Yummy Baked Apples

Ahhh. It's that time of year again when baked apples, homemade hot chocolate, and warming soups adorn our kitchens and tummies. I truly love this time of year - October is my favorite month of the whole year!!

Here is a recipe for baked apples I created about ten years ago.

Ingredients you will need:

- 6 Honey Crisp OR Granny Smith Apples, large; cored* and then peeled about 1/4 from the top down.
- 1/2 Cup Butter; chilled and chopped.
- 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1/3 Cup Flour
- 1/3 Cup Quick Cooking Oats
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1 Cup Raisins

Putting it all together:

Preheat your oven to 300. In a buttered baking dish, place the cored* and partially peeled apples so they stand on their own (they can touch, but you want them to not fall over in the dish). Combine all of the remaining ingredients, except the raisins, with a pastry mixer. Stir in the raisins. Spoon the mixture into the cored apples, over filling as much as possible. The remaining ingredients should be sprinkled around the bottom of the dish around the apples.

Cover the dish with foil and bake for one hour, then remove the foil and bake for another 30 to 45 minutes until the mixture on top of the apples is slightly browned.

Serve warm with ice cream, if you wish.

* The larger you make the core, the better. I usually make it about an inch in diameter if the apple allows.