There’s something about the smell of baked apples wafting through the house that screams the holidays have arrived! These apples are stuffed with a simple mixture of rolled oats, chopped dates, sliced walnuts and little big of coconut oil to hold it all together.
I used a honey crisp apple which, while incredibly delicious, didn’t cook up easily because it’s a bit dense. I think Golden Delicious apples would work best, but use whatever apple suits your fancy. The topping crisps up quickly on a baking sheet and is ready to spoon into the cooked apples, where it can absorb all the delicious cooked juices!
Ingredients (serves 6)
6 baking apples, such as Golden Delicious – cores removed and roughly hallowed out
1 cup rolled oats – not instant oats!
6 dates – pits removed and chopped
2 tablespoons sliced almonds
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg plus extra for sprinkling
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place one rack just below the center of the oven, and another rack closer to the top. Make sure the baking dish you use for the apples will fit on the lower rack.
- Place the apples in a baking dish with 1/2 in of water in the bottom. Lightly sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg over the apples, making sure to get some inside the cores. Bake for 45 – 60 minutes until cooked. They are fully cooked when you can easily poke a toothpick through the inside flesh.
- Place the oats, dates, almonds, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and coconut oil in a mixing bowl. Use your finger to work the ingredients together so that everything is evenly coated with spices and oil. The dates will likely clump together so use your fingers to separate them.
- Lightly dust a baking sheet with cooking oil spray (I used coconut) and evenly spread the oat mixture in the pan. When the apples are about 10 minutes from being ready, place the baking sheet in the oven and let cook for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the oats to make sure they don’t burn.
- To serve, evenly divide the oat mixture and stuff into the center of apples, and sprinkle the remainder over the apples.
- Serve hot immediately.
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