Healthy Baked Cinnamon Walnut Apples

Ok, so you all tried my last post, right?  The secret ingredient was apple butter.  Since then, I've been in the mood for all things apples.  I pinned this recipe awhile back on Pinterest and finally tried it.  When I checked out the recipe page, I was pleasantly surprised to see the blogger was from my hometown of Pittsburgh.  I was even more pleasantly surprised once I tasted these!  They taste like mini apple pies, without all the guilt!

To make it healthier, I used apple butter instead of regular butter.  I doubled the filling part of the original recipe and added extra walnuts because the filling is obviously the best part!  The recipe below is my adaptation of the original.

The first time I made them in the CrockPot and they turned out great.  I decided to make them on a whim another night and didn't have 3 hours to let them slow cook, so I baked them in the oven which only takes about 45 minutes.  I prefer the oven method.  You will know when they are done when you can easily slide a toothpick into one of the apples.

These are also good topped with vanilla frozen yogurt or ice cream.  You can refrigerate these for up to 3 days, just store them in an air-tight container.

Enjoy!

Healthy Baked Cinnamon Walnut Apples
recipe adapted by skinnychef.com
photos by halftomatohalfpotato
serves 6

INGREDIENTS
- 2.5 Tablespoons apple butter (OR 4 Tablespoons regular butter)
-1/4 cup brown sugar (use 1/2 cup if using regular butter)

-1 cup walnuts, chopped
-2 teaspoons cinnamon
-6 Gala or Macintosh apples, cored

DIRECTIONS

-Preheat oven to 350°F
-In a large bowl, mix brown sugar, walnuts, butter, & cinnamon

-Core the apples most of the way through, leaving about ½ inch apple left at the bottom

-Fill the apples with the filling and place them into baking dish
-Bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour