Bake these amazing Cinnamon Baked Apples slices until tender in coated caramelized sauce! This will be an easy dessert recipe to serve with a scoop of ice cream during the Fall and the holiday season!
These delicious Cinnamon Baked Apples are one of the best desserts during the Fall season! They are slowly baked until tender in an aromatic caramelized sauce and served with a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream.
Like my other apple desserts (Apple Crumb Cake, Old Fashioned Apple Crisp, Classic Apple Pie Recipe, and Apple Coffee Cake Recipe), this recipe is very easy to make. All you need to do is peel and slice the apples, mix them in a baking dish together with a few ingredients, and bake until tender. The best part about this recipe is that your whole house will be filled with the mouthwatering aroma of cinnamon apples, that will make everyone hungry!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Apples. Granny Smith apples are my favorite for baking. They are tart enough to balance the sweetness of the dessert. You can easily substitute them with any apples you have on hand. Although, if you use a sweet variety like Fuji or Gala, you might want to decrease the amount of sugar.
- Sugar. I like to use a mix of granulated and brown sugar for the best caramelization and flavor.
- Cinnamon. Good quality ground cinnamon makes all the difference in flavor and aroma in this dessert.
- Lemon juice. It prevents the apples from browning while prepping and adds extra tartness to balance the sugar.
- Cornstarch. To make the sauce thicker, add a bit of cornstarch.
- Butter. Adds the richness and creaminess to the sauce.
How to make it
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Peel, core, slice 5-6 apples, and transfer them to a 9×13-inch baking dish.
Add 1 tbsp lemon juice, ¼ cup light brown sugar, 1 tbsp granulated sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp cornstarch, and mix everything together.
Spread evenly and top with sliced 2 tbsp butter.
Cover with foil and bake at 375°F for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes.
How to serve
The best way to serve this recipe as a dessert is with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (I like to use my French Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe) or whipped cream.
If you have any leftovers, they will be perfect for breakfast with Buttermilk Pancakes, Crispy Crapes Recipe, or Instant Pot Oatmeal.
Tips for best results
- Baking. The baking time depends on how thin or thick you cut the apple slices. I personally prefer to cut them thinner to make sure they bake through and get soft.
- Stirring. Make sure you stir them at least a couple of times while baking to mix all the sauce ingredients together. At first, when the butter is melted, it might look like the sauce is greasy and the fats are separating. After you bake it longer and stir a few times, everything will bind together and the sauce will caramelize.
Options and substitution
- Sugar. If you want to make this recipe a bit healthier, you can substitute granulated and brown sugar with coconut sugar or even maple syrup. Although, you won’t have the same caramelization in the sauce.
- Nuts and berries. Depending on the season, I love adding some other fruit, berries, or nuts to the apples, like pears, fresh or dried cranberries, raisins, walnuts, or pecans.
- Spices. To enhance the flavor, sometimes I like to add more spices, like nutmeg and allspice.
Frequently Asked Questions
I prefer to use tart apples, like Granny Smith variety, because they balance well with the sweetness. Although you really can use any variety you have on hands, like Honeycrisp, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Gala, etc.
Yes, it’s better to peel them so the fruit is soft and caramelized after it’s baked. The apple peel has a tendency to get tough and chewy when baked.
You can store them in an air-tight container and keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. To reheat, bake it at 350°F for about 15 minutes.
More dessert recipes:
- Pistachio Cookies
- Zucchini Banana Bread
- Strawberry Crumble
- Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins
- Chocolate Chip Blondies
- Chocolate Cake from Scratch
- Old-Fashioned Peach Cobbler
- Classic Tiramisu
- Apple and Blueberry Crumble
Cinnamon Baked Apples
Ingredients
- 5-6 large apples peeled, cored, and sliced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Peel, core, slice 5-6 apples, and transfer them to a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Add 1 tbsp lemon juice, ¼ cup light brown sugar, 1 tbsp granulated sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp cornstarch, and mix everything together.
- Spread evenly and top with sliced 2 tbsp butter.
- Cover with foil and bake at 375°F for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes.
- When done, take it out of the oven and let sit on the counter for 10 minutes beofre serving.
Notes
- The baking time depends on how thin or thick you cut the apple slices. I personally prefer to cut them thinner to make sure they bake through and get soft.
- Make sure you stir them at least a couple of times while baking to mix all the sauce ingredients together. At first, when the butter is melted, it might look like the sauce is greasy and the fats are separating. After you bake it longer and stir a few times, everything will bind together and the sauce will caramelize.
- Depending on the season, I love adding some other fruit, berries, or nuts to the apples, like pears, fresh or dried cranberries, raisins, walnuts, or pecans.
- You can store them in an air-tight container and keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. To reheat, bake it at 350°F for about 15 minutes.
This is the 3rd time I’ve used your recipe. It is delicious. Thank you so much
So delicious!! We made this with all coconut sugar instead of brown and regular sugar and coconut oil instead of butter for a refined sugar and dairy free version. On top of some dairy free vanilla ice cream and yum!!!
Also did tapioca starch instead of corn starch, worked perfectly!
Delicious! Turned out great!
I made the cinnamon apple bake. The only thing I did different was. I used powdered honey and sugar instead of brown sugar, It came out delicious.
Hi Michael! So happy you enjoyed the recipe! I’ve never heard about powdered honey, would like to try it as well.
This recipe is so simple and turned out just heavenly!
I put the caramelized apples over big, plate size pancakes and it was wonderful!
Thank you so much, Gabriele! The apples are a perfect addition for pancakes, oatmeal, Greek yogurt, and more!
These look amazing! Could I double the recipe in one 9×13 pan, or should I split in two? Would this affect the baking time as well?
These were delicious.
Thank you so much, Lori!
Great, easy recipe. I did omit the lemon juice. Otherwise, I followed the recipe.
Thank you, Sonja!
This recipe was easy to follow. The cinnamon baked apples tasted delicious! It is now one of my favorite recipes. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Barbara!
Hi. I like the look of these baked apples. Can I use them in a pastry based flan and would I have to add anything. Many thanks
Hi Theresa, I never tried to use these apples in a flan. Do you want just to top it after the flan is baked?
Too saucy for a flan
Can you substitute the sugar for maple syrup?
Hi Jennifer, We use sugar to make the sauce caramelized. Unfortunately, maple syrup won’t be able to do that. If you want to keep the recipe on a healthier side, I probably would suggest to use coconut sugar.
I love these apples! Since I can’t eat sugar I substitute Swerve sweetner for both the brown and white sugar. You’d never know they are no added sugar!
I put them in unsweetened yogurt, on pancakes, and even on some zucchini bread I baked that came out too dry. Or just eat plain, yummy!
Thank you so much, Laura! I’m so happy you enjoy the recipe! And I love your healthier substitution idea 😉
Hi,I like the recipe and I am planning to make it this weekend. I was wondering if the baked-apples can be frozen and for how long. Thank you.
Hi JL! I never tried to freeze baked apples, as they are gone pretty much right away. But you can refrigerate them for 3-4 days.
I am gonna make these. Cit in small pieces and cinnamon rolls rolled out to make an apple turnover type dessert. Will post pics and give you tje updaye.
Sounds great! Hope you enjoy it 😉
I don’t have any lemon juice, but I have everything else! Will cooking without the lemon juice make a difference?
Hi Emily! It’s ok to skip lemon juice. It’s not going to affect the flavor.
Then why put lemon juice in it if it doesn’t affect the flavor?
Lemon juice keeps the apples from darkening plus it is a natural preservative. I’m allergic to it though so made these with no lemon and they were delicious!