Pecan-Date Oatmeal Stuffed Baked Apples

This is a great healthy dessert recipe that can even be made as a breakfast - and when it's in the baking dish right out of the oven it looks so beautiful (I just forgot to take pics at that stage!) I used Granny Smith apples for a tart twang, but it would be equally good with a sweeter apple, as long as it's a crisp apple, not mushy like red delicious variety. Pink Lady or Honeycrisp would be good varieties, I think.

One serving of the dish, reheated with a little almond milk on there to moisten it up

Pecan-Date Oatmeal Stuffed Baked Apples

(This recipe would serve 4 for dessert or 2-3 for a hearty breakfast. If you want to make breakfast for a family of 4 I would double the recipe.)

Ingredients:

-2 large baking apples, skin left on but cored

-1 cup oats

-1 tsp cinnamon

-1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

-5-6 Medjool dates, pitted and chopped (if you don't like dates or don't have them, you can sub dried apricots or even raisins)

-1 tbsp ground flax

-1/3 cup chopped pecans (or hazelnuts would also work well here)

-1 1/2 cups almond milk

-1 tsp vanilla

-3 tbsp brown sugar mixed with 1 tbsp margarine or vegan butter (optional)

-2 tbsp maple syrup (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F. Wash and core apples so that there is enough room in the core for stuffing. Lightly oil a baking dish (I used sunflower oil on a 9" square Pyrex dish).

In a bowl, mix together all the other ingredients (except for optional brown sugar mixture and maple syrup). Using a spoon, stuff apple cores with the oatmeal mixture and then pour the remaining oatmeal all over and around the apples.

Put in oven for about 30-35 minutes. **At this stage, if you want a sweeter dish (maybe only if using for a dessert?) mix together 1 tbsp melted margarine and 3 tbsp brown sugar and drizzle this over the whole thing when there's about 10 minutes left on the oven timer. Or, skip this and when the dish is done, drizzle some maple syrup over it.

(Note: I found this dish was sweet enough for breakfast without additional sugar/maple syrup. But for a dessert, I definitely preferred some extra sweetener on there.)


Extreme close up! Gooey baked apple and nutty delicious oatmeal.