Baked apples with nuts and honey are a simple pleasure worth savouring

Some of my sweetest food memories revolve around apples. Life was often a struggle for my family when I was growing up, between financial pressures an...

Some of my sweetest food memories revolve around apples. Life was often a struggle for my family when I was growing up, between financial pressures and my parents’ strained marriage, but during our annual apple-picking outings, stress gave way to joy and togetherness, and the big batches of applesauce we’d whip up afterward made those good feelings linger.

There’s also the comfort I still tap into when I recall the aroma of the baked apples my grandmother made throughout each fall and winter.

This homey recipe holds those heartfelt memories while reflecting the flavours I yearn for here and now. In it, sweet apples are halved and cored, then slathered with olive oil and honey, sprinkled with cinnamon and baked until they are tender, and the kitchen is as delightfully fragrant as I remember my grandmother’s to be. You can use just about any variety of sweet apples that hold their shape with cooking.

The baked apple halves are then piled with honey-sweetened toasted, chopped walnuts and sesame seeds, reminiscent of those crunchy Middle Eastern sesame candies. Everything is then generously drizzled with a honey-tahini sauce, which adds an irresistible, creamy luxuriousness.

Given how little effort these apples require, it’s even more delightful that they look so elegant plated and make an ideal coda to a meal, satisfying a sweet tooth in a healthful way.