Desserts / Easy Baked Apples with Granola

Easy Baked Apples with Granola

Published October 23, 2020

Easy baked apples, filled with a simple gluten free granola, are about as autumn as you can get. They make a nice special breakfast or dessert, especially when topped with extra maple syrup.

Yield: 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Total time: 40 minutes

Granola and chocolate stuffed baked apple.

Apples often outshine pumpkin for me at this time of year. I eat at least one every day while they’re in season, starting my morning with an apple and nut butter, and include them in virtually every baked good.

I think apples are sometimes taken for granted as they’re so widely available year round, but they are a seasonal fruit. Best from late August up to December depending on the variety and your region, some types store very well and you might be able to get local apples right up into spring and early summer.

Baked apples are an autumn staple in Germany, and I grew up with my mom making them for us every September. Apple season comes a bit later here than in the Canadian prairies, so I’ll be going strong with this recipe right up until Christmas.

These ones are stuffed with a simple streusel or granola and optional dark chocolate, which lets the apples bring in most of the sweetness. Topped off with a drizzle of maple syrup, they make an excellent fall dessert and an even better breakfast.

Ingredients

Baked apples ingredients with labels.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

  • Granola or streusel: although I’ve linked to my olive oil granola in the recipe, this hazelnut granola would be just as good, or a grain free granola. If you have a favourite store bought granola, then use that, or make the streusel as outlined.
  • Dark chocolate: this can be squares from eating chocolate, baking chocolate, or chocolate chips, whatever you have on hand.
  • Maple syrup: you can use any sweetener you like, or omit altogether.

Step by Step

Stuffed apples steps 1 to 2, cored apples, filling, before and after baking.

Step 1: core the apples, being careful to remove all seeds.

Step 2: make a streusel filling if you don’t have granola (see recipe notes below).

Step 3: fill the apples, adding as much as possible.

Step 4: bake until the apples are soft and serve warm.

Best Baking Apples

I like Elstar or Boskoop, but any firm and slightly tart apple variety will do well. Choose one that you love, because this recipe is 90% apple – a mealy type that you don’t want to eat raw won’t be any better baked.

Honestly, after three years over here, I don’t remember the Canadian varieties I liked best as well as I should. The apples grown at my parents’ farm are obviously perfect, as the ones you grow up with always are. 

Macintosh and red delicious are no good – common knowledge, I think? – and granny smith is too sour. Pink lady, honeycrisp, or jonagold would be good.


Recipe Notes

If you don’t have any granola on hand and are experiencing a sudden craving for stuffed apples, here’s a quick fix. Mix about a half cup of rolled oats with a tablespoon each of coconut sugar, coconut oil, and dairy-free milk, add a sprinkle of cinnamon, and use that.

You can add extra nuts or seeds to make it a bit more interesting – and maybe morning appropriate – but it’s an easy solution, and a delicious one. 

Apples in a paper lined pan and woman lighting candles.

Expert Tips

  • Use a corer: you may have an apple corer, which makes this recipe even easier! If not, just carefully cut the centre out of each apple, making plenty of space for the stuffing. You want about 4cm (1.5 in.) in diameter for each core.
  • Don’t peel the apples: they can’t be peeled for this recipe, so make sure you’re choosing one that doesn’t have a thick, tough skin (one more reason to exclude granny smith).

More Great Apple Recipes

Apple Hazelnut Cake
Gluten-Free Apple Crisp
Healthy Apple Crumble Bars
Oatmeal Thumbprint Cookies

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Granola and chocolate stuffed baked apple.
5 from 2 votes

Baked Apples

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 4
Print Recipe

Description

Easy baked apples, filled with a simple gluten free granola, are about as autumn as you can get. They make a nice special breakfast or dessert, especially when topped with extra maple syrup.

Ingredients

  • 4 apples cored
  • 8 tablespoons olive oil granola*
  • 4 squares dark chocolate optional
  • Maple syrup for drizzling, optional

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line an oven safe dish with parchment paper (this helps catch any errant chocolate).
  • Make sure the cored area in the apples is quite large, as you want a good amount of filling. Place the apples into the prepared dish – lifting them after the filling is added won’t be possible.
    4 apples
  • Add about a tablespoon of granola into the middle of an apple, then add a square of dark chocolate, and top with another tablespoon of granola. Repeat for each apple.
    8 tablespoons olive oil granola*, 4 squares dark chocolate
  • Bake the apples for about 30 minutes. It will depend on the size of your apples. They should be fork soft, but not completely mushy, so take them out when there's still a bit of bite.
  • Serve warm, with a drizzle of maple syrup or with a scoop of ice cream or yogurt.
    Maple syrup

Notes

If you don’t have any granola on hand and are experiencing a sudden craving for stuffed apples, here’s a quick fix. Mix about a half cup of rolled oats with a tablespoon each of coconut sugar, coconut oil, and dairy-free milk, add a sprinkle of cinnamon, and use that.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 409kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 15mg | Potassium: 557mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 115IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 5mg

Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.

This post was originally published in October 2019. It’s been updated with improvements to the text and some tweaks to the recipe as of October 2020.

5 from 2 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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