Baked apples are a great side dish or dessert for a harvest-themed meal like Thanksgiving. These low oxalate baked apples are especially rich and make a luscious dessert served with heavy cream or coconut cream. Make sure you use a good baking apple like Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Jonathon or Rome Beauty. My favorite apple for this dish is Golden Delicious because it doesn’t make a lot of juice when baked which creates a richer-tasting pan syrup. Granny Smiths is also particularly good because its tart flavor complements the richness of the butter well.
Low Oxalate Baked Apple
If you are a Primal, Paleo or other low-carbohydrate eater, you may want to leave out the honey and raisins, but I highly recommend the rum (I use 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup dark rum). To me, baked apples are a sensible indulgence not to be missed!
Enjoy!
Holiday Baked Apples
6 large baking apples
2 tablespoons honey (optional)
6 tablespoons melted butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup apple cider, water, dark rum or brandy
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Peel and core the apples. Pour the melted butter and honey into a small bowl and mix well. Roll each apple in the butter mixture then set the apples in a 9″ x 13″ baking dish. Reserve the left-over butter mixture. Combine the raisins and pumpkin seeds in a small dish, then stuff the raisin mixture into the hollows of the apples (note: if you have non-low oxalate dieters in the house, you may want to stuff their apples with a raisin/walnut mixture instead). Stir the lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg into the left-over butter/honey mixture. Pour as much of this butter mixture into the apple hollows as possible, pouring any left-over into the bottom of the pan. Add the cider to the pan (note: if you use rum or brandy, the alcohol burns off during baking). Bake uncovered until the apples are tender when pierced with a fork (about 1 hour). You do not need to baste these apples. Serve warm with the pan syrup and heavy cream or coconut cream.
Makes 6 servings.
Low Oxalate Info: Holiday Baked Apples have about 5 mg. oxalate each when made with apple cider. Cinnamon (8.3 mg. per teaspoon) and pumpkin seeds (5.2 mg. per 2 tablespoons) are medium oxalate ingredients. Rum and brandy have not been tested, although all liqueurs, whiskeys and wines tested so far have no oxalate or trace amounts of oxalate, so I feel confident using rum or brandy for special occasion cooking. All other ingredients are low or very low oxalate.
OXALATE UPDATE (Dec. 2011): Cinnamon has been retested since I wrote this post and found to be high oxalate at 38.5 mg./teaspoon. If you substitute nutmeg (9.4 mg./teaspoon) for the cinnamon they should still be about 5.1 mg. oxalate per serving. Alternately, reduce the cinnamon to 1/2 teaspoon for apples that are about 7 mg. oxalate per serving.
Variation: For a simpler side dish, reduce the butter and honey by half and omit the raisins, pumpkin seeds, lemon juice and nutmeg. Simply arrange 6 cored apples (peeled or not . . .) in a baking dish. Mix the cinnamon, butter, and honey in a bowl, then spoon this mixture into the hollows of the apples. Add 1 cup apple juice or water to the pan and bake, covered with foil at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Uncover the apples and baste with the pan juice, then bake again, basting frequently –until the apples are soft but still hold their shape.
Other Diets: Holiday Baked Apples may be appropriate for gluten-free, dairy-free (using coconut), vegan, vegetarian and controlled carbohydrate diets. They also make a great holiday indulgence for Primal, Paleo and low-carbohydrate dieters.
Photo credit goes to Tiny Red Kitchen for Heavenly Baked Apples.
link {UK readers use 
; Canadian readers use 
}. You may also make a purchase through my Amazon search engine below, or through any of the suppliers below. I will receive a small commission (with no extra charge to you.) Thank you!