Brown Bag Apples

So I was at the grocery store browsing the produce section when the “I’m so loving my job bagging apples “ guy  asked me if I’d like a bag……of apples, that is. To be honest, I didn’t really want them but because he was so friendly, with his infectious pearly white smile, raving about how good they were I said OK. At the checkout, I realized that this so called bargain bag cost me about $10 for about 15 Gala apples. Ah well, I thought, I’m sure we can eat those before they go bad on me.

3 weeks later, 5 lonely apples are still staring at me from the bowl on the kitchen counter, just like they were from the day I brought them home. Not wanting to throw them out, after all they did keep me company for 3 whole weeks; I decided to make a quick dessert that even I might like. I’m not really into desserts, but this one blew me away and I’ll surely be making it a lot more when those 2 trees I have start dropping fruit like confetti at the close of a Las Vegas show!

Ingredients for Baked Apples

4 apples peeled, cored and sliced into wedges

Juice from 1 lemon

3 tsp brown sugar

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

Walnuts or raisins 

½ stick butter

Extra sugar for sprinkling

Heat your oven to 400F.

Juice the lemon into a bowl and add the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract.

As you’re slicing the apples, toss into the bowl and coat with the mixture so they don’t turn brown. The lemon juice will prevent oxidation.

Grease a pie dish or small ramekins (I prefer to make individual ones) and arrange apple slices in some kind of pattern or no pattern at all. Pour any remaining juice into the ramekins.

Place a small pat of butter over the apples and cover with foil.

Bake for about 20 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle some brown sugar over the top.

Bake uncovered for 15 minutes or until the sugar has caramelized.

What’s apple pie without ice cream right? Once they cool a bit, top with some vanilla ice cream and some apple chips.

The chips are so easy to make. Slice some rounds off a whole apple, as thin as you possibly can. Place on a a flat surface like the back of a baking sheet and sprinkle generously with some brown sugar. Bake in the same oven that you just baked the apples in. After 10 minutes, turn off the oven and let the chips sit in there for about 5 minutes.  Pry them away while they’re still warm to prevent them from sticking when the sugar hardens. Let them cool and trust me, they will crisp.

You can easily make this ahead, refrigerate and just heat it up as you feel that need for an “apple pie” fix…enjoy!