How To Bake Apples

There are over seven thousand and five hundred varieties that are grown all over the world. As for these varieties of this amazing fruit, each variety is special. They taste different, they have different shelf lives, they have different favorable climates, and so on. Here are some of the apples that are best for baking:

1. Braeburn: The Braeburn apple is an apple that is firm to the touch. It has a red and orange vertical streaky appearance on a yellow or green background. It tastes spicily sweet.
2. Corland: Cortland apples are related to the McIntosh. This crispy flesh apple has red stripes with a yellow background and is slightly tart to the taste.
3. Fuji: Fuji apples are round and some are even oblong. These are waxy which gives a glossy look. This thick-skinned apple has red stripes on a greenish-yellow background.
4. Granny Smith: Granny Smith apples are a variety of apples that are hard, firm, and juicy flesh. This tarty apple has light green skin that stays firm even when baking.
5. Jonathan: Jonathan apples are sweet apples and are also slightly tarty to taste. These medium-sized apples have red stripes on their skin with a yellow background.
6. Newton Pippin: The Newton Pippin apple is an apple that has a piney aroma and looks light green on the outside which sometimes has a tinge of yellow. This apple has crispy yellow flesh and tastes tart.
7. Rome Beauty: A Rome beauty apple is an apple that is glossy red and tastes mildly sweet and tart. It is rounded in shape and has thick and firm flesh that looks greenish-white.
8. Winesap: Winesap apples are another variety that is medium in size but is spicy tart. It has a thick skin that is deep cherry red and the flesh is yellow in color.

One of the easiest and tastiest ways to have an apple is by baking them. Baking apples are fast to make and the ingredients are flexible to use. However, the following ingredients are the basic requirements for baking an apple. Although most of these are optional, any variety of ingredients can work. So the flexibility is there even for the requirements.

1. Apples 

Among other apples, some apples are usually used for cooking or baking because they are crisp in texture and don't become mushy when cooked. Thus the name "Baking Apples".

The apples mentioned above are some of the good baking apple options. Therefore any variety of apples appropriate for baking can be used.

2. Water

Water is an extremely important element for baking apples. It will provide constant moisture to the apples in the drily heated environment of the oven. This will help the apples retain their moisture even after baking.

3. Brown Sugar

Brown sugar enhances the sweetness of the apple. Although some people do not enjoy the additional sweetness, they sometimes prefer to use brown sugar due to its brown color. But in case to amplify the sweetness, either light brown or dark one can be used. It flavors better with the tarty apples.

4. Nuts

Nuts like cashews, walnuts, almonds, and pistachios give a crunch when eaten therefore these can make the baked apples an interesting experience to eat. These are added as stuffing in the baked apple and can also be roasted and powdered or ground to be added to the sliced apples.

5. Seeds

Various types of seeds can be used as an add-on to the filling of the baked apples. Melon, sunflower, chia, and pumpkin are the most common ones that can be used either for stuffing or to sprinkle over the sliced apple just before baking them.

6. Aromatics

Some of the aromatics go extremely well with the flavor of baked apples like cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg as well as cardamom. These aromatics not only provide an almost perplexing tingly effect but enhance the overall flavor with boldness. Thus contributing to upgrading the flavor.

7. Oil and Butter

Oil works as a greasing agent that works on to prevent the apple skin burn on the dish inside the microwave. It is so because oiling can make the skin tolerant to the higher temperature which will be required while baking. As for butter, adding it on the top of the apples will make the apples cook with a creamy aroma.

Preparation

1. Wash hands thoroughly with soapy water.
2. Run the apples under water to clean them. Rub them well if needed.
3. For stuffed apples, make a nut mix by combining raisins, dried cranberry, dried fruits of choice, and nuts of choice.
4. For sliced apples, make a spice mixture by mixing brown sugar, and cinnamon in the mix of roasted nuts and seeds that are either crushed into small pieces, powdered, or ground coarsely.

Instructions

Baked apples are tasty to eat and can be made by two popular methods. Although most of the steps are the same, both sliced and stuffed methods have a little difference. Therefore all the steps are explained below in multiple steps: 

1. Set the oven

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celcius for 10 minutes. The oven must be preheated to create an even atmosphere inside the oven so the apples do not break out of the skins while cooking.

2. Before Baking

For the slice-and-bake method: 

• Peel and slice: Take the apples one by one in turns and peel each of their skins in a thin layer. Slice all of them with the peel, neither too thick nor too thin. 
• Use spice mixture: Apply oil and butter mix on both sides of the apple. Take them in a bowl and sprinkle a generous amount of the spice mix made from brown sugar, cinnamon, ground nuts, and seeds on the apple, toss them to coat evenly, and place them to bake.
• Placing: After the spice mix sticks to the surface of the apples, lay them on the baking sheet. While placing on the tray the apples may overlap with each other which won't create an issue as they can bake with heat even then. 

