Hasselback Baked Apple Halves

5 from 10 votes

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Baked apple halves are delicious, but cinnamon streusel stuffed baked apples are even better! Make this recipe for an impressive fall dessert.

close up: spooning caramel sauce over ice cream on baked apple dessert


The aroma of apples baking is wonderful on its own, but when you add cinnamon streusel topping, the aroma is intoxicating!

This recipe puts a different spin on a crisp or cobbler, but without the extra calories. If you know how to make a hasselback potato, making this apple dessert will be very simple for you.

Oh, and if you’ve never cut apples into slices or stuffed them, don’t be concerned. It’s not that difficult, and there’s a video in the recipe card that’ll show you exactly how to do it step by step.

baked apple halves topped with oat streusel

Baked Apple Halves

When sliced and baked, an apple opens up like a fan. This is known as hasselback style. You can cut just about any firm fruit or vegetable this way. For this apple dessert, the sweet oat and cinnamon sugar streusel melts in between each slice of apple.

It’s a great fall dessert as is, but with a scoop of ice cream and a little caramel sauce on the warm apples, it’s amazing!

Now, it may seem like an indulgent dessert, but without the ice cream and caramel sauce, you’re only eating half an apple with a sprinkling of oat streusel tucked into the slices. It’s not terribly unhealthy, and it really is the perfect treat for autumn.

Best apples for baking

There are several varieties of apple that bake better than others. Choose something with a firm flesh to ensure that it will hold up to the weight of the cinnamon streusel without becoming too mushy. Good apple varieties for baking and stuffing include:

  • Pink Lady
  • Fuji
  • Honeycrisp
  • Granny Smith– These are typically a great baking apple, but for some reason, using Granny Smiths did not work well for me. It could be that the apples were beyond their prime.
  • Jonagold
  • Gala

Video: Making stuffed baked apples

To see exactly how to cut, stuff and bake the apple halves, watch the video located in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

drizzling caramel over vanilla ice cream on stuffed baked cinnamon apple

Instructions

  1. Peel, core, and slice apple halves.

If you make a lot of apple desserts, you may already own an apple peeler/corer, in which case, this step will be incredibly easy!

If you’re like me and don’t have one, you can use a sturdy vegetable peeler to remove the apple skin. Then use a corer, or cut the apple in half through the core and use a melon baller to remove the core.

Kitchen Hack – Slicing Apples for Stuffing

To slice the apple halves without cutting all the way through, place them onto cutting board with the flat cut side down.

Place chopsticks or wooden spoons above and below the apple.

Starting at the outermost edges, cut 1/8” thick slices, cutting down to the chopstick or spoon. (See photo below)

process photo collage: peeling, coring and slicing apple
  1. Make and add cinnamon streusel between the slices.
side by side collage: baked apple halves before and after stuffing with cinnamon streusel
  1. Bake apple halves and serve!
granny smith topped with cinnamon streusel and scoop vanilla ice cream

Recipe notes

Some of the baked apples turned out fantastic, but some were harder then others to cut into. I bought the largest ones I could find. So, depending on the size of your apples. you may need to cut back and use less baking time.

For example, if you use a medium sized Honeycrisp or Pink Lady (or any other firm apple), bake initially for 20 minutes, then test for tenderness.

What to serve with baked apple halves

Needless to say, the baked apple halves are wonderful as is, especially with the cinnamon streusel filling. There’s always a way to make a delicious fall dessert more delicious, though!

In this case, you can follow my lead and top your stuffed apple halves with a scoop of some creamy vanilla bean ice cream and a good dose of salted caramel sauce. Then you’ll have one deliciously indulgent dessert.

I hope you give these a try. Enjoy!

Baked Hasselback Apples

This post, first published on Kevin Is Cooking Sept 26, 2016, was last updated with new content on Oct. 16, 2021.

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close up: spooning caramel sauce over ice cream on baked apple dessert

Stuffed Baked Apple Halves + Video

5 from 10 votes
Baked apple halves are delicious, but cinnamon streusel stuffed baked apples are better! Make this recipe for an impressive fall dessert.
Servings: 4 servings
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 1 hour 2 minutes
Total: 1 hour 17 minutes

Ingredients 

  • 2 large Honeycrisp apples peeled, cored, and halved vertically (See Note 1)
  • 4 tbsp brown sugar divided
  • 2 1/2 tbsp butter melted and divided
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon divided
  • 3 tbsp old-fashioned rolled oats NOT instant or quick cooking
  • 2 tsp all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups low-fat vanilla ice cream optional (See Note 2)
  • 4 tbsp caramel sauce optional (See Note 2)

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 400°F.
  • Place the apple halves onto cutting board with the flat cut side down. Place chop sticks or wooden spoons above and below the apple. Starting at the outermost edges, cut 1/8” thick slices, cutting down to the chopstick or wooden spoon.
  • Place apple halves cut sides down, in an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. (See Note 3) Combine 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon butter, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Brush mixture evenly over each apple.
  • Cover with foil and bake at 400°F for 25-30 minutes. Remove foil. and continue baking for another 10 minutes or until apples are tender. Remove pan from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
  • In a small bowl combine remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, oats, flour, and salt.
  • Carefully fan open the apple halve slices and carefully spoon streusel evenly over apples. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn broiler to high (leave pan in oven) and broil apples 2 minutes. Serve with ice cream and optional caramel sauce.

Video

Notes

  1. Firm-fleshed apples are needed. Surprisingly, Granny Smith apples do not hold up well. Good options are Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, and Fuji.
 
