Baked Stuffed Apples with Belgian Raspberry Beer

You are going to love these Baked Stuffed Apples. They are deliciously packed with a crunchy oat filling containing buttery pecans and sweet raisins. Then they are baked in Lindemans Belgian Raspberry beer, which becomes wonderfully syrupy and adds an aromatic and fruity acidity. You can enjoy them as-is or with your favorite scoop of ice cream! This dessert is dairy-free.

Ever stuffed and baked apples before? This recipe is an old one that I dusted off my recipe bookshelf—yep, I have one. I am a bit nerdy that way. Recently, with the apple season now in full bloom, I made it again, and I had forgotten how good this apple-themed treat is.

It's still a healthy-ish dessert recipe—it could easily fit on a brunch table as well—but the Lindemans raspberry beer takes these baked stuffed apples to a whole new level. This beer becomes wonderfully syrupy in the oven, and its delicious fruity acidity with raspberry undertones is intensified.

Drizzled on the softened stuffed apples, it adds a special sweetness and aromatic complexity. The deep reddish color creates a beautiful presentation. Best yet, everything is so incredibly easy to make.

A few notes

The best apples for baking

I like to choose an apple with a fairly crisp texture, so it doesn't end up mushy once baked. Because, for this recipe, you want this delicious fruit to soften in the oven but still retain a solid firmness and keep its shape.

There are some great looking apples out there that in the end have a mealiness quality to their texture—Red Delicious I am thinking about you. Avoid those.

Flavor-wise, choose an apple you already love when biting into its raw flesh. You know, the one that makes your mouth water and doesn't disappoint in taste.

Luckily, the choices are plentiful, and I'll give you a few options amongst my favorite apples to pick from.

If you love that sweet-tart flavor like I do, then try:

• Granny Smith apples, the go-to baking apple, of course;
• Jonagold, still tarty, but it comes with a more honey-like sweetness;
• Honeycrisp has a wonderful crispy texture and a delicate sweet-tart balance;
• Braeburn apples also come with a sweet-tart flavor but mellows more when baked—still good;

Apples that result in a more natural sweeter taste:

• Gala, they are juicy, mildly sweet with an almost vanilla-like fragrance. It is an excellent choice to pair with oats;
• Golden Delicious, it's less tarty, mildly sweet, and holds up fairly well during baking;
• Zestar apples are, to me, more on the sweet side but still a bit tangy. They are quite juicy and will keep its firm structure during baking.

Framboise or Kriek beer

Growing up in Belgium's Flanders, I am no stranger to good beers—my parent's favorite is a good old "Oude Gueuze," served in a chilled glass, of course. It is refreshing and a delicious drink and a must-try if you are a beer lover.

One of my first beer was Kriek—fruity and made with freshly harvested and fermented cherries. This beer is sparkly with a lovely dry finish. When visiting my family in Belgium, I always make a point to enjoy a glass as a lovely aperitif served with Mussels and fries—typical Belgian dish. Framboise is another favorite of mine—made with fresh raspberries or their juices.

Luckily either one of these lambic fruit beers is readily available online or in local grocery stores that sell a good beer selection.

Kriek or Framboise Lambic beer is a delightful ingredient in this baked dessert dish. Their fruit flavors are intensified while their sparkly quality becomes wonderfully syrupy and tangy-sweet—a perfect accompaniment for softened sweet apples with a crunchy and nutty oat filling.

The sweeteners

I like to rub the apple's cut side with a dark syrup to give them a beautiful rustic look and a tad of molasses-like sweetness that can sink into the apples during baking—it's a dessert, after all.

My preference is a Barley Malt syrup. It has a beautiful dark brown color and a lovely malty taste that goes well with the lambic beer.

Don't have this in your pantry or like it a tad sweeter? You have other options that work such as well, and I have used each one of these at one point in time when making these baked stuffed apples:

• Unsulphured Blackstrap Molasses: It's a thick, dark syrup with an acidic sweetness but won't overpower the other ingredients' flavors. I've written more about it in my Apple-Bacon pancake recipe with Buckwheat flour—check my notes on the ingredients if you like to know more about it.
• Dark Maple syrup: the sweetest choice of all three but adds a lovely hint of caramel.

To sweeten the oat filling, use either Barley Malt Syrup or Maple Syrup.

• I am adding enough to make the filling stick together;
• And to create a malty or maple sweet flavor, depending on what you choose;
• And these syrups will aid in creating a crunchy oat texture, with deeply flavored nuts and raisins.

How to serve these baked apples

With a small glass of cold Lambic beer on the side, of course. I like to serve them individually on small plates with an extra drizzle of the syrupy baked Framboise beer.

After all, it's a special treat, even if it is an easy-to-make dessert, which deserves a bit of a sophisticated presentation.

Leftovers—if there are any—keep well, covered in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Enjoy cold, or reheat in the microwave for one minute.

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You might also like

• My Honey Ricotta Tart with a subtle sweet rum crust.
• Or try my Easy Chocolate Mousse with lovely coffee notes.
• And don't forget to make this No-bake Mascarpone Fruit and Amaretto Tart—lovely in flavors, beautiful in presentation, yet so easy to make.