Orange Kissed Baked Cinnamon Apple (Printable Version)
Tender slow roasted apples with orange zest and cinnamon topped with golden oat crumble for a warm, cozy treat.
# Ingredient List:
→ Apples
01 - 4 large baking apples (e.g., Honeycrisp, Granny Smith)
02 - Zest of 1 orange
03 - 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
→ Filling
04 - 2 tablespoons brown sugar
05 - 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
06 - 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
07 - 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
08 - 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cubed
→ Oat Crumble
09 - 1/2 cup rolled oats
10 - 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
11 - 3 tablespoons brown sugar
12 - 1/4 teaspoon salt
13 - 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
14 - 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cubed
15 - 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
# How to Make It:
01 - Set the oven temperature to 325°F.
02 - Wash and core the apples, keeping the bottom intact to create a cavity. Arrange them in a baking dish.
03 - Combine orange zest, orange juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Fill each apple cavity evenly with this mixture and top with butter cubes.
04 - In a separate bowl, mix oats, flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nuts if using. Add cold butter and rub with fingertips until coarse crumbs form.
05 - Spoon oat crumble generously over each filled apple, pressing lightly to adhere.
06 - Pour 1/2 cup water into the bottom of the baking dish to prevent sticking and promote steaming.
07 - Cover the dish loosely with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
08 - Remove foil and continue baking for 25 to 30 minutes until apples are tender and crumble is golden brown.
09 - Allow to cool slightly before serving warm, optionally with vanilla ice cream or Greek yogurt.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- The apples become impossibly tender and juicy while the crumble stays golden and crispy, creating a textural contrast that keeps you coming back for another bite.
- Your kitchen fills with the kind of smell that makes everyone ask what you're baking, even though this takes almost no active effort.
- It comes together in 15 minutes of actual work and tastes like you spent an hour fussing over it.
02 -
- The water in the bottom of the pan is not optional, it's what keeps your apples from turning into a stuck on mess and gives you a perfectly cooked result instead of a kitchen disaster.
- Don't skip the foil for the first 40 minutes, it's the difference between apples that are tender and apples that are shriveled and sad.
- Cold butter in the crumble is genuinely important, warm or room temperature butter makes everything dense and cakey instead of light and crumbly.
03 -
- Use a Microplane zester instead of a box grater for orange zest, you get finer, more aromatic pieces and the whole process feels less like work and more like cooking.
- Make the crumble mixture ahead and keep it in the fridge until you're ready to bake, cold crumble stays crumbly and doesn't have time to get dense and heavy before it hits the oven.