Baked Apples recipe with Brown Sugar Pecan topping

Baked Apples are delicious and an easy comforting dessert recipe. A cinnamon, pecan, oat topping gives the apples a buttery sweet flavor.

This is an easy dessert idea and perfect for fall. 

Fresh apples piled high with a butter brown sugar cinnamon oat topping thanks to a fantastic shortcut!

The preparation takes less than 10 minutes. They come out of the oven piping hot and fill the kitchen with the homey smells of warming spices.

When you think of baked apple desserts chances are apple pie or apple crisp pop to mind.

Simple Baked Apples are a great recipe and comfort food treat!

Recipe Ingredients + Notes

Apples. Select fully ripe apples without any bruises or mushy spots. Larger apples are perfect for this recipe. We share our favorite varieties of apples for baking below.

Maple and Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal. This is our secret ingredient! Perfectly spiced and sweetened, using this instant oatmeal is a delicious based for the topping on baked apples. 

This flavor comes in individual packets. Regular, gluten-free and lower sugar (50% less sugar) varieties are available and we’ve tested them! Delicious, each one.

Cinnamon. The perfect warming spice to go with apples.

Unsalted Butter. Melted butter mixes into the topping to hold it together and give a rich flavor.

Pecans. Chopped pecans or pecan pieces can be used. I prefer pecan pieces which tend to be smaller and mix well with the other topping ingredients.

Best Apples for Baking

This is what we are looking for in great baking apples:

• Firm, crisp apples that keep their form after baking
• They have a firm consistency after baking and aren’t mushy
• Delicious strong apple flavor

Here are our favorites:

Honeycrisp

This firm, sweet apple retains a wonderful texture when baking. The skin is thin and the flavor delivers a strong, sweet apple taste.

Honeycrisp’s are often larger in size which is perfect for this recipe. Delicious in this roasted chicken recipe too.

Granny Smith

This bright green beauty is tart! It’s wonderful in apple pie. The contrast of the tart Granny Smith apple flavor is delicious with the sweet topping. 

Braeburn

Another crisp apple that bakes beautifully. It’s juicy without being mushy and has strong apple flavor. Love these in my Grandmother’s Apple Crisp.

Jonagold

Tart with a mix of sweetness. They are a cross between Golden Delicious and Jonathan Gold apples.

Jonagold’s smell wonderful when baking. They are the apple to slice and bake when selling your house. No one can resist the homey aroma.

Jonagold’s tend to be larger apples making them a great choice for baked apples.

Pink Lady

Also known as a Cripps Pink, this apple is a wonderful mix of sweet and tart. 

Winesap

Deeply flavorful and slightly larger apples, Winesap’s are another tart variety. They are a great choice to provide contrast to the sweet topping in this recipe. 

Winesaps are delicious for homemade apple cider or homemade applesauce. They have a slightly thicker skin.

Best way to Core Apples for Baking

An apple corer can be used before halving the apples to take out the stem and seeds. DON’T use a slicer that also cores the apples!

After halving a paring knife works well. If the apples aren’t too firm a spoon can work.

My PRO TIP is to use a melon baller! The larger scoop cuts out the seeds and stem below the seeds in one scoop!

It doesn’t take out more of the apple flesh than needed too.

How to Bake Apples – Step-by-Step

STEP 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Select an 8-inch or 9-inch baking dish for baking the apples.

STEP 2. Scoop out the seeds and any stem from the apple halves using a spoon or melon baller (works great)! Photo 1.

STEP 3. In a medium bowl combine the packets of instant oatmeal, cinnamon, melted butter and pecan pieces. Stir to fully combine (photo 2).

STEP 4. Pour 1/2 cup of hot water in the baking pan (photo 3).

STEP 5. Divide the topping between the apples, filling the cavity on the apple halves and heaping on top (photo 4). Place the topped apples in the pan with water (photo 5). 

Place foil on top of the pan and secure around the sides for a good seal (photo 6).

NOTE: the foil may need to be tented over the topped apples. Just be sure to secure it around the sides.

STEP 6. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 25 minutes. The apples will be fully cooked but still with a good structure (depending on the type of apple used).

Allow to cool slightly before serving. 

How to Serve

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or caramel sauce (if desired). We love homemade salted caramel!

More Recipes You’ll Love!

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5 from 15 votes

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Baked Apples

Baked Apples piled high with brown sugar, maple, oats and pecans are an easy, delicious dessert recipe. Homey, rustic, easy comfort food recipe.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword baked apples

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Servings 4

Calories 273 kcal

Author Toni Dash

Ingredients

• 2 large Apples rinsed and halved (stem to bottom)
• 2 individual packages Maple and brown sugar oatmeal
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup hot water
• Optional: Caramel sauce & vanilla ice cream for topping

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Set aside a small 8 or 9 inch baking pan to prepare after apples are filled.

2. Remove the stem. Using a spoon, or melon baller scoop out the core of each apple including the stigma on bottom.

3. In a small bowl, combine the oatmeal packages, cinnamon, melted butter and pecans and mix with a spatula until combined.

4. Pour the hot water into the baking pan. Take an apple half and spoon heaping amounts of the filling into the well. Place each of the filled apples (cut side up) into the prepared baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and then bake for another 25 minutes.
5. Best served warm with a little bit of caramel sauce and a side of ice cream.

Recipe Notes

Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal: we've tested this recipe with regular, low sugar and gluten-free varieties and they are all delicious.

Nutrition facts may vary depending on which oatmeal version is used.

Nutrition Facts

Baked Apples

Amount Per Serving

Calories 273 Calories from Fat 216

% Daily Value*

Fat 24g37%

Saturated Fat 11g55%

Cholesterol 45mg15%

Sodium 3mg0%

Potassium 157mg4%

Carbohydrates 17g6%

Fiber 4g16%

Sugar 12g13%

Protein 1g2%

Vitamin A 585IU12%

Vitamin C 5mg6%

Calcium 23mg2%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.