Easy baked apples with mincemeat using tart Bramley apples and rich fruity mincemeat!
Serve this delicious festive dessert with softly whipped cream, clotted cream, or vanilla custard! It's also great with brandy butter at Christmas! You might also like my air fryer baked apples recipe.
Have you got any half-used jars of mincemeat lurking in your kitchen cupboard? I found 3 when I was looking the other day, which were leftovers from making crumble-topped mince pies, mincemeat muffins, and puff pastry mincemeat pinwheels last Christmas!
If you have some too, this baked apples with mincemeat recipe is the perfect dessert for you! The apples take just 10 minutes to prepare, and 40 minutes to cook. The best part is the wonderful smell that fills your kitchen whilst they bake in the oven - the smell of all things Autumnal!
👩🍳 Love Bramley apple desserts? Try my easy cinnamon apple crumble too.
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✔️ Why you'll love this recipe!
- An easy festive dessert.
- Made with just 4 ingredients and water.
- Great recipe for using up leftover mincemeat.
- Quick to assemble.
- Family-friendly.
🛒 Ingredient notes
- Apples - I like to use tart cooking apples, like Bramleys, which contrast well with the sweetness of the mincemeat. You can substitute for tart eating apples such as Granny Smith.
- Mincemeat - homemade or good quality shop-bought mincemeat.
- Butter - unsalted butter for the tops of the apples.
- Sugar - demerara sugar gives a lovely sweet crunch to baked apples. Swap for light brown sugar or golden caster sugar if you prefer.
- Water - water is poured into the bottom of the baking dish, which helps steam and soften the apples whilst they bake, preventing them from drying out and burning the bottom of the dish.
🔪 How to bake apples
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post
One: Preheat the oven to 200c (180 fan/ Gas 4/ 350F) and lightly grease a baking dish with butter.
Two: Using a sharp knife (or apple corer if you have one), cut around the core, about ¾ of the way down into the apple. Use a teaspoon to carefully scoop out the core and seeds. Next, carefully score around the middle of each apple, using a knife, to prevent them from exploding in the oven.
Three: Place the apples in the baking dish and equally distribute the mincemeat into each apple hole.
Four: Sprinkle one teaspoon of demerara sugar over each apple and top with ½ teaspoon of butter.
Five: Pour 250ml of water into the bottom of the baking dish, cover with foil and bake in the oven for 40 minutes until the apples are tender. Let them sit for 5 -10 minutes before serving.
💭 Expert tip
- Don't skip adding the water! You don't want dry, burnt apples stuck to the bottom of the baking dish. I can verify it is a cleaning nightmare!
- Squeeze lemon juice over the tops of the apples as each one is cored, to prevent them from going brown.
🍴 Serving suggestions
Serve the mincemeat baked apples with thick cream, custard, vanilla ice cream, or even Greek yogurt!
Brandy butter is lovely at Christmas!
📖 Variations
- Add chunks of marzipan into the centre of the apples for an almondy-flavoured pudding.
- Stir chopped nuts into the mincemeat for a Christmas baked apple.
- Grate over lemon zest (or orange zest) for a citrussy zing.
- Swap the mincemeat for a combination of oats, sugar, butter, and raisins for a crumble-style filling. Basically, an inside-out apple crumble!
- Flavour with ground cinnamon for a warming Autumnal apple dessert.
🥡 Storage
The baked apples with mincemeat are best eaten fresh from the oven.
Store: Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheat: Microwave on high until warm through.
❓ Frequently asked questions
Baked apples can refer to either sliced, chopped, or whole apples that are baked in the oven until tender and juicy.
The cooked baked apples are not suitable for freezing due to the high moisture content of the recipe.
Baked apples taste like apple pie or apple crumble, depending on what ingredients you use to fill the centres of the apple.
😋 More fruity dessert recipes
- Eve's Pudding
- Sticky Toffee Apple Pudding
- Blackberry and Apple Crumble
- Blackberry Cobbler
- Cinnamon Spiced Stewed Apples
- Lemon Curd Tarts
- Apple Sauce
- Apple Loaf Cake
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Recipe
Easy Baked Apples with Mincemeat
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 Bramley Apples
- 250 g Mincemeat
- 6 teaspoon Demerara Sugar
- 3 teaspoon Butter
- 250 ml Water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°c (180 fan/ Gas 4/ 350F) and lightly grease a baking dish with butter.
- Using a sharp knife (or apple corer if you have one), cut around the core, about ¾ of the way down into the apple. Use a teaspoon to carefully scoop out the core and seeds. Next, carefully score around the middle of each apple, using a knife, to prevent them from exploding in the oven.6 Bramley Apples
- Place the apples in the baking dish and equally distribute the mincemeat into each apple hole.250 g Mincemeat
- Sprinkle one teaspoon of demerara sugar over each apple and top with ½ teaspoon of butter.6 teaspoon Demerara Sugar, 3 teaspoon Butter
- Pour 250ml of water into the bottom of the baking dish, cover with foil and bake in the oven for 40 minutes until the apples are tender. Let them sit for 5 -10 minutes before serving.250 ml Water
Notes
- Don't skip adding the water! You don't want dry, burnt apples stuck to the bottom of the baking dish. I can verify it is a cleaning nightmare!
- Squeeze lemon juice over the tops of the apples as each one is cored, to prevent them from going brown.
- Add chunks of marzipan into the centre of the apples for an almondy-flavoured pudding.
- Stir chopped nuts into the mincemeat for a Christmas baked apple.
- Grate over lemon zest (or orange zest) for a citrussy zing.
- Swap the mincemeat for a combination of oats, sugar, butter, and raisins for a crumble-style filling. Basically, an inside-out apple crumble!
- Flavour with ground cinnamon for a warming Autumnal apple dessert.
Mirlene
This looks like a good starter to have. Love baked apples so all I need is the minced meat to get this going!
Janessa
I love mincemeat tarts but can no longer have gluten. I love the idea of baking mincemeat in apples instead.
kushigalu
Never tried something like this before with apple. Sounds interesting, Thanks for sharing.
Amy
I love this idea for using mincemeat to make baked apples! It's got such a great flavor and the perfect way to use grandma's jars of mincemeat!
Tara
Served these baked apples with clotted cream to my guests. They were gone in no time! Everyone raved over this recipe. Thank you!