On Christmas Eve, we had friends over for a big dinner. With all of the different foods we had going on, I wanted to include fruit a side dish that was easy and didn’t require much thought. Most of my attention was going to be used up enjoying a cute baby and drinking bourbon slush before dinner. That’s not to be confused with a baby drinking bourbon slush, which would be illegal. The mama of said wee-one, and chef-extraordinare, Megan, suggested I do some kind of baked apple. Thanks to the wonder that is Google, I found a few great crockpot baked apple recipes, and kind of mushed them all together to make these.
Oh goodness, these were fantastic. With slightly sour apples, cranberries, butter and spices, how could they not be? Making them is incredibly easy, and they sit in the crockpot for a few hours to cook.
Crockpot Apples
- 6 Granny Smith Apples (or fewer, depending on how many fit in your crockpot)
- 1 cup of dried cranberries
- 6 tablespoons brown sugar
- Cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg to taste (I added quite a bit of cinnamon, and only a dash of the others)
- 6 tablespoons of butter
- 1/2 cup of water
Core the apples, from the top down, leaving the bottom of the apple intact (a melon baller is your best friend here) and cut off the top 1/4 of the apple peel. Mix together the cranberries, brown sugar and spices in a bowl. Using a small spoon, scoop generous amounts of the cranberry mixture into each apple. Make sure each apple is packed full, and place them in the crockpot.
Top each of the apples with a tablespoon of butter. Pay to attention to how to butter sits on the apple- if the apple opening is crooked or sloped, the butter may slide right off as it heats up. If necessary, push the butter down into the apple to make sure it melts down into it.
Pour the water in around the apples, put on the crockpot lid and cook the apples on low for around 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. That’s it!
Due the number of guests we had, you’ll notice I made an extra 7th apple, and it sat above the others in the crockpot. Because of the steam from the water that cooks the apples, it was fine, and slowly worked its way down the bottom of the bowl as it got soft.
I hope you like them too!
