Baked Hasselback Apples with Cinnamon Whipped Cream and Salted Caramel Sauce

Tonight my brain is all over the place. I sat down at my computer thinking about the lady I saw wearing overalls at the grocery store tonight. She was all decked out and wearing them with high heels. Is this a thing? I haven’t owned a pair of overalls since I was 10…and they were Lisa Frank inspired with rainbow accents. Are overalls back and I have been too bogged down in baby land to notice??

Then I thought I would maybe talk about hot power yoga. I have been going for about 6 weeks now and tonight I saw a man in a tiger striped speedo doing hot power yoga (actually it was a weight class – so it was even more entertaining).

I heard he teaches swim team at the local high school and he sometimes wears a cowboy hat for fun. I plan on trying to make him my new best friend.

I’ll let you know how it goes, but my first plan of action is to find a pair of matching tiger yoga pants. It’s good to have something in common when you start trying to befriend someone.

But when I really sat down to start writing this post, all I could think about were these apples. In particular, the combination of these apples and that salted caramel sauce.

I am a serious sucker for ANYTHING that is covered in salted caramel sauce. No seriously, I’m pretty sure I could eat a shingle if you covered it in salted caramel sauce. Scratch that – I know I would.

You have baked apples (hasselback style!) so each bite is full of cinnamon and buttery apple goodness. Then, I topped it with a scoop of cinnamon whipped cream — but you could absolutely use ice cream instead.

Oh – and then I poured on enough salted caramel sauce that I told Jorge I was eating soup. Sorry, but sometimes I don’t want to share. 😉

Yield: 4 apples

Baked Hasselback Apples with Cinnamon Whipped Cream and Salted Caramel Sauce

Recipe Note: You can also top the apples with ice cream instead of whipped cream! Both are amazing!

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 4 large apples, cored
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon orange juice

 

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, chopped into squares
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease an 8 inch baking dish, set aside.
2. Slice a small sliver off each apple on one side so it lays level. Starting at the outermost edges, cut most (but not all) of the way through each apple at 1/8-inch intervals. Place apple halves, cut sides up in prepared dish.
3. Pour the melted butter evenly over the top of the apples. Sprinkle each apple with the brown sugar and cinnamon. Pour 1 tablespoon orange juice into the bottom of the baking dish.
4. Cover baking dish with foil and bake apples for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 10 minutes more, or until baked through.
5. While apples are baking, go ahead and make your toppings:
6. Cinnamon Whipped Cream: In a stand mixer, whisk cream,  powdered sugar and cinnamon until stiff peaks form. Whisk in vanilla extract. Set aside.
7. Salted Caramel Sauce: In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, stir sugar – stirring constantly – until it melts. (It will become lumpy before melting completely – but just keep stirring).
8. As soon as it melts, add butter. Keep stirring until the butter melts completely. Slowly pour in the cream – stirring constantly – until it has been incorporated and you have a smooth sauce. Add the salt and remove from heat. Let cool. (If you have any leftover sauce, you can store it in an air tight container – in the fridge – for up to 2 weeks.)
9. Once apples are baked, top with fresh whipped cream and salted caramel sauce and eat immediately. The whipped cream will melt fast!

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