Whole Baked Apples with Cinnamon Sticks
Ingredients:
- 4 large tart cooking apples – I used Honey Crisp and Granny Smith Apples
- 4 Tablespoons of light brown sugar
- 4 teaspoons of butter
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 4 cinnamon sticks
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
1. The hardest part of making this dish is coring the apple, because you don’t go all the way through. Core apple to about 1/2 inch from bottom and then scoop out the core with a melon baller. I find a melon baller works best for me.
2. Peel the top of the apple, so it doesn’t split/crack during cooking and then place apples in an ungreased, oven-proof baking dish.
3. Fill apple cores with 1/2 teaspoon of butter, followed by 1 Tablespoon of light brown sugar and top with 1/2 teaspoon of butter.
4. Sprinkle ground cinnamon in the core and on top of apples and then place 1 whole cinnamon stick in center of each apple. Add water to the baking dish, about 1/2 inch deep. Place baking dish in the oven.
5. Bake for about 45 minutes. Apples are done when you can pierce them with a fork.
6. When apples are done, remove from the pan and pour the syrup into a saucepot, over medium high heat and bring to a boil. We are creating an apple/cinnamon caramel.
7. When serving apples – place apple in the center of a pretty dish, pour the syrup into the apple core and drizzle the rest over the top.
