Hot Spiced Apples (In under 4 minutes!)

We went apple picking at the very end of the season and took home a pretty good haul of Fuji, Rome, Granny Smith, and Red Delicious apples.

The orchard was like a dream... an oil painting come to life.

But, as always, the dream ends and reality sets in that you have a full bushel of apples sitting on your table - and what the heck are you going to do with all of them?

Just like last year, I made a huge pot of homemade applesauce. (Yes, that's grammie's big saucepot from my last post about meatballs.)

And I may have another apple-based recipe in the works soon. :)  But this morning I had a craving for a sweet, hot treat. I love baked apples, but I'm not always in the mood to do the prep and wait for the oven. This recipe for hot spiced apples is a shortcut recipe for traditional baked apples.

Ingredients

• 1 apple (any kind)
• Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Spice (or any warm, earthy spice like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, etc.)

1. Place the apple in the center of a microwave-safe plate and cover with a damp paper towel.
2. Microwave for 2 and a half minutes, up to three and a half minutes, until the apple is completely soft.
3. Use a knife to cut through the waxy skin around the stem and slice across the apple from one side to the other to spread the skin open and expose the soft apple meat inside.
4. Sprinkle your spice over the apple, to taste.
5. Enjoy!

The apple will usually burst at some point while microwaving
and some juice will seep out. I use this slit as one of the incisions
to open the apple up.

Take care when serving to small children - the apple seeds
will still be in there.

I love the Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Spice. Lots of other
spice brands have their own version of this, but
you can also just use your own combo of
warm and earthy spices.