the joys of raising jack, jovie & judah: Baked Apples

i am a salty food kinda girl. i prefer french fries to cake, any day of the week. but, i do appreciate a good dessert. and now that i am eating better & counting calories, i really appreciate a healthy but yummy dessert recipe.

my sis, Katie, let me borrow her Biggest Loser Cookbook. and i've found some great recipes in there. but, the other day i was in Kroger & saw the Biggest Loser Dessert Cookbook. i skimmed through it & found this little gem. i took a picture of the recipe with my phone, bought the ingredients & dashed home to whip it up before some of my favorite girlies came over while our hubbies had a meeting (long conversation).

needless to say, this recipe is great. and my favorite part about it is that it makes your whole house smell yummy!!

Ingredients:

butter flavored cooking spray

2 large & crisp Granny Smith apples, peeled

3/4 cup 100% apple juice (not from concentrate)

2 tbsp coconut sugar (this was impossible to find in Kroger, so i just used regular sugar)

2 tsp unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp ground cinnamon

this was the ONLY apple juice i could find that was NOT from concentrate. even the organic was from concentrate. not that it really matters, it just makes it a healthier recipe.

Preheat oven to 425. spray a baking dish with cooking spray.

wash and peel the apples.

cut the apples in half, lengthwise & remove the cores. slice each half, lengthwise, into very thin slices.

lay the apples in the baking dish, close together. (mine were even overlapping)

in a bowl, mix together: apple juice, butter, sugar & cinnamon until well combined. (the sugar & cinnamon will dissolve completely)

pour 1/2 of the apple juice mixture evenly over the apples. reserve the remaining 1/2

bake for 30 minutes. pour the remaining apple juice mixture over the apples. bake 25-30 minutes longer, or until the apples are very tender & the glaze has caramelized over the top. (it should look almost burnt, dark brown but not blackened.)