PP: Slow Cooker Baked Apples

Chef: Vicki Brett-Gach
Makes: 3 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours and 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 c water
• 3 baking apples (like Pink Lady)
• 1/4 c rolled oats
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1 t apple pie spice
• 6 small dried apricots, diced
• 1 pitted date, diced
• 1 T maple syrup

Directions

1. Pour the water into the bottom of a medium 3- or 4-quart slow cooker.
2. Wash and core the apples, taking care to avoid puncturing the base of the apples. (A melon baller or a teaspoon works well for this.) Peel only the top third of each apple.
3. Into a small bowl, add the remainder of the ingredients (oats, spices, dried fruit, and maple syrup), and combine very well. Stuff the apples evenly, using all of the filling mixture.
4. Carefully place the apples into the slow cooker. Cover and bake for 2 hours – on the low setting for a newer slow cooker, or the high setting for an older one, or until the apples are just tender. (Each slow cooker seems to have its own personality.)
5. Serve warm.

VICKI BRETT-GACH is a Certified Vegan Lifestyle Coach and Educator and a Certified Personal Chef, and a graduate of the Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate Program through the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. Connect with Ann Arbor Vegan Kitchen on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AnnArborVeganKitchen) and follow her Ann Arbor Vegan Kitchen blog at http://annarborvegankitchen.com.