The BEST Baked Apple Recipe! This classic fall dessert is super easy to make in either your crockpot or oven. Your family will love it!
I've got fall on the mind. And I have apples in the house.
So put two and two together and you have my crockpot baked apple recipe!
This is another one of those recipes that I used to make with my mom when I was a kid, so it's super simple, but honestly it has probably been 30 years since I made baked apples. I guess I thought of them as comfort food and to me "comfort food" means you might as well just paste them to your thighs and be done with it.
But, they really are only around 225 calories each. All those years of doing without and for nothing!
I'm not sure I can call them baked apples if I didn't bake them in the oven though? I may have the recipe police knocking at my door any minute now.
But they taste exactly like their baked cousins, so there you go! I believe it would stand up in food court (rimshot please).
OK, now let's get down to the nitty gritty. Is it crock pot, crockpot or slow cooker?
Whatever you call it, it's that thing you have stashed in the back of your cupboard with a cord attached. Dig it out and let's get going.
Crockpot Baked Apple Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 large apples I used Gala
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons margarine or butter
- ½ cup apple juice
- ¼ cup walnuts or ¼ cup old fashioned oats optional ingredients
Instructions
- Wash and core apples. You can use a melon baller or pairing knife to core the apples. Pair off a 1 inch strip of the skin around the top of the apple to prevent the apples from splitting.
- Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, margarine and walnuts (or oats) together in a large bowl and fill each apple with the mixture.
- Place apples in the slow cooker and add the apple juice around the bottom of the apples.
- Turn crockpot on high heat and cook for 2 ½ - 3 hours until apples are soft when poked with a fork.
- Serve with ice cream and caramel sauce or go old school and just serve as is!!!
Nutrition
Beware - they are hotter than molten lava when first coming out of the crockpot. I know you want to inhale them, but be careful!
Don't want to dig out your crockpot? Place in a casserole dish and throw them in the oven. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes until soft when poked with a fork.
Tip Of The Day - If you fall in love with these things and you just want to make one or two baked apples at midnight and then hide in the closet and eat them, you would use 2 tablespoons brown sugar, ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon butter per apple. You don't even have to mix it up first, just plop it in the apple and it will mix together as it melts. Just don't drip apple juice on your jammies.
Want To Try This In Your Instapot? - Increase apple juice to 1 cup, cook on High pressure for 10 minutes, use Natural Release for 10 minutes. The apples must be fresh in order to cook well in your pressure cooker though, so use ones you bought from the farmer's market or picked at the orchard. Those older ones in the bags at the grocery store tend to get too mushy in the pressure cooker and are better suited for making applesauce.
Do you enjoy baked apples as much as I do? What's your favorite topping for them? Or do you just eat them naked?
Other recipes you may enjoy:
Handmade Apple Hand Pies
Blueberry Crostata Recipe
Best Soft & Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
Moist And Delicious Banana Bread Recipe
(This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. You can read my full disclosure policy here.)
Jeanie
They look delicious!! Thank you!
Linda @ Itsy Bits And Pieces
OH.MY. These look SO good, Pam...and your photos are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing!
Barbara
I like baked apples anyway, but in truth, I'd wrap them in pastry and add the walnuts AND when eating, I'd add a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Pam
I was torn between making them with pastry around them (yum) or saving a few carbs by making them "naked". I do love pie crust though.
Patti
Sounds yummy and so simple, too. Now where the heck is that crock pot?
Hugs,
Patti
chris aka monkey
i just licked my monitor screen lol these are to die for and i am going to send this to my daughter, she is the crockpot queen in our house, ours sits on the counter and gets used a lot to keep from heating up an already hot house.... how is your arm? xx
Pam
It's getting better. They didn't have to put a hard cast on it, so at least I can move my fingers enough to type and do a few things myself. I just got back from the store from buying elastic waist pants so I could get them on and off easier than my jeans 🙂
chris aka monkey
i just pinned it also i want to see iffen anyone else licks their screen ha ha xx
Joanne Noragon
Hot apples and cold ice cream. Don't stand in the way.
Marie W.
Yum! You mentioned making them at midnight which somehow reminded me that in my middle school teaching days (HEc.) I had the kids make these in the microwave! Basic prep was the same as you stated, but each student put theirs in a Corelle sauce dish, placed them all in the microwave and they cooked (3-4 kids per kitchen) in about 12 minutes, I think (been retired 12 years so don't remember the precise timing). Anyway, there are all kinds of fun ways to enjoy baked apple goodness.
Pam
Oh, that sounds good too! And quicker is better 🙂
Mary Ferguson
Great recipe, many thanks. I love apples anyway and have been getting into the Fall mode.
Have a great week.
Mary
debbiedoos
Oh Lordy I want that for breakfast. Looks fantastic and I sure will try this in the Fall
melinda
Yum !
Thanks for the smaller portion list. We
have a small crockpot and this would be perfect
for Mr. Ken and I.
M : )
Vickie
I haven't had a baked apple since girl scouts- and that's a long time! I can almost smell those apples on the computer screen! I just delivered a bag of apples from our tree to each of my neighbors, but it's too hot for anybody to bake this week. Maybe I'll slip this recipe in their mailboxes.
I'm picturing you eating your apple in the closet like Meg Ryan with her radio in Sleepless in Seattle.
Musings from Kim K.
Ok. When this 90 degree weather leaves MI, this is on my to-do list! We literally are surrounded by apple orchards at our Aframe. YUM!!
Pam
You are going to be knee deep in snow and tying on your ice skates before you know it 🙂
Thistle
Yummmm!! That looks so delicious! I will defiantly be trying out that recipe!!
Pam
Thank you! Your kiddos will love them, plus they're not a lot of calories. So it's a win all around!
Kim
Pam, this looks so good. We just went apple picking and I need to do something with the apples. Sharing this at Wow this week.
Bryan Schwed
I saw some notes about adding a "pie crust" how would that change in the recipe? I am interested in making for our anniversary dinner tonight/
Donna
Thanks for giving the recipe per Apple. Making 6 at a time could get me in trouble. ????
Amber
I like To add custard into the apples to eat them
Pamela
Pam, this is Pam, too. I can't wait to try these! The entire house will smell delicious!! Thank you so much! Pam II
Bliss
OK... I'm a apple dumbplyn... when I core the apples I do or don't core the hole all the way through? I only know I either do or don't want all my brown sugary butter cinnamon goo to stay in or cook out.