Easy Baked Apples with Crumb Topping

This apple dessert gives you the best of all apple dessert worlds, incorporating the flavors of apple pie and a texture reminiscent of apple crisp. A baked apple recipe is a classic comfort that always hits the dessert sweet spot. These Easy Baked Apples with Crumb Topping will have your home smelling like an orchard, your mouth watering, and your whole family awaiting a wholesome real-food treat.

A Baked Apple Recipe for Your fall dessert

This is a heavenly fall recipe made up of apple halves topped with an oat crumble. It is then baked to a soft and tender goodness with apple pie flavors sans the crust-making process. Top servings with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, toasted pecans, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Those final touches bring these Baked Apples with Crumb Topping to a beautiful finish. Adorned with an oat crumble, each bite provides the perfect combination to soft and tender apples with a crunchy topping that has granola-like taste. Serve these baked apples for a casual weekend get-together or bring them to a Thanksgiving dessert table. The rustic harvest feel makes this apple dessert perfect for all occasions!

Ingredients to Make Baked Apples

You need just a handful of real-food ingredients to make these delicious baked apple dessert come to the table quickly.

• Apples – you’ll need four medium apples; choose your favorite variety
• Cinnamon – ground cinnamon gives this baked apple recipe it’s warm cozy flavors

• Old-fashioned oats – we recommend using old-fashioned rolled oats instead of quick oats so you get a nice thick texture. Use certified gluten-free oats, if needed
• Gluten-free flour blend – a scant half a cup of gluten-free flour helps create the perfect texture and melt in the crumb topping. We like Bob’s Red Mill One-to-One Gluten-Free Baking Flour or King Arthur Measure-for-Measure Gluten-Free Flour. You can also use regular all-purpose flour if you don’t need this baked apple dessert to be gluten-free
• Pecans – use raw pecans, such as these from Thrive Market
• Maple syrup – select high-quality pure maple syrup (not maple-flavored corn syrup)
• Butter – use an unsalted butter; alternatively, you can use vegan butter or coconut oil to make this recipe dairy-free and vegan baked apples
• Vanilla extract
• Nutmeg – this spice provides a beautiful fall-harvest flavor when mixed with the cinnamon
• Salt – we use coarse sea salt for this recipe, but it’s fine to use whatever you have on hand

How to make Easy baked apples with crumb topping

1. Cut the apples in half. Place the apples, cut-side up, in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Dust the apples with cinnamon; set aside. 
2. In a medium bowl, combine the oats, flour, pecans, maple syrup, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt; stir well. 
3. Divide the oat topping evenly over the apples. 
4. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until the apples are tender and the topping is golden brown. 
5. If desired, top servings with a scoop of ice cream, yogurt, or whipped topping. Sprinkle with chopped pecans, a dust with cinnamon, and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Are baked apples a healthy dessert?

We are loving these Baked Apples, made with only real-food ingredients. Because this dessert incorporates nutrient-rich ingredients, like apples, oats, and pecans, this dessert gets The Real Food Dietitians stamp of approval. It features:

• nourishing apples with antioxidants and prebiotic fiber
• old-fashioned oats with soluble fiber, B vitamins, and antioxidants
• pecans that are full of vitamins and minerals and high in monounsaturated fatty acids for heart health
• cinnamon is a spice with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties

is this baked apple recipe dairy-free and vegan?

If you’d like a dairy-free, vegan dessert, this recipe lends itself well to those adaptations. These baked apples can be made dairy-free and vegan with one simple swap and here’s how:

• For dairy-free and vegan – use vegan non-dairy butter or coconut oil to make the crumb topping
• For gluten-free – use certified gluten-free old-fashioned oats

Serving Suggestions for Baked Cinnamon Apples

We find half an apple with all of its glorious toppings to be the perfect serving size for these Easy Baked Apples, making it a wonderful dessert to serve a crowd of eight! As delicious as these baked cinnamon apples are straight out of the oven, we do love adding a few additional toppings. Here are a few of our favorites:

• Vanilla ice-cream – we love our homemade Dairy-Free Vanilla Bean Ice Cream made with coconut milk and sweetened with honey. For a store-bought ice cream, we love Alden’s Organic Ice Cream (both dairy & non-dairy options) because it has a great ingredient list and tastes so good.
• Yogurt – for a nice presentation, top each serving with a dollop of yogurt; we recommend whole-milk plain or vanilla yogurt
• Whipped topping – a little swirl of whipped topping is a fun way to top these baked apples, too
• Pecans – quickly toast some pecans to bring out incredible flavor and sprinkle them over each serving for even more delicious crunch

Could these baked apples be served for breakfast?

Because they’re made with real-food ingredients that you’d typically serve for breakfast (hello apples and oats), we really enjoyed serving our leftover baked apples for breakfast, too. If serving these baked apples for breakfast or brunch, we recommend adding a hefty dollop of yogurt to each plate to add more filling protein, healthy fats, and probiotics.

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