Recipe: Microwave Baked Apple

File this under: Recipes too Simple to Qualify as Recipes. Also in this category: guacamole, banana ice cream, and microwave popcorn.

I’m not the type of person who needs to cap off every meal with something sweet. In fact, I’d rather scour the cheese menu than the dessert menu, and a plate of nachos holds much more appeal than a plate of cookies. (Swear this is not a defense mechanism for coping with going gluten free. I think.)

But this revelation – the microwave baked apple – has me pretending to have a sweet tooth. Soup and salad for lunch? It would be wrong not to follow that with a baked apple. Roast chicken for dinner? Yup. Baked apple for dessert. 3 PM? Well, if I write a blog post I’ll just have to make a baked apple to photograph. And then I’ll have to eat it in the middle of the afternoon in between meal times.

I included measurements here, but don’t ruin the simplicity of this recipe by pulling out the measuring cups and spoons. Eyeball it. If you put in too much cinnamon or too little oats, it’ll still be good. Trust me.

Note: Olive oil may sound weird in something sweet, but you won’t taste it. It just adds some moisture for the oats without all the bad-for-you things in butter.

Ingredients (all measurements are approximate)

1 apple, cored and diced (skin on)

1/3 cup quick cooking oats (gluten free)

1 tbsp pure maple syrup

2 tsp olive oil

2 tsp brown sugar

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg (fresh or pre-ground)

Recipe

Toss all ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 ½ minutes, stir, and then microwave for 1 ½ more minutes. Serve hot.