Easy Baked Apples

I love these cinnamon baked apples with a crave-worthy brown sugar and oat crumble topping. Our recipe is super easy to make, delicious, and perfect for any occasion.

When the cooler weather hits, our family makes baked apples. They are easier than apple pie but taste just as delicious! My family’s recipe bakes apples cut in half and then adds a delicious oat crumble topping (like what we add to this apple crisp!).

I love these easy baked apples warm with a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of homemade caramel sauce when I have it in the house. For more fall-worthy apple recipes, see our apple cobbler or these five-minute skillet cinnamon apples!

Key Ingredients

• Apples: I love using firmer apples for baked apples, like Honeycrisp, Gala, or Fuji. These hold up well and keep their shape when baking.
• Cinnamon: Apples and cinnamon are a match made in heaven! I dust the cinnamon over the apples and add it to the oat topping for a double dose of cinnamon flavor.
• Brown Sugar: I love the rich flavor of brown sugar in this dessert. If you don’t have brown sugar, try substituting it with maple syrup or other sugars like coconut or granulated.
• Butter: I usually bake with unsalted butter, but salted butter is fine, too. If you use salted butter, omit the extra salt from the topping.
• Flour: We’ll combine all-purpose flour with oats and melted butter to create our crumble topping. If you need a gluten-free option, use an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend.
• Oats: I recommend rolled oats, but instant oats will work in a pinch. Avoid using steel-cut oats, as they won’t soften properly during baking.

How to Make Cinnamon Baked Apples

My oat topping for these baked apples comes straight from our popular apple crisp recipe. It’s super simple: just flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter. Honestly, you could put this topping on anything, and it would taste amazing, but when you blanket apples with it, it’s so good!

I like to bake my apples cut in half. You could stuff the topping down the middle of the apple, but by halving them, you can use more delicious topping. And trust me, we want a high topping-to-apple ratio here!

Here’s how easy it is: Start by halving each apple (I used honey crisp, but any firm and sweet apple should work), then use a spoon to remove the core and seeds. Line the apple halves up in a baking dish and sprinkle a little brown sugar and cinnamon over them.

Now for the baked apple topping: Melt some butter in a saucepan, then dump in flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt (I do it all in the saucepan, so there are fewer dishes to wash!).

Divide the topping between the apple halves, pressing down gently, and they’re ready to bake.

Slide them into the oven, then grab your ice cream and maybe some salted caramel sauce. That’s it! An easy dessert for tonight that’s totally worthy of your friends and family (or the holidays)!