These cooked apples with cinnamon perfectly will satisfy your sweet tooth as a nutritious dessert or add a touch of sweetness scooped onto savory grilled pork chops. Follow our simple recipe below and enjoy these healthy cinnamon apples.
Apples are one of our favorite fruits, so we feel fortunate that apple season islong.Not only that, but they last for months in the fridge or cold storage, ready for whenever the next apple craving arises.
This recipe for cinnamon apples makes excellent use of any old apples that you've had kicking around for a little too long – they're still good to eat, but maybe not in their crisp, glorious prime anymore. Cut down on food waste and enjoy some sweet, cinnamon sugar apples for a dessert full of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
Top them with a generously full scoop of vanilla ice cream, or go a different route altogether and pair these cinnamon apples with pork chops or other savory dishes. Be warned: the sweet and salty combination is highly addictive!
To get started, you'll need a few simple ingredients and an apple peeler. Follow along with our instructions below and make this cinnamon apple dessert at home!
How to Make Cinnamon Apples
Ingredients
- 1½ lbs Honeycrisp apples (approximately 5-6 apples), cored, peeled, and sliced
- 3 Tbsp butter
- ¼ c. light brown sugar
- 6 Tbsp water, divided
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- Lemon or lime juice to keep the apples from browning
Directions
- Core and peel the apples, then slice them into 12 pieces each. Keep the slices on the thicker end, ~ ½-inch thick. Lightly coat the apple slices in lemon or lime juice mixed with a splash of water to prevent browning.
- Melt your butter in a medium-sized saucepan on the stovetop over medium heat. Once the butter is hot and simmering, drain the apples from the liquid and add them into the saucepan.
- Cover the saucepan and cook your apples for approximately 5 mins, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the lid of the saucepan and add light brown sugar, 4 Tbsp water, and cinnamon. Gently stir the apple and cinnamon mixture to combine.
- With the apples on the stovetop, mix the cornstarch and remain 2 Tbsp of water in a small mixing bowl. Once combined, add the cornstarch mixture to the apples, stirring gently until fully incorporated.
- Turn the heat to medium-low and cook the apple slices, uncovered, until the liquid thickens, approximately 3-5 mins. Stir the mixture occasionally.
Cinnamon Apple Recipe - Nutrition Information
Per: approximately 1 apple serving
Calories: 149.48 kcal; Carbohydrates: 26.01 g; Protein: 0.38 g; Fat: 5.87 g; Sodium: 54.57 mg; Fiber: 2.81 g; Sugar: 20.68 g.
Cinnamon Apples - FAQ
What does apple cinnamon taste like?
Cinnamon apple is a popular flavor combination you commonly see in everything from cider to breakfast cereal and oatmeal. The warm cinnamon spices add extra depth to the tart sweetness of the apples.
How many calories are in a cinnamon apple?
One serving of our cinnamon apples recipe, approximately one apple, contains around 150 calories. Much of the calories come from the apple itself, with a bit of brown sugar and butter.
How do you cook apples on the stovetop?
Our recipe calls for a saucepan, but you can also use a cast-iron skillet for stovetop cooking if you have one. The cast-iron's high heat retention allows the cinnamon apples to cook evenly, and the seared, brown edges will give the crisped apples a rich, buttery flavor with some caramel notes.
Are apples and cinnamon good for you?
Apples are very nutritious little fruits with plenty of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Fiber helps slow and balance digestion, to keep you feeling full for longer, a beneficial tool for anyone on a low-calorie diet.
Apples also contain loads of vitamin C, potassium, and vitamin K.
These cooked cinnamon apples have some nutritious qualities and are much better for you than your average dessert, but they also contain some brown sugar and butter. Because of these ingredients, it's best to enjoy cinnamon apples in moderation within a healthy diet.
Are cooked apples healthy?
Once cooked, most apples lose a little bit of their nutrition compared to eating them raw, though they still maintain much of their fiber, vitamins, and minerals. You'll lose some of the apples' heat-sensitive vitamins, like Vitamin C, during the cooking process, though some nutrients, like vitamin A become more readily absorbed by the body after cooking.
The best way to ensure you're getting plenty of essential nutrients is by eating various fruits and veggies, both raw and cooked.
What type of apples should I use?
We used Honeycrisp for our cinnamon apples recipe, but there are plenty of other great apple options to choose from and use. The best-tasting apples are generally "baking apples," which tend to have firmer flesh that holds up to heat without becoming a mushy mess.
Try one of these apple varieties in your recipe:
- Granny Smiths, for a tart and acidic flavor with juicy flesh
- Cortland, for a sweet, slightly tart flavor with juicy flesh
- Honeycrisp, for a sweet flavor with crispy flesh
- Braeburn, for a sweet flavor with crispy flesh
- Gala, for a sweet flavor with crispy flesh
- Fuji, for a sweet and mildly tart flavor with crispy flesh
- Rome Beauty, for a sweet flavor with a crispy, dense flesh
- Johnathan, for a sweet and mildly acidic flavor with a juicy flesh
Do I need to use lemon or lime juice on the apple slices?
It's unnecessary to coat the apple slices in lemon or lime, but it prevents your apple from drying out and slows down the browning process once peeled.
In place of lemon or lime juice, you can also use lemon-lime soda instead. You don't need to prevent the browning, but your apples can look pretty unappetizing as they brown.
Can I bake these apples instead?
If you prefer baked cinnamon apples to stovetop cooking, you can easily adjust our recipe to switch up the cooking method.
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Melt the butter in the recipe and combine all ingredients in a 9 x 13-inch glass casserole dish. Cut the water in half, using only 3 Tbsp instead. Add the peeled, cored, and sliced apples into the baking dish and carefully stir to coat.
Cover the baking dish with a sheet of aluminum foil and bake the apples, covered, for 45 mins. Carefully remove the foil, then leave the apples to bake uncovered for another 10 - 15 mins. Serve and enjoy your baked cinnamon apple slices!
Storage tips
These cooked cinnamon apples last in a covered container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Youcan freeze the recipe for up to 6 months, but keep in mind the apples become pretty mushy upon thawing. For that reason, it's best to freeze the cooked recipe only if you plan to use it to make apple butter or applesauce.
If you'd like to freeze fresh apples for this recipe, toss the raw slices in some lemon juice, then pop them in the freezer – the apples hold up much better if you cook them once thawed instead of before you freeze. This is a great way to enjoy in-season apples that might spoil before you get to them.
Final Notes: Cinnamon Apples
Whether you choose to cook your cinnamon apples in the oven or on the stovetop, they're going to be delicious.
Enjoy your little slices of cinnamon apple perfection!