Smoked Apples

If you love baked apples, apple pie, or apple crisp you are in for a treat. Cooking apples on the smoker adds a whole new flavor dimension. These Smoked Apples are stuffed with pecans, dried cranberries, and just enough brown sugar to make your mouth water. Delicious on their own and even better with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. 

Apple desserts are not just for the fall in my house. My oldest son requests apple crisp with vanilla ice cream for his birthday dessert in the heat of the summer every year. I normally just crack up the air conditioning and turn on the oven despite the heat of the day. But with our Traeger as an option this summer we are planning to smoke his birthday apple crumble.

You really can grill or smoke almost anything. We are very excited to share this recipe with you today. It is a great easy dessert with only five minutes prep time that you can make all year.

Ingredients

Apples - We used small gala apples but other good choices are honey crisp apples, fuji apples, or golden delicious apples. Small apples work best so they soften in just a couple of hours.

Brown Sugar - Light brown sugar gives a warm homey flavor to the apple dessert but if you want to sub in honey, maple syrup, white sugar, or another sweetener of your choice that is fine.

Pecans - These were a highlight of this dessert. They slowly roast as the apples cook and are quite smoky on their own! 

Craisins - Dried cranberries give a nice chewy texture that contrasts with the crispness of the pecans and the softness of the apples.

How to Make Smoked Apples

These are ready to go onto the smoker or pellet grill in under five minutes. Turn it on to preheat, stuff the apples, and then put them on and go back to your day. You'll have a scrumptious dessert a couple of hours later.

Step One: Use an apple corer to remove the core of the apples. Place in a glass or metal pie plate, disposable pan, or baking dish with a rim.

Step Two: Stuff the cavity of each apple with nuts, dried fruit, and brown sugar.

Variations

Cookie Crumbs - For a fun crunch serve with some crumbled Biscoff cookies. They are nice and crisp with a dark brown sugar cinnamon flavor. 

Cinnamon - Mix some cinnamon into the brown sugar before adding it or grate a fresh cinnamon stick on top. You can even add a couple whole cinnamon sticks to the pie plate while the apples are smoking.

Browned Butter - Drizzle the cooked apples with some salted browned butter for an amazing sweet and salty combination.

S'mores - Slice up the apples and serve with roasted marshmallows and cinnamon graham crackers for an amazing smore.

Dried Fruit - Currants or raisins are other great choices for stuffing the apple besides craisins.

Caramel - Drizzle with caramel sauce and sprinkle with some coarse sea salt when serving.

Common Questions

Can you smoke apples in a smoker?

Yup! That's why you are here. Smoking apples softens them the way baking does while giving them a unique flavor.

What dessert can you smoke?

You can cook any dessert you bake in the oven in a smoker instead! Over the last year, we've perfected methods to make Smoked Brownies, Smoked Cheesecake, Smoked Pineapple, and these amazing smoked apples.

The trick to cooking a dessert on a smoker is to cook it at a lower temperature for longer. For example, our cheesecake recipe cooks at 225 for 2 hours. You may smoke dessert to avoid turning on the oven but what happens is the subtle smoky flavor contrasts the sweetness so nicely you may just cook dessert in the smoker all the time.

For a less potent flavor cook at a higher temperature similar to the oven temp for that recipe. Your dessert will have just a touch of smoke while still cooking outdoors.

What should I serve with smoked apples?

We love this recipe paired with vanilla ice cream. Ice cream and warm apple desserts are a classic combination because they go so well together. Other good choices are whipped cream or serving slices of the apples with our Dulce de Leche Mousse.

For a savory pairing, serve these thinly sliced or chopped as an accompaniment to Smoked Duck Breast or Pecan Crusted Goat Cheese.