Slow Cooker Baked Apples With Raisins For Full GAPS

These slow cooker baked apples have raisins and honey tucked into their centers, with cinnamon and coconut oil added before cooking. A shallow layer of water goes into the pot, then the covered apples cook on LOW for about six hours, until their flesh is soft enough to scoop with a spoon.

Use six ripe Granny Smith apples for this batch. The filling stays simple: a quarter cup of raisins and two tablespoons of honey, shared among the apples. A little homemade coconut milk is an optional finish when you serve them.

Second-shift work and homeschooling make the whole recipe clock useful to me. Fifteen minutes of preparation and six hours in a cooker are different kinds of kitchen time. With a recipe like this, I want to choose the finish time first, then work backward to when the apples need to go in.

This is a soft, spoonable fruit dish. As the apples cook, the raisins take up moisture and the honey mixes with the fruit juices. Lift each apple carefully into a bowl so you can keep those juices with it.

Where This Fits On GAPS

These whole, skin-on apples with raisins and honey are for Full GAPS after the ingredients have been introduced. Serve a modest fruit portion as a snack or occasional sweet dish. GAPS includes cooked fruit with added fat; the coconut oil belongs in the filling here.

Choose plain raisins without added sugar, starch, sorbates, or sulphites. Use natural honey and plain cinnamon. The homemade coