Recipe 3: Simple Baked Apples

INGREDIENTS:

2 to 3 tablespoon sliced almonds, or chopped walnuts

4 tart eating apples, cored

1 tablespoon dried cranberries or raisins

2 to 3 tablespoons maple syrup, or to taste

2 teaspoon butter, or to taste (optional)

1 to 2 tablespoon water

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.

2. Dry roast the sliced almonds in a heavy pan just until they begin to colour. Set aside in a bowl.

3. With a sharp knife, cut a slit in the skin all the way around the waist of each cored apple. This will allow them to expand as they cook.

4. Place the apples in a baking dish just big enough to hold them. Stuff them with the dried fruit. Drizzle them with the maple syrup making sure that it gets into the hollowed out core, and then put a nut of butter on top of each one. Add the water to the bottom of the dish.

5. Bake in the center of the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the apples are puffed up, soft, and caramelized on top. Let them cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. The apples will collapse as they cool.

6. Serve sprinkled with toasted almonds and with thick yogurt or ice cream on the side.