Dessert: Maple Pecan Baked Apples

Try these for both dessert and breakfast. They're great with their pan juices or the Apple Custard Sauce.

This recipe includes fertility superfoods such as:

Cinnamon, Lemon, Apples

Health and fertility benefits of Maple Pecan Baked Apples

Cinnamon is one of the best ingredients that someone with insulin sensitivity can eat. Half a teaspoon of cinnamon per day has been shown to be very effective at normalizing blood sugar levels. Cinnamon contains hydroxychalcone, which is thought to enhance the effects of insulin. It has also been suggested that Cinnamon prevents post-meal blood sugar spikes by slowing the gastric emptying rate - meaning that food digests slowly. (Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11506060). Lemons can help to prevent oxidative damage to the body, which women with PCOS are often susceptible to. Apples will improve your body's sensitivity to insulin (Reference: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/27/1/281.full)

Ingredients

6 large Golden Delicious apples (about 3 1/2 pounds)
2/3 cup plus 6 tablespoons coarsely chopped pecans
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 tablespoons peach or apricot preserves
1 cup unfiltered apple juice or cider
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 °F. Core apples. Peel top third of each apple. Using small sharp knife, cut 1/4-inch-deep line all around each where peel and flesh meet. Using small sharp knife, cut about 1 1/4-inch-wide, 1-inch-deep hollow in top of each apple. Cut off thin slice from bottom of each to allow apples to stand flat. Place apples in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish.
Finely chop 2/3 cup pecans, raisins and coconut in processor. Transfer to small bowl. Mix in maple syrup, lemon peel, cinnamon and nutmeg. Divide filling equally among hollows in apples.
Spread 1 tablespoon preserves over top of each apple and into hollows. Press 1 tablespoon chopped pecans atop each.
Combine apple juice and butter in small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until butter melts. Pour into dish around apples. Cover dish loosely with foil. Bake apples 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake until apples are tender, basting with juices every 10 minutes, about 35 minutes longer. Serve apples warm with pan juices.

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