Fall is here! For many, this is their favorite time of year. Time to see the leaves turn color, time to dig out your favorite sweater and time to turn off the air conditioners, open the windows, and breathe some fresh air! Of course, the first sign of fall, other than seeing all of the Halloween decorations come out, is the overwhelming presence of pumpkin EVERYTHING! Pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin-flavored creamers, and even pumpkin beer!
However, as the infomercials are so fond of saying, “but wait, there’s more!” – another yummy harbinger of autumn is the apple. Let us not forget apple pies, apple cider, and apple dumplings. Apples come in many, MANY sizes and flavors – some tart, some sweet, some red, some yellow and even some green. They are also great for your health. The old saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” is based on the many real attributes of the fruit, including the presence of lecithin, a natural aide in the reduction of “bad” cholesterol.
We have come across a neat recipe for an unconventional kind of apple dish that we thought we would pass on to our readers. Thank you once again, to www.cookinglight.com for showing us yet another way to prepare a favorite fall fruit! Oh, and don’t forget, everyone – the best way to enjoy this and every other dish is to be able to taste it 😊, so be sure to begin your day by brushing your teeth and cleaning your tongue with your TUNG Brush and Gel!!
Hasselback Apples
No, hasselback isn’t an apple variety – it is a cooking technique used on baking and sweet potatoes where the vegetable is sliced very thin, but not all the way through, to infuse flavor from oils, creams, or spices between all the slices. Used on firm apples such as the Pink Lady or Honeycrisp variety, it creates a wonderful dessert!
Ingredients:
- 2 large firm apples, peeled, cored and halved vertically
- Cooking spray
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar, divided
- 2 ½ tablespoons butter, melted and divided
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
- 2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups low-fat vanilla ice cream
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400° F.
- Starting at the outermost edges, cut most (but not all – that’s the hasselback part) of the way through each apple half at 1/8 inch intervals.
- Place apple halves, cut sides down, in an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish that you have coated with cooking spray.
- Combine 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon butter and ½ tablespoon cinnamon and brush mixture evenly over apples.
- Cover pan with foil; bake at 400° for 20 minutes. Remove foil. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes until apples are tender. Remove pan from oven and cool for 10 minutes.
- Combine remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, remaining 1 ½ tablespoons butter, remaining ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, oats, flour and salt.
- Carefully fan open the apple halves. Spoon oat mixture evenly over the apples. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes.
- Leave the pan in the oven, and turn the broiler to high for 2 minutes – watch the apples don’t burn!
- Serve with a dollop of ice cream 😊
You can make these ahead from steps 1-5, cool and refrigerate until ready to serve. Then top with the streusel (steps 6 & 7) and bake (steps 7-8) – we don’t have to remind you to go to step 9 when you are ready, do we? 😉
Enjoy!!!
