Nut Butter Baked Apples

Peanut butter was a major bone of contention in my childhood on the farm. Mom insisted on buying  “natural” peanut butter, with its runny oil sitting atop the dry mass of peanut goo.  The requisite stirring to combine the two inevitably caused oil to overflow the jar. Even worse, my peanut butter sandwiches were on dark brown whole wheat bread…sigh. Meanwhile my peers brought fluffy sweetened peanut butter sandwiched with plentiful spreads of jam on slices of pristine white bread. Did my sandwich appear to bother any of them? Well, no. They might have been a little curious about it, but leave it to me to subject my person to self-made peer pressure…

Sadly, once again Mom was right. Turns out choosy moms actually choose natural unsweetened nut butter. The fluffy nut butter miraculously occurred because the carbon molecules in the runny stuff were bombarded with hydrogen atoms, resulting in a hydrogenated product. Which, as we learned decades later, results in the killer trans fat. Not to mention the added sugar… Amazing how these discoveries occur after years of consumption have already stiffened our arteries. Except for me, of course, because I didn’t have trans fats in my peanut butter. Not to worry though, I had plenty of saturated fat from other sources on my journey to adulthood. My arteries are undoubtedly just as stiff as others of my generation, I suspect. 

Mom did not make peanut butter sandwiches all that often. While I poke fun at her propensity for health food, I suspect deep down that she had a bit of a sweet tooth. We had “healthy” desserts pretty regularly. As such, PB was more likely to pop up in a wheat germ studded cookie or in her delicious baked apples. I like to serve desserts like this when the meal seems a little on the light side. A baked apple stuffed with nut butter is actually a pretty good mix of high fiber complex carb, protein and fat. It helps to fill you up. They are also a convenient dessert that can be baked ahead and refrigerated until reheated for serving.  Her recipe for baked apples is one that she held in her head; I have no written record of how she made them, so I’m flying a bit on the blind side in trying to recreate it. 

First, there’s the matter of the apples themselves. Google “best apples for baking” and you’ll get a laundry list of apple varieties from everyone and their brother. About the only thing these apple people seem to agree on is that Granny Smiths do not make great baked apples. Mom’s apples were soft, a cross between firm flesh and applesauce. She typically used Romes or Jonathons, neither of which is available at my local grocery. Meaning that I’ve been baking many apples of various varieties, and today I hit it with Empires. The apples were cored and the top rim peeled, then the cavity was filled with peanut butter. I’ve topped them off with a basic streusel for a touch of sweetness. She probably fit wheat germ in there somewhere. Since I don’t routinely have wheat germ on hand in my kitchen, I’ve thrown a bit of flax meal into the streusel. Must maintain the authenticity! 

Baked slowly to perfection, they are juicy and sweet with just a touch of richness. Baked apples are an old-fashioned, homey dessert perfect for late fall and winter. Bake some apples and let them warm you up.