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Sweet apples, such as Fuji, cooked in butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract. What could be better? These sweet cooked apples are perfect for pie filling, as toppings over desserts. They make great crepe filling and are delicious when served warm with ice cream.
Am I the only one who is having a hard time getting back into the kitchen after a week of Thanksgiving feasting? I've been eating so much over the last 10 days, I am not even hungry any more.
So, please forgive me for this very basic cooked apples recipe today. So simple and easy but don't let the simplicity fool you: these cinnamon and vanilla cooked apples are DELICIOUS:
How to serve cooked apples
- Sweet cooked apples are great for breakfast as a topping over pancakes, waffles, or even over oatmeal.
- They also work great on their own, as a simple dessert, served warm with vanilla ice cream: it's like having an apple pie without a crust.
- Use these cinnamon and vanilla cooked apples as a simple pie filling, or as a tart crust filling.
- They are also great for stuffing the crepes.
The smell of apples cooking in brown sugar with all the spices made it impossible to resist taking little bites as I was cooking. Beware! These sweet cooked apples are super addictive!
Sweet cooked apples recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter unsalted
- 4 apples sweet, such as Fuji, cored, peeled and sliced
- ⅓ cup water
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ teaspoons corn starch
- ⅓ cup water
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large skillet, add sliced apples and cook for a couple of minutes to soften them up. Add ⅓ cup of water, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla extract and stir really well, while on low-medium heat, to combine with apples.
- Dissolve corn starch in the remaining ⅓ cup of water. Add to the apple mixture in the skillet and bring to boil. Boil for about a minute until mixture thickens to the desired thickness. Remove from heat (do not overcook apples). Ready to serve!
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I’m going apple picking soon and will definitely be using this recipe! Do you think I could can these? I’m just starting to learn how to can, and I thought these apples would be great to have throughout the winter.
Stephanie, unfortunately, I know NOTHING about canning. Hopefully, someday, I will learn this skill.
These apples are so wonderful. Better than the Cracker Barrel version!! I put the cooked apples in a bowl and topped it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for desert. This would be great apple pie filling! Thank you Julia for this fantastic recipe!
Tara, your comment made my day! 🙂 So glad you love this recipe and I am glad you stopped by to share such a wonderful comment and the 5-star review! 🙂
I a wanted a topping for waffles and only had apples. Found your recipe and made it. What a great recipe, easy and lots of flavour. Everyone loved it and there are no leftovers. With the sauce, you didn't even need syrup with the waffles. I'll be making this again and looking at your website for other great recipes.
Linda, your comment made my day! I am glad you found my site, and I hope you enjoy other recipes, as well!
Thank you Julia. I love cooked apples. Every time I visit Cracker Barrel I order some cooked apples. The last time I went there, I told my friend that I am going to learn how to make this dish. So as I googled the recipe, your instructions popped up. I am looking forward to giving it a try.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much for such a positive comment - I appreciate it! I hope you try this recipe and I hope you will not be disappointed. 🙂
Just made these delicious cooked apples. Before the apples went bad wanted to do something with them and found this easy and scrumptious recipe. Will do this again.
Yes, this is a great recipe if you have lots of extra apples you want to save! Paula, I am glad you liked this recipe and thank you for the comment and the 5-star review! 🙂
Wonderful recipe!
Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is delicious! Can I freeze after cooking?
Cecilia, I am glad you liked it! Yes, you can freeze this!
I didn’t use the cornstarch (because I didn’t have any) but the extra liquid I used to put over french toast and it was SOOOOO good! Thank you
Jovanna, you are very welcome! Glad you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! 🙂
I made them to go on top of oatmeal. Now we never want to go back to plain oatmeal! I want to try them on Dutch Baby Pancakes next.
Patti, I love your creativity about serving these cooked apples. I bet they were so delicious over the oatmeal! Yum!
I want to make this but I HAVE TOO MANY APPLES!!! I need like 4 times this recipe. Apple picking leftovers
Darcee, I think that's a good problem to have! Here are 3 other good recipes with apples:
Acorn Squash Stuffed with Caramelized Apples
Apple Pumpkin Cake
Broccoli Cashew Salad with Apples, Pears, and Cranberries
10/10 this was soooo goodddddd!!!!
Sydney, I am so happy to hear that! Thank you for your comment and your enthusiasm!
Delicious!
Made this and used it on vanilla ice cream!
So happy you liked them! Thank you for the comment!
Sounds delicious. I have fried apples for years, but always seasoned them after they were cooked and have never thickened them. I am anxious to try your way. An old dog (I am 82) can learn new tricks!!!
Wow! Thank you! This was really good!
So happy to hear that! 🙂
The first instruction is to cook the apples a "couple" of minutes. The last instruction is " don't overcook the apples" so maybe you should specify what is a couple of minutes. Smells delicious, can't wait to taste!
A "Couple" usually means two (2).
Thanks for chiming in, and you're correct! The apples need to be cooked only for 2 minutes.
Looks delicious! Can these be canned?
How are they to freeze for later use?
Same question! Sounds delicious...but I inherited over 100 apple trees...sooo...need to preserve! Lol
This will freeze well! In fact, these cooked apples freeze really well!
A;pples are my fav.
thanks...tammy