For the stuffed apple methods:

• Cut the core: Take a sharp knife and cut the stem from the middle leaving the peel on the other parts intact. Use a spoon to remove the seeds with a little flesh and leave a hollow space for the stuffings. The hole should be an inch wide.
• Use nuts mix: Crush the nuts and seeds with dried fruits, oats, aromatics, and cinnamon and mix them in a bowl. Brown sugar can also be added to make it sweeter and granulated sugar can be another optional choice to make. Fold all of them together and mix them with a little butter to stick them together to bind. Grease the cored surface with oil and butter mix to enhance the flavor. Stuff the bonded nuts and add them inside the space in the core of the apples.
• Placing: Keep the apples standing sturdily on their bottom facing the single-inch space upwards. Add the nut mix in the space filling the gap without letting the apples fall off. Add a small block of butter on the top of the stuffings. The heat will melt the butter and the nuts can get adjusted better when baking.

3. Bake

Put the baking sheet on the preheated oven and let them cook at 190 degrees Celcius for half an hour. Cook it without changing the temperature till its flesh turns tender. Although the flesh will be tender the skin should remain intact. As the half of the hour goes by, check to see if the apples are done or not.

The sliced apples bake faster than the stuffed ones after baking for half an hour, check if the apples are done. If not done yet, or undercooked, bake it again for 10 to 15 minutes or as required by the apples. 

And if done, take it off the heat and serve it warm.

4. Check Doneness

Baked apples are tender but they do still have a bite. To know that the apples are done, poke a fork into the apples. If the apples have become soft but not mushy and the texture is sturdy enough to not splatter when bitten on, then the apples are done.

If the apples become mushy or gooey or when the juices start oozing, then it means that the apples are overdone. If the fork cannot pass through the flesh without resistance or there is some kind of slight stopping force when peaking the apple, this is the case of the apples being undercooked.

It can be then cooked again for some time per requirement.   

5. Serve

Once done, place the baked apples on a plate, top them with some additional crushed nuts, and serve it warm. Baked apples can be eaten by scooping them with a spoon or can also be eaten by directly biting on them.

For an additional kick, add whipped cream on top of nuts, and can also use oats with salted caramel to add on to garnishings or can also use ice cream with caramel drizzle.

Baking apples takes a little time but is worth the effort. It takes a minimum of 50 minutes to an hour to bake the apples from preparation to serving, despite the baking method used.

To bake the apples, the first thing to do is prepare, despite the method, the apples need to be washed it will take about 2 to 3 minutes to wash them clean. Then comes the mix-making, which has different ways to make a mix for both methods.

Cinnamon is added to brown sugar for the Slice-and-bake method to make a cinnamon-sugar mix. However, the optional step of nuts and seeds being mixed with the cinnamon mix can take time as well. This process might take about 5 minutes in total time.

But for the nut mix to use as a stuffing, all the nuts can be crushed and tossed in a bowl for mixing with other ingredients This looks a lot but takes less than 5 minutes 

Peeling the skin, trimming off the core, and slicing them in slices for the first method will take about 2 to 3 minutes but coring the apples for the second one might take more than 5 minutes as it takes patience and needs to be done well.

Then comes the baking which will require 30 minutes minimum to 45 minutes maximum depending on the apples, the temperature of the oven, and the method used.

Here are some of the things to remember while baking an apple: 

• When hollowing the space, let the apple remain whole, hollow it a little from the insides only.
• When coring, let the apple still be attached from the bottom. It will prevent the apple from falling apart.
• The cooking time and duration will differ according to the type of apple and also the size of the apples.
• Adding water to the side of the baking dish is a must step to take as it prevents the apples from burning.
• To prevent it from burning, use oven mitts in your hands to move the baking sheet in and out of the oven.

Storing a baked apple is quite a task as this dish tastes best when hot. Some of the ways to store these are.

1. Keeping whole apples in the fridge without cutting as this will keep the apples fresh for multiple weeks.
2. It is recommended to enjoy this dish warm with ice cream and whipped cream.
3. If kept in a refrigerator, although it can be stored for 2 days, the taste cannot be that the freshly made ones.
4. Do not freeze the baked apples as they will go mush and spoil when thawed.
5. Adding caramelized oats in brown sugar can be a good substitute for the stuffings.

Baked apples have different variations some of them are listed below with their recipe information.

1. Cinnamon Sugar Baked Slices:

1. Get the apples ready by peeling and slicing in half an inch of wedge.
2. Make cinnamon sugar by mixing brown sugar and cinnamon in a ratio of 1: 4 where 1 part is brown sugar and 4 parts is cinnamon.
3. Place the sliced apples in the oiled baking tray or sheet.
4. Coat the apples with butter or olive oil.
5. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar. Better if the coat is a little thick.
6. Bake it at 190 degrees Celsius for 20 to 30 minutes. toss them occasionally.
7. Keep doing it until the apples turn tender.
8. Once done, serve and enjoy it warm.

2. Nut Stuffed Baked Apples:

1. Get the apples ready by coring the seed line with a spoon.
2. Take some of the flesh off as well but leave a thick layer of flesh is at the bottom.
3. Roast the nuts and seeds of choice, crush them, and mix them with cinnamon, sugar, and butter.
4. Fold the nut mix  until evenly coated.
5. Add the nut mix in the cored gap of the apples.
6. Keep the stuffed apples on the oiled baking tray or sheet in a standing position.
7. Bake it a 190 degrees Celsius for 25 to 30 minutes.
8. Check the doneness.
9. If not done bake it more for 2 to 10 minutes.
10. Keep checking in between 2-2 minute gaps
11. Once done, take them off and serve.