  1. Nutritional information shown does not include ice cream or caramel.
 
  1. The apples can be baked in a cast iron skillet/pan, enameled casserole dish, oven-safe glass baking dish, or on a baking stone. All of these worked well for me.

Nutrition

Serving: 1oz | Calories: 188kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 213mg | Potassium: 157mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 280IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

Course: Desserts
Cuisine: American
Have You Made This Recipe? Let Me Know on InstagramTag @keviniscooking or tag me #keviniscooking!
stuffed baked apples filled with cinnamon streusel

Kevin

Whether in the kitchen or on the grill, you’ll find me cooking American favorites with a love for BBQ, Mexican and Tex Mex. I’m passionate about making tasty food because life’s too short to be bland!

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36 Comments

  1. Kevin, I’m all heart eyes for these hasselback apples! So much goodness going on here and what a fabulous dessert for Fall! I LOVE how you caught the light, just right, after so many tries. Sometimes patience pays off. I’m definitely struggling right now because the light is changing for sure. I’ve reshot several recipes, but I figure if I keep shooting, I’ll never ever move forward! hehe! Delicious work!

    1. Thanks Traci, really appreciate you stopping by and your kind words.
      We’ve been experiencing 90°-100°F weather as of late and I can’t wait to get some cooler weather to feel a little more like Fall! 🙂

  2. I scrolled through these pictures last night just before sleeping only to get up again in less than 5 minutes to read what all went in it! 😛 Apple, cinnamon and salted caramel! Definitely a heavenly aroma! I love to cinnamon. I am actually glad you prepared this more than once 😛 the recipe can never go wrong then! I too would add the ice cream and make it a dessert! Pinning for laters!

    1. Thank you Famidha, it really is a good one for the individual dessert or special occasion. Just be sure to start with firm apples so the end result holds up well, but is cooked through. Enjoy!

  3. 5 stars
    Genius Kevin! Perfect dessert recipe for fall! I can’t wait to try! Your photos are leaving me drooling!

  4. Kevin, what a great dessert, and a clever idea. I could easily imagine this as the final course of a dinner for friends. I wonder what it’d be like if you didn’t peel the apples?

    1. Thanks Jeff! As for not peeling the apples, methinks they might pinch up when trying to fan out as they bake. BUT, you will have to let me know if you give these a try! 😉

  5. These look amazing, what a way to end a meal! Looks like it would taste very autumn-y, I can’t wait to try these at our households next Sunday roast.

    1. I do hope you give this one a try Matt. They are really something with or without the ice cream and caramel. Though I am a sucker for caramel. 🙂

  6. Definitely making these, Kevin! Perfect dessert for one or many. Such a creative idea. Thanks for your persistence on our behalf!

  7. 5 stars
    Okay, Kevin. These are just pure genius…I’m drooling (AGAIN! 😉 ) What a beautiful, elegant, delicious and relatively light and easy to prepare fall dessert.

    1. See, comments of drooling and wanting to make just seem to make me smile. Thanks so much Marissa! I hope you and Keith see these on your dinner table soon (or couch cuddled up watching a movie). Have a wonderful weekend.

  8. What a beautiful fall recipe and great idea to use apples instead of potatoes to create a delicious, healthy dessert! Apples and cinnamon are an unbeatable taste combination – love it during fall and winter! Your photos look gorgeous – nice to know that its not only me who needs more than one photo session to get the picture right 😉

    1. Thanks so much Miriam. I need to get on my blogroll and read up on what new adventures you’ve been on. Hope this finds you enjoying a wonderful weekend.

  9. Hey Kevin! One of my favorite things in the fall are wonderful apple desserts! Pies, crumbles, cakes, donuts…well you get the picture! I made mini hasselback potatoes not long ago with fingerlings from the garden and the chopstick technique works perfectly! I just picked up two nice big apples and I WAS going to make apple oatmeal cookies. Change of plan thank you very much! Enjoy your weekend and please do share more apple recipes!

    1. I do promise more apple recipes Dorothy. Dave would LOVE oatmeal apple cookies. See, why aren’t we neighbors? Oh yeah, just a few states! Have a wonderful weekend, hello to Gary!

      1. Hey Kevin! It has been a long time since I cooked/baked for a diabetic…my long time neighbor in MI lost his wife and I took care of him after that. My apple oatmeal cookie recipe does have a cup of flour and a total of 3/4 cup of sugar. I would love to share and maybe you could adapt it for Dave, possibly with applesauce to sweeten and another flour? Let me know…

  10. Well, Kevin, I’m glad to endured and went through all that to bring us this delicious recipe! Like you said, the life of a food blogger, right? I made a cake last weekend (one that I’ve made a million times) and was going to blog it sometime soon and you know what I did? I freakin’ took it out of the pan too quickly and half of it was left in there. I was rotted. Anyway, hubby and I still ate the thing, but obviously no pics for the blog. I will remake again, but not that day, lol 😀
    Thank you so much for ‘testing’ out the ice cream and caramel sauce on these apples. Hard job, but someone has to do it, right ;)? Can’t wait to try when we have friends or family over. Looks really impressive. Pinned!
    Have a wonderful weekend!!

    1. Gotta do different tests before sending out to readers, right? This is one special dessert and looks fab. Sorry to read about the cake. What a hot mess that must have been. Love that term “rotted”, I’ll keep that one in mind for the perfect use! Homemade caramel is so good, I just need to come up with new uses for the leftover here. Recipes forthcoming!