SLOW COOKER BAKED APPLES

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• 2 tablespoons trans-fat free margarine or butter
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 6 Gala or Macintosh apples, cored
• 1/2 cup apple juice or apple cider
• 2 tablespoons orange liquor (optional)

• In a large bowl, mix brown sugar, walnuts, margarine or butter, and cinnamon. If you don’t want to use walnuts, you could use pecans or go nut-free by substituting with ¼ cup chopped raisins, prunes, or granola! Another great substitution is ¼ cup of rolled quick oats moistened with a tablespoon of water before stuffing the apples.
• Use a grapefruit spoon that has the sharp edges (or a melon baller or small pairing knife) and core most of the way through, I leave about ½ inch apple left at the bottom. You could remove the skin but I find that it helps to hold the apple together as it bakes - it also adds extra fiber which is always a plus.
• Fill the apples with the filling and place them in the crock-pot.
• Pour the apple juice or cider (and the liquor, if using) into the crock-pot, around the apples. If you don’t have apple juice or cider, you can use apple lime juice or apple vinegar (diluted with water and a little sugar).
• Set the crock-pot on high heat and cook 2½ to 3 hours until the apples are soft and begin to collapse.
• If you don’t have a crockpot, you can use a 7x11 casserole dish or stock pot. Preheat the oven to 350F and cover the pan with aluminum foil. They’ll take about 45 minutes to one hour. A glass baking dish is also an option, just be sure to lower the heat slightly 5-10 degrees since glass can cause food to burn.
• If you’re making this recipe for a large crowd, you could do these in the oven in a large disposable roasting pan and just double the recipe. They also taste delish with a scoop of low-fat frozen vanilla yogurt.
• You can refrigerate these for up to 3 days, but store them in an air-tight container so they don’t pick up odors from the fridge.
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Nutritional Stats Per Serving (1 apple): 214 calories, 1 g protein, 34g carbohydrates, 7 g fat (1 g saturated), 0 mg cholesterol, 2g fiber, 50 mg sodium.

Weight Watchers® Points Plus: 5

Note: This is from the Skinny Chef.