Just imagine, soft Baked Apples with a crumbly walnut filling and creamy vegan caramel sauce drizzled overtop. Now if that doesn’t scream cozy comfort food then I don’t know what does!
These easy baked apples are warm and delicious while remaining light and fresh with whole food ingredients. Since they are gluten + dairy free and vegan, everyone can enjoy and no one has to be left out of the deliciousness. Not to mention, the subtle, natural sweetness of the apples make these suitable for even a breakfast. Then, to dress these up for more of a dessert, add on the vegan caramel or vanilla ice cream and you’re set!
If you’re now looking for a dinner companion to make before these, check out my Stuffed Acorn Squash recipe. It’s practically the same dish, roasted squash halves with a filling, just in a savory form with different textures and flavors.
Ingredients
Raw Walnuts – Creates the perfect texture for the crumble and adds a bit of crunch to these soft baked apples. If you don’t have walnuts, try subbing for pecans!
Oat Flour – A great gluten free flour that you can make at home. Simply measure out your oats then process in a high speed blender or food processor until a fine flour forms.
Vegan Butter – Helps hold the walnut crumble together and adds the buttery flavor while remaining dairy-free.
Maple Syrup – Gives a delicious sweetness to these healthy baked apples while remaining 100% refined-sugar free.
Coconut Sugar – Another sweetener that is refined-sugar free and pairs well with the maple syrup to give the perfect touch of sweetness.
Apples – I like to use Honeycrisp for these because they soften well while baking and have the perfect sweetness to them!
Orange Juice – Softens the apples while baking and helps the walnut crumble stick on top. You could always use apple juice instead!
Almond Butter – Acts as the base for the caramel and helps to thicken it while remaining 100% vegan.
Vanilla Extract – Enhances the flavor of each ingredient.
How To Bake Apples
For this recipe in particular, start out by making your walnut crumble! Simply add all the crumble ingredients in a food processor and blitz until the walnuts look like small pieces gravel (for size).
The next step is to prepare your apples for baking.
- Wash your apples and then cut in half, from top to bottom. Remove the core and any lingering seeds.
- Pour orange juice into a shallow baking dish and then bathe the cut-side of apples in the orange juice. This adds a nice flavor to the finished dish!
- Turn over the apples and arrange them cut-side up in a new baking dish.
- Top each apple half with 2-3 tbsp of the walnut crumble then move to the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes.
- When done, the apples should still have some firmness to them (personal preferred method). If you prefer more cooked / softer apples, bake for additional time until preferred doneness.
- Top with vegan caramel, vanilla ice cream, or whip cream and enjoy!
How to Make Vegan Caramel
If given the option, I will never turn down a good caramel sauce over my desserts. And thanks to this dairy-free, vegan caramel recipe, even more people can enjoy the rich and creamy sauce!
All you have to do is gather the ingredients and add them to a small saucepan over medium low heat. Whisk to combine and let the mixture come to simmer before removing from heat. Set it aside to cool and that’s when it will really thicken up!
I also make a vegan caramel with coconut cream for the base if you’d rather try that. Otherwise the almond butter works well and could always be subbed for something like cashew or pecan butter.
What apples are best to use for baked apples?
There’s no official “right” and “wrong” answer for this but I do think certain apples bake better than others. I prefer Honeycrisp for baked apples because they soften so well and have the perfect sweetness for the dish. The key is to use a crisp apple that will soften while baking but not get mushy … nobody likes a mushy apple afterall!
Some other varieties that you could try include:
- Jonagold
- Braeburn
- Granny Smith
- Jonathan
- Pink Lady
And while some apples may bake a bit better for this recipe, feel free to use whatever is available. Whether that’s the excess apples on your counter or fresh from the store, these baked apples are guaranteed to be delicious either way.
Why I Love These Healthy Baked Apples
What’s not to love about a recipe that can be both breakfast and dessert? These baked apples are not only simple and easy, but made with better-for-you ingredients too! So whether you enjoy one in the morning alongside coffee or at night with some vanilla ice cream on top, these easy baked apples will not disappoint! Not to mention all the other reasons and hacks for these apples …
- The crumble recipe will create more than needed so you can save the extra to top yogurt bowls, fresh fruit, smoothies, ice cream, and anything else you can think of.
