Crossing my fingers that you’re in need of a last minute Thanksgiving dessert because you NEED this.
Apples stuffed with a sweet filling made of corn bread, cranberries, cinnamon, and butter, then baked until tender, topped with a scoop of ice-cream, then finished with a simple 5-ingredient caramel sauce. Somebody pinch me.
I’ve been making these apples for over a year now and figured what better timing than to introduce it to you all. It’s simple, minimal ingredients, and can feed an army making this perfect for you and your family on Thanksgiving.
I prefer using Honeycrisp apples however I have made these with Granny Smith and they’ve turned out just as delicious! The only time consuming part of this recipe is prepping the apples. I recommend having help because after two apples I clearly got lazy (see above).
Use an apple corer or pairing knife to remove the core, then use a spoon to widen the center/ scoop out the seeds. In the recipe I recommend leaving the bottom in tact, but like I said this time I got lazy and took it all out. Either way works fine!
The stuffing is made with a store bought corn muffin, cranberries, cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter to hold it all together. Try to not eat this by the spoonful. Keyword: try.
A little hot water is added to the dish and it goes in the oven for 45ish minutes. Your apples should start to wrinkle and pierce easily with a fork when done. I took mine out of the oven after 35 minutes because I like them to have a little crunch, but you keep yours in as long as you’d like! I just wouldn’t let them get too mushy.
While the apples were baking I whipped Ree Drummond’s quick and easy 5-ingredient caramel sauce.
For someone who can’t make a caramel sauce to save her life, this recipe was fool-proof. Only thing I did differently from the original recipe was let it cook for double the time suggested. What’s a Thanksgiving without some homemade caramel?!
When making these figure one apple feeds two (or more) people. I’ve served these sliced into eighths, quarters, or halves. For dessert I like to serve half an apple with a scoop of ice-cream, but if I’m making these savory I’ll cut them into slices. I don’t even think I mentioned the savory stuffed apples. UGH. That’ll get it’s own post.
These apples win people’s hearts, in fact they’ve made their way on our catering menus. The cornbread stuffing can be eaten by the spoonful, so when added with a tender apple, scoop of ice-cream, and salted caramel sauce it’s just not fair. I am so excited for you to try this.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
PS: for savory stuffed apples subtitue the cinnamon for sage and curry and serve with roasted pork loin. YUM!
- 6 apples, preferably Honeycrisp
- 1 large store bought corn muffin (find fresh in the baker's box!)
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 4 tablespoons butter, cold
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 4 tablespoons half-and-half
- pinch kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Using an apple corer or pairing knife, remove the cores leaving the bottom of the apple in tact. Use a teaspoon to scrape out any seeds left behind, then widen the hole by one inch. I use my pairing knife for this.
- In a medium bowl, crumble the corn muffin and mix with the sugar, cinnamon, salt, and cranberries. Mix in the butter with your hands until evenly distrusted. The mix should be crumbly, however wet enough to stick together if rolled into a ball.
- Place the apples in a baking dish and stuff with the cornbread mix.
- In a small sauce pan, bring the 1/2 cup of water to a boil. Add to the baking dish. Bake until the apples are tender and cooked through, about 45 minutes (30 minutes for a little crunchy). The skin should start to wrinkle, but not be mushy.
- To serve, cut in half or quarters and top with caramel sauce (below) and ice-cream!
- Mix the brown sugar, half-and-half, butter and salt in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Cook while whisking gently for about 10-12 minutes, or until sauce starts to thicken. I let mine come to a gentle boil to help speed things up.
- Add in the vanilla and cook 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Transfer to a jar and refrigerate until need. Reheat to serve if necessary.
- I've made these several times where I've left the bottom of the apple in tact, and sometimes where I've removed the bottom with the corer. Either way works, I just prefer to keep the bottom in tact so it's less messy!
