Harvest Apple Bake

Breakfast needs to happen FAST at our place. The boys wake up hungry, and there’s never any time to waste thinking of what to make, or trying to whip something up at the last minute. Preparing ahead is key.

Originally, this recipe was supposed to be a beautiful stuffed apple with a seed and oatmeal, cinnamon-y filling. But after 20 minutes, I had only cored 3 apples, and it occurred to me that I would probably never make this dish again for weekday breakfast if it was going to take me an hour to prep, plus another hour to cook.

I generally spend 3 hours on my meal prep every week, so it didn’t seem right to spend an hour of that preparing a breakfast that would last us three days.

So, a decision was made to transform the dish into a more rustic-looking, time-saving but just as delicious-tasting apple bake. Similar to an apple crisp at first glance, but much healthier, in reality.

This dish combines apples (with the skin left on for an extra boost of fiber, potassium and vitamins C, A and K) with a crunchy granola topping made from rolled oats, unsweetened dried cranberries, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and cinnamon.

In my honest opinion, this dish, served warm, and topped with a dollop of Greek yogurt (sweetened with one of Epicure’s sweet dip mixes, if desired), is the epitome of fall flavors in a bowl and brings instant warmth and comfort to those chilly fall mornings.

What’s even better is that you can easily portion these off into mason jars as soon as the dish is out of the oven, to have to eat throughout the week.

Harvest Apple Bake

Servings: 8

Preparation: 15 minutes

Cooking: 45-60 minutes

Ingredients:

• 8 Apples (roughly chopped)
• 1 cup Rolled Oats
• 1/2 cup Pumpkin Seeds (raw)
• 1/2 cup Sunflower Seeds (raw)
• 1/2 cup Dried Unsweetened Cranberries
• 2 tsps Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 tsp Sea Salt (finely ground)
• 2 tbsps Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 tbsps Water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Wash and chop the apples, and spread evenly in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, and mix well
4. Pour the topping onto the apples
5. Bake for approximately one hour, until the topping is golden and the apples are fork tender
6. Serve warm with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt, flavored with one of Epicure’s Sweet Dip mixes

Enjoy!

Have you tried making this recipe? Let me know in the comments below!