Baked Apples w/ Vanilla Honey Yogurt

By chefjaci

Ingredients

• 1 Medium lemon
• 4 Large, firm apples, cored and hollowed, leaving bottoms intact (Best picks: Macintosh, Empire, or Ida Red)
• 2 tbsp Unsalted roasted almond butter (or any unsalted natural nut butter of your choice)
• 1 tbsp Unsweetened dried apricots, chopped
• 1 tbsp Dried, pitted prunes, chopped
• 1 tbsp Unsweetened raisins
• 2 tbsp Toasted shaved hazelnuts, divided
• 4 tsp Raw organic honey, divided
• 1/8 tsp Cinnamon, ground
• 1 cup Low-fat plain yogurt
• 1/2 tsp Pure vanilla extract

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Juice lemon, yielding about 2 tbsp juice. Then split open lemon and rub inside flesh over outside of each apple. Drizzle about 1/8 tsp lemon juice inside cavity of each apple, reserving remaining juice. In a bowl, combine almond butter, apricots, prunes, raisins, hazelnuts (reserving 1 tsp for garnish), 2 tsp honey and cinnamon. Stuff each cavity with filling, dividing evenly among 4 apples. Press stuffing down firmly and place apples, cavity-side-up, in a shallow baking dish. Mix together remaining lemon juice and 1/4 cup water and pour around apples. Place dish in oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until firm but tender.


2. Prepare Vanilla-Honey Yogurt: Place yogurt in a wire strainer lined with paper towel and set strainer over a bowl. Let sit in refrigerator for no less than 1 hour, or until thick. Pour off liquid, place thickened yogurt in a bowl and stir in vanilla and honey. Spoon 1 tbsp yogurt over each warm baked apple and sprinkle with remaining hazelnuts.