Baked Apples

By Dorie Greenspan

Updated Sept. 9, 2025

Baked Apples
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.
Total Time
1 hour 15 minutes, plus cooling
Rating
4(1,276)
Comments
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I don’t remember my mother at the stove. When asked what childhood dish was my favorite, I’d stammer and come up empty. And then, walking down the stairs in my Paris apartment, I got to the third floor and said out loud to no one: baked apples! My mother made baked apples. Her apples were big Cortlands or Rome Beauties, and she cored and stuffed them with raisins, because my father loved raisins. I also bake with Cortlands or Romes when I can get them, Fujis or Galas when I can’t. I’ll often stuff them with raisins, but I think they’re especially nice filled with bits of dried apple and candied ginger. And I like to baste them with apple cider and honey. They’re good hot or cold, but best served warm and topped with something creamy. Cinnamon (my mom always used too much) is optional.

Featured in: My Mother’s Best (and Only) Recipe: Baked Apples

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 4large baking apples, like Rome Beauty
  • 2lemon wedges
  • 2 to 3dried apple rings, cut into bits
  • 4tiny pieces crystallized ginger (optional)
  • 3 to 4teaspoons honey
  • 1tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1cup/240 milliliters apple cider or juice
  • Heavy cream, whipped cream or ice cream, for serving (optional)
  • Cinnamon, for dusting (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

212 calories; 6 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 42 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 33 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 12 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Center a rack in the oven and heat to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil, and set a 9- or 10-inch glass pie dish on top.

  2. Step 2

    Cut a small cap off the top of each apple, and set aside. Using a paring knife or corer, core the apples, making sure not to go all the way to the bottom. Cut away and reserve about ½ inch of peel around the tops of the apples. Rub the peeled portions of the apples with the lemon, squeezing a little juice into each opening.

  3. Step 3

    Fill each apple with an equal amount of dried apple and ginger, if using, pressing down lightly as needed to push bits into the opening. Pour ½ teaspoon honey over the dried fruit in each apple. Cut the butter into 4 pieces, and top each apple with a pat. Pop the caps back on the apples. (It’s O.K. if they teeter). Transfer the apples, lemon wedges and a few of the reserved peels into the pie dish; pour in the cider or juice, and stir in 1 to 2 teaspoons honey. (The honey won’t blend evenly into the cider, and that’s fine.)

  4. Step 4

    Bake the apples, basting occasionally with the cider and honey, until you can poke them with a skewer or the tip of a knife and not meet much resistance, 50 to 70 minutes. Since apples are so variable, check early and often, as you might need more or less time.

  5. Step 5

    Let them cool for at least 15 minutes before serving moistened with a little pan sauce, and if you want, top with cold heavy cream, whipped cream or ice cream and dust with cinnamon. The apples are good warm or at room temperature. They’ll keep, covered, for 2 days in the refrigerator and can be reheated in a microwave.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
1,276 user ratings
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Comments

Annette

Baked apples are my “go to” desert in winter/fall for so many reasons - when friends are coming who “don’t eat sugar,” when friends are coming who are gluten free, when I simply need a satisfying close to a meal without much bother. I bast boldly with cider from the Farmer’s Market and much, too much, butter, and yes, I serve them warm with cream. My choice of apples? I have become a bit iconoclastic...a farmer told me last year to try full size Honeycrisps. I have never looked back.

Martha Plaine

My mother did cook - but it is her baked apples that I remember best. And this is the one dish I continue to make. Like your mother she used cortlands. Core the apples, fill with a pat of butter and spoonful of raspberry jam. I like to add a bit of white wine around the apples to make a glaze to spoon over the apples. In a pyrex dish, of course, and bake until cooked through. I serve with cream.

Amy

Love this piece. Baked apples were not my mom's thing but I am reminded of her and the lifelong effort she made to first feed our family of five and then just herself and my father in interesting (weeks on end trying to master dobos torte in the 70's, for example) and delicious ways. I look forward to trying this recipe in honor of all moms who give of themselves in whatever ways they can.

Leora

NOT as good as mom used to make. And she wasn't a great cook. Crystalized Ginger is overwhelming. Too much cinnamon. Use more butter and less apple cider. Sweetening not necessary. And I used raisins instead of dried apples. Length of cooking too long -- the apples were falling apart. Probably won't make again as written.

Debbie Jones

I use Honeycrisp, and fill the core with heavily spiced rolled oats and maple syrup. But I like the idea of adding the ginger. Looking forward to trying Rome Beauty, which may be sweet enough to skip (or reduce) the maple syrup.

Ann Kelly

Raisins were my mother’s filling and I stand by them.

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