- Lots of easy substitutions to work with ingredients you already have on hand. For the walnuts, sub pecans or even cashews. For the almond butter, sub peanut or pecan butter or follow my coconut cream vegan caramel recipe. For the orange juice, sub apple juice.
- Simple to prep and then let the apples bake while cooking or enjoying dinner. That way you have fresh and warm baked apples ready for dessert!
- A great vehicle for toppings like yogurt for a breakfast style or ice cream, whip cream, or more caramel for the dessert style.
- Is naturally gluten and dairy free, can be made grain free by subbing almond flour for the oat flour. The walnut crumble texture may be different but that’s about it.
How to Store Easy Baked Apples
Whether you’re meal prepping these for the week to come or have the self control to even have leftovers (lol), follow these tips for peak freshness. I suggest storing the baked apples in a single layer container so that you’re not stacking them on top of one another. This will keep the walnut crumble from falling off and making a mess. Not to mention, you don’t want the apples to get too much moisture because then they may get soggy, mushy, “insert any weird word for overly moist”.
These healthy baked apples will keep for about a week in the fridge or if you decide to freeze them, up to 3 months. I’d suggest freezing them in a single layer too or even individually in a storage bag. Then to thaw, let sit in the fridge overnight, heat up, and enjoy!
More Apple Baked Desserts
Apple season may be most known as the fall but it truly can be year round. Sure, fresh picked apples in the fall may taste best but you can find various apples in the markets all year long. So no matter the season, grab some apples and get baking with two of my favorite apple based desserts!
Caramel Apples Pie Bars – With a melt-in-your-mouth texture, these Caramel Apple Pie Bars have a crumbly base layered with sweet cinnamon apples and covered in a decadent vegan caramel. Then to finish it off, a streusel topping for the ultimate layered flavor.
Apple Cinnamon Streusel Bread – A slice of this is like apple pie, all warm and cinnamon-y with the subtle sweetness of apple. The crumbly streusel on top completes this bread with warm notes of cinnamon and a slight sweetness of maple syrup and coconut sugar!
If you try this recipe, please let me know by leaving a comment and rating in the boxes below! I always love to hear from you, and it also helps other people find this recipe when they search online for the BEST Baked Apples 🙂
Ingredients
Walnut crumble:
- 1 Cup Raw walnuts
- ½ Cup Oat flour
- 3 Tbsp Vegan butter
- 2 Tbsp Maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp Coconut sugar
- Pinch Salt
Baked Apples:
- 3 ea Small apples I used honeycrisp apples
- ½ Cup Orange juice
Caramel sauce:
- ¾ Cup Raw almond butter
- 1/3 Cup Coconut sugar
- 1/3 Cup Maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp Water
- 1 Tsp Vanilla extract
- ¼ Tsp Salt
Instructions
- Start by preparing your crumble. Add all ingredients in a food processor until walnuts look like small gravel pieces in size.
- Prepare your baked apples – Cut apples in half, top to bottom and remove the core/any seeds.
- Pour orange juice into a shallow baking dish. Bathe the cut-side of apples in orange juice, then turn over and arrange cut-side up and top with 2-3 tbsp of the walnut crumble.
- Move to the oven, and bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes.
- While apples are baking, prepare your caramel sauce. Add all ingredients to a small saucepan over medium low heat and whisk together until mixture starts to simmer. Set aside.
- Remove from the oven and drizzle caramel sauce (reheat before serving) over the apples. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!
Notes
- There might be extra crumble leftover, depending on what size apple you use! Save to use for another batch or add on top of some fresh berries and bake in the oven for an easy fresh fruit crisp!
- When done, apples should still have some firmness to them (personal preferred method). If you prefer more cooked / softer apples, bake for additional time until preferred doneness.
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Can I use the caramel sauce from the applebars for this recipe? Thanks!!!
Hi Mikayla!! Yes, that one would work!! – Casey 🙂
Thank you so much!! I am so excited to make this for my family on Thanksgiving!!