Photo courtesy of Andrew Crowley
*This is a guest post I shared in 2008 on $5 Dinners.com. I am so ready for fall weather! Even though autumn is still a few months away I thought this would be a great time to share one of my favorite easy desserts! You don't even need a pie crust to enjoy baked apples. Simple, healthy, and delicious!
One of my favorite things about being gluten free is that the desserts are wonderful! Believe it or not, using gluten free flours to make brownies, cakes, or cookies can be a lot of fun and incredibly tasty!!
But as much as I love to bake, sometimes it's easier to simply make something naturally gluten free!
My favorite naturally gluten free dessert: Fruit!
Fruit is so healthy, delicious, and full of natural sugar & fiber that sometimes it simply makes the best dessert you'll ever have!
The dessert I'm sharing with you today is one of my favorites to make for company. It is elegant, sweet, and has a lovely presentation! I grew up surrounded by apple orchards in southwest Virginia. We ate a lot of apples and I still love them!
When apples are baked they caramelize and turn a beautiful golden brown. The are deliciously sweet and make a perfect light dessert! We enjoy this year round, although primarily in the fall when apples are abundant and very frugal. Even off season though, apples are a great frugal choice for desserts and snacks. This dessert will easily fall around $3 total depending on the prices you can find on pecans and apples. I think it's an extremely budget-friendly and healthy choice!
I prefer not to peel my apples, as the peel is incredibly healthy and why waste such a nutritious part of your dessert!
Photo courtesy of Goldfinch Restaurant.Carrie's Simple Baked Apples
a simple technique for baked fruit
4-5 Gala -or- Honeycrisp apples, washed and cored, and sliced
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
Directions:
Spritz a medium sized casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Place apple slices skin side down on the baking dish. Drizzle honey evenly over the apples. Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg evenly over the apples and lastly chopped pecans. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes until apples are golden and tender. Serve immediately. makes 4-6 servings.
**To make an apple crisp, in a small bowl simply mix together: 1/4 cup almond flour, 1/4 cup gluten free rolled oats, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons coconut oil. Mix it all together and sprinkle over the apples before baking. This will crisp up and make a beautiful dessert! It's awesome served with coconut milk ice cream!
Enjoy!!
