Baked Cinnamon Peanut Butter Apples

Baked Cinnamon Peanut Butter Apples

Do you ever want the taste of something sweet without making a full-fledged dessert? I definitely do, especially now since I can't have sweets for about 6 more weeks. I think that fruits are underrated as potential "dessert" options. They have natural sugars that give the feeling of decadence, but also the nutritional value that justifies indulging in them. Some of my favorite fruits to cook with are bananas, apples, raspberries, and strawberries. Apples in particular are great because they allow you to make individual serving sizes relatively easily. One of the other best things about apples is how easy it is to pair them with other flavors. Think about it: In elementary school, how many different things did you get to dunk your apples in? Caramel, yogurt, peanut butter, candy coating? Apples are just such rock stars.

The other day, while I was craving something sweet and pretending that there were not about 20 mini-brownies chilling in the cookie jar (thanks Dena), I came up with these baked apples. They are easy to make, tender, juicy, salty, sweet, and actually heathy! Even though I used honey, the recipe is also very easily made vegan, which is why I am including it in the vegan recipes. I believe that it is also gluten-free. Look at that: healthy, vegan, gluten-free? Does it sound like it wouldn't be delicious yet? Because it is. It absolutely is.

Baked Cinnamon Peanut Butter Apples

Ingredients per Apple serving:

1 Apple

1 Tbsp. Peanut  Butter

Cinnamon

Honey (or agave nectar if making vegan)

Chopped Hazelnuts (also optional)

3 Tbsp. Water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Slice apple in half long-ways and place halves in pie pan.

2. Scoop out seeds/core to create small pit in center of each apple half. Fill each hole with about a teaspoonful of peanut butter.



3. Lightly drizzle honey or agave nectar over apple halves.

4. Sprinkle halves with cinnamon.

5. Sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts. Add water to bottom of pan to keep apples moist while baking.

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes until tender. Serve warm and enjoy!

So easy and so yummy! I planned to only eat one half, but they were so good I finished the whole thing! And the best part is that I did not have to feel too badly about it :) Still, is it Easter yet? I have a feeling this would go great with some chocolate chips...

<3 Lauren