Baked Apples

Photo Courtesy of Cooking Light

Source: Cooking Light, November 2005

Chop the nuts and apples the night before, and combine with the rest of the ingredients in the morning. Serve these juicy baked apples over slices of Spiced Pumpkin Bread, warm bowls of oatmeal, or pancakes. Ida Red and McIntosh apples also work well.

2 cups dried cranberries
1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup water
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
6 Gala Apples, cored and chopped (about 3 pounds)

Combine all ingredients in a large microwave-safe dish. Microwave at high 20 minutes or until apples are soft, stirring occasionally.

Yield: 6 cups (serving size: 1/4 cup)

NUTRITION PER SERVING: CALORIES 126(29% from fat); FAT 4.1g (sat 0.4g,mono 0.6g,poly 3g); PROTEIN 1g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 16mg; SODIUM 4mg; FIBER 2.3g; IRON 0.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 23.7g

My notes: Perhaps a better name for these would be "Baked" Apples. I didn't realize they were cooked in the microwave. I was tempted to try them in the oven, but I cooked them as written and they came out very nicely. These were easy to put together and very tasty. I used dried cherries because I did not have dried cranberries on hand. I cut the recipe in half so that we wouldn't have a ton of leftovers. I felt there were too many dried cherries and would probably cut these in half - they seemed almost equal to the amount of apples once the apples cooked down and I would have preferred to have the apples be more dominant. The dried cherries worked nicely, but the cranberries would have lent a nice tartness and I feel they would work better for this recipe. My only other complaint would be that although the juices and sugar made a nice thick syrup, it was quite stringy (for lack of a better word - kind of like the strings you get with some melted cheeses) - making the dish awkard to serve and to eat.