Maple Baked Apples

I altered an old recipe by veganizing it and subbing spelt flour. What a success!

MAPLE BAKED APPLES
1/2 C. spelt flour
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt
3 Tbsp. soybean margarine
1/3 C. old-fashioned rolled oats
3 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
9 small Gala apples


1 Preheat oven to 375* F. Lightly grease an 8-inch square glass baking dish.

2 In a bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Cut in soybean margarine with 2 knives, fingertips, or pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Add oats and maple syrup and stir with a fork to blend lightly.



3 Core an apple and cut off stem. Cut 1 inch off bottom of core; replace 1-inch-long piece in bottom of apple to cork it and place apple in prepared dish. Repeat with remaining apples.

4 Fill each apple with flour mixture. Cover pan snugly with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until apples are tender and filling is lightly browned, about 15 minutes longer. Let cool and then refrigerate until ready to serve.


Know your APPLES

Fujis are firm, crisp and good raw and in applesauce and pie.
Galas have red striping, are sweet and crisp, and taste good raw and cooked.
Granny Smiths are bright green, tart and great raw and cooked in pies.
McIntoshes are softer than others -- great for applesauce.
Red and Golden Delicious are best raw, but Goldens make good pies.
Romes are sweet and medium-large; they hold their shape when baked whole.




More than just walnuts are falling from of our walnut trees. We found this perfect bird nest laying on the lawn. We've since put it in a shoe box, and it sits on our patio. Olivia loved seeing it up close because we've been observing it for a while. We watched the Robins build the nest in the Spring & heard the baby birds singing soon after. It's been fun to see!