pat of butter atop each apple and drizzle 1/4 tsp of each apple with vanilla extract.
Bake the apples for 30-40 minutes until the peel begins to slightly crack and foam appears on the top of the apples. Make sure not to over cook.
Serve immediately with a small spoonful of caramel from the pan over top the apples. Serve hot as a side dish with dinner or as dessert with vanilla ice cream.
The fragrance of these apples fills your house with the scent of the holidays and the taste will not disappoint.
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