Apples Foster With Easy Granola

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Senior producer Ivy Odom makes this easy 20-minute apples foster dessert when she's craving the flavor of fall.

Southern Living Apples Foster with Easy Granola in a bowl to serve with ice cream
Photo:

Victor Protasio, Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless 

Active Time:
30 mins
Cool Time:
30 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 45 mins
Servings:
4

Southerners reach for their pie plates and cake pans long before their fall sweaters and boots. Once the seasons change, the annual bucket list of baking projects can seem endless: apple pie, pumpkin bread, pound cake—anything with cinnamon is fair game. But if you’re like me, autumn happens to be one of the busiest times of year. I’m doing well if I can make dinner—let alone dessert! 

However, there are some nights when a hankering for something sweet just can’t be ignored, and that’s when I pull out a skillet and make this simple Apples Foster with Easy Granola. It takes only 20 minutes from start to finish (if you keep granola on hand like I do) and delivers everything you could want from a fall dessert: It’s sweet, crunchy, hot, cold, and utterly decadent.

Ingredients

Easy Granola:

  • 3 cups old-fashioned regular rolled oats

  • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup

  • 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

  • 1 tsp. kosher salt

  • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

  • 1/4 tsp. cardamom

  • 1 large egg white, beaten

Apples Foster:

  • 6 Tbsp. butter

  • 2 lb. Honeycrisp apples, unpeeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch-thick wedges (about 8 cups)

  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

  • 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

  • 1/4 tsp. kosher salt

  • 1/2 cup bourbon

  • 1 cup Easy Granola

  • Vanilla ice cream

Directions

  1. Prepare Easy Granola:

    Preheat oven to 300°F. Toss together oats, olive oil, syrup, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, and egg white in a large bowl until oats are well coated; spread in a single layer on a large parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

  2. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, crisp, and mostly dry, about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool completely on baking sheet on a wire rack, 30 to 45 minutes. (Granola will continue to crisp as it cools.) Store in an airtight container up to 10 days.

  3. Prepare Apples Foster:

    Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium until bubbly. Add apples, and cook, stirring occasionally, until apples are browned and slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, and kosher salt until combined. Cook over medium, stirring often, until apples are tender and brown sugar mixture is slightly thickened, 6 to 8 minutes.

  4. If using a gas cooktop, remove pan from heat before adding bourbon. Carefully add bourbon to skillet, and cook over medium, stirring often, until alcohol aroma dissipates, 2 to 3 minutes.

  5. Using a slotted spoon, divide cooked apples evenly among 4 bowls. Reserve 1/4 cup sauce; divide remaining sauce evenly among bowls. Top each bowl with 1/4 cup granola and a scoop of ice cream; drizzle with reserved sauce. Serve immediately.

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