Healthy sliced baked apple recipe is the perfect way to celebrate the fall season. This recipe is so easy to make, with no added sugar or sweeteners, paleo, vegan, gluten free, Whole30 and grain free! These healthy sliced baked apples are going to become your new family favorite!
Why you will love this recipe year round?
- Made with just a handful of easy to find ingredients, these healthy baked apples are the perfect dessert or even breakfast item! They go great with ice cream, on top of oatmeal or even as a topping for pancakes!
- You are not going to believe how easy it is to make delicious vegan baked apples without sugar! The secret ingredient is ground cloves!
- Your house is going to smell incredible as these are baking! Need to impress your guest? Make this ahead of time and let the warm cinnamon and apple combination welcome them into your home! These healthy baked apples also keep really well, so you can make them ahead of time and just reheat them in the oven for a few minutes.
Ingredients:
The great news is that these healthy baked sliced apples are so easy to make! All you need is:
- Peeler
- Apples
- Lemon
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Arrowroot flour/tapioca powder/cornstarch
- Large casserole dish
- Optional: chopped pecans, walnuts, pumpkin seeds or other nut or seed you love
How do you make healthy baked apples?
The first tip to making these healthy baked apples is to slice them into similar size pieces. The thinner the apples are, the faster they will cook and caramelize. However, you don’t want to make them so thin that they fall apart.
Next, make sure you are adding some acid so the apples don’t turn brown from oxidation. You want the apples to still look good after baking!
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My favorite tip though is to add cinnamon and ground cloves to the apples. Don’t skip the cloves, they are the secret ingredient to creating the most decadent healthy baked apples without the need for any added sugar.
Also, be sure to add arrowroot flour/tapioca powder/cornstarch to make sure the juices that come off the apples create a heavenly sauce that coats the apples as they cook. You only need a tablespoon to do the trick for this recipe!
What are the best apples for baked apples?
I like to use a combination of granny smith apples and fuji apples since they are easy to find in the store and I like the combination of a little sweet from the Fuji’s and a little tart from the Granny Smith Apples. But here are some other great apples for baking!
- Honeycrisp (sweet and juicy)
- Braeburn – very crisp and bakes juicy!
- Pink lady – a good all-around apple that is sweet and tart – if I could have found organic Pink Lady apples, I would have used them instead of the mix of fuji and granny smith.
How to make healthy sliced apples in the crockpot (or slow cooker)
To make these healthy baked sliced apples in the crockpot, you will need to add 2 tablespoons of water to the apples to help them from sticking to the bottom of the crockpot. Also, be sure to spray the crockpot with non-stick spray. Cook for 4-5 hours on the lowest setting.
Storage:
After baking, you can store the apples in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge.
I would not recommend freezing any leftovers as the texture of the apples will change. If you have leftovers you need to freeze, blend them up into applesauce before freezing.
Healthy Baked Sliced Apples
Guided Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 3 pounds apples - see post for best options
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp cloves
- 1 tbsp arrowroot powder - tapiocia or cornstarch will also work
- 1/4 cup pecans (optional) - or nut/seed of choice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- Peel and slice the apples into uniform slices, about 1/8th of an inch
- Add the apples to a large bowl. Squeeze the juice of a lemon over the apples. Add the cinnamon, cloves and arrowroot powder and stir well until all the apples are fully coated with the cinnamon/clove mixture.
- Add the apples to a large casserole dish.
- Bake in a 350F oven for 30 minutes.
- Take the apples out of the oven, stir with a spoon. Add the chopped nuts (or seeds). Bake for an additional 10 minutes.
- Serve hot or cold
- See post for crockpot modifications
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Nutrition Information
Millican Pecan
This is such a great recipe! So easy and delicious. My husband loves apple desserts, and there is no guilt making this one! Pecans are my favorite for most of the dessert recipes I’ve made. Thanks for sharing!
Millican Pecan
I almost forgot! The crock pot version is wonderful!
Cher
This was the perfect dessert. I topped mine with granola for some added crunch!