Name: Vegan Cinnamon-Oatmeal Baked Apples
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Ingredients: 4 large baking apples (such as honeycrisp, jonagold or fuji); 1/4 cup maple syrup; 1/4 cup rolled oats; 1/4 cup walnuts or pecans (chopped); 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 3/4 cup hot water

Vegan Cinnamon-Oatmeal Baked Apples are bursting with the flavors of fall! They’re a warm and cozy dessert for chilly evenings, and they’re terrific for breakfast, too! This easy recipe is vegan and gluten-free.

Baked Apples

A few weeks ago Dennis and I made our annual pilgrimage to Warwick, New York to go apple picking. We now have a produce drawer full of fresh, crisp apples. We’ve both been snacking on an apple a day, but I’ve also been looking for different ways to prepare them, so we don’t get too bored with them. Baked apples are always a quick and easy way to cook up a few apples, and they make a tasty dessert. These can be prepared while you’re making dinner, and popped in the oven while your meal is eaten.

How To Make Baked Apples

Baked apples are super easy to make!

First, you need to core your apple. I have an apple corer, which makes this step handy. If you don’t have one, you can use a sharp pairing knife. You want the well to be about 3/4-inch in diameter. Leave a little of the core intact at the bottom of the apple, so that your filling doesn’t fall out.
After you core the apples, mix all of the filling ingredients together. Then, carefully spoon the filling into the apple wells. Push the filling down, to pack the wells tightly.
Place the apples in a baking dish and pour hot water into the bottom of the dish. This will help keep the apples from sticking to the dish, and it also helps the apples soften as they bake.
The apples are done with then are firm tender. You want to be able to slide a fork into them easily, but they should’t be mushy. Cooking times will vary depending on the size of the apple and your oven. It usually takes between 35 to 45 minutes.

I’m not sure what type of apples I used when I originally made these, as the orchard we went to has many different varieties. I think they might have been honeycrisp. Any firm baking apple will do. The best apples for baking include jonagold, honeycrisp, fuji, and granny smith.

If you’re allergic to nuts, you can use using raisins or dried cranberries instead of walnuts or pecans. If you follow a gluten-free diet, make sure your oats are certified gluten-free. Oats themselves don’t contain gluten, but they can sometimes be cross-contaminated when processed on shared equipment with glutenous grains. Bob’s Red Mill has gluten-free oats.

Serving

Serve your baked apples warm. They can be served as is or with a scoop of vegan ice cream for dessert. If you’d like to have a baked apple for breakfast, serve it with a little vanilla non-diary yogurt.