A dusting of powdered sugar, a scoop of ice cream and you’re ready to go

I wanted to come up with a nice dessert that wasn’t too filling, too sweet or too heavy to be part of a Thanksgiving celebration.  Baked apples do fit the bill! They are pretty easy to prep and can be made as rich and sweet as you see fit (well, really not so fit).  The ginger cookies were already in the house, molasses complimented the apples and ginger without adding too much sweetness, butter added a bit of richness and the vanilla and smokiness from the bourbon brought it all together.  It is like an unbelievably easy apple pie with a cookie crust so ice cream is a suitable accompaniment. (Like when isn’t ice cream a suitable accompaniment?)

Ginger Snap Baked Apples

6 baking apples (fuji, granny smith, rome, etc)
2 C ginger snap cookie crumbs (I used Trader Joe’s triple ginger cookies) + 6 whole cookies
2 T butter, melted
2 T molasses (if you want a sweeter product use dark brown sugar instead)
2 T bourbon

Combine the crumbs, butter, molasses and bourbon.  Set aside.

Using a melon baller, core the apple from the top down being careful NOT to pierce the bottom of the apple.  Using a vegetable peeler take a strip of skin off around the largest circumference of the apple.  This stops them from bursting, but if you use an variety of apple that will become sauce, nothing you do will stop it from falling apart.

Mound the stuffing mixture a bit on top. It will puff a bit and create a nice crust. I have a bit of cherry juice in the bottom.

Stuff the apples with the crumb mixture mounding it on top.  Place each apple on a whole cookie in a baking pan.  Add a couple tablespoons of water or apple juice or bourbon in the bottom of the pan.

Bake at 350°F for about 40 minutes or until tender.

I was experimenting with apples from the farmers’ market. You can see the one on the bottom left exploded a bit. That variety will make a very nice applesauce

Notice how the topping puffed. It is a nice combination of chewy and crispy. The cookies on the bottom absorbed the extra juices. The extra juices also thickened around the apples.  I didn’t serve that because it was not attractive, but it was really good.  Tidbits for the cook.