Dutch Oven Stuffed Apples
Cored apples packed with raisins and almonds, baked in a citrus syrup over coals.
- calories
- 330
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 37
- protein
- 4 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 55 min
- total time
- 70 min
- water
- 540 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Foil packet
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Baking apples | 6 | firm ones only, Granny Smith or Braeburn |
|---|---|---|
| Raisins | 1/2 cup | |
| Slivered almonds | 1/2 cup | |
| Cinnamon | 1/2 tsp | |
| Nutmeg | 1/2 tsp | |
| Orange juice concentrate | 6 oz | thawed; carry frozen in the cooler and let it go soft |
| Honey | 3 tbsp | |
| Water | 2 1/4 cups |
Method
- Line the Dutch oven with foil. Cleanup later is a matter of lifting the foil out.
- Core each apple from the top, stopping before you punch through the base. The bottom holds the filling in.
- Mix the raisins, almonds, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a cup. Push the mix down into the apples with a finger until they are full.
- Stir the water, juice concentrate, and honey together until the honey is gone. Stand the apples in the oven and pour the liquid around them.
- Bake at roughly 350 to 400 F for 50 to 60 minutes. On coals that is about 8 briquettes under and 16 on the lid, rotated a quarter turn every 15 minutes.
- They are done when a knife goes into the side with no resistance. Spoon the pan syrup over each one before handing it out.
This is a car-camping dessert and it stays one. Whole apples need real, sustained heat from all sides, which is what a Dutch oven under coals gives you and a canister stove does not. The lid coals matter more than the bottom ones here: you want the apples steamed and roasted, not fried on the base.
The liquid is doing two jobs. It keeps the bottoms from scorching over the coals, and it reduces down into a syrup that goes back over the apples at the end. Orange juice concentrate is the whole reason it works undiluted sugar and acid, so the sauce has body without simmering it down separately. Skip the honey and the syrup stays thin.
Packing
Filling goes in one bag at home, already mixed. The concentrate tube and honey ride in the cooler; honey in a squeeze bottle, not a jar.
Variations
- Swap the almonds for pumpkin seeds if someone in camp is nut-free.
- A splash of bourbon in the syrup cooks off and leaves the sugar behind.
- No apples? Firm pears take the same filling and about 10 minutes less.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/baked-stuffed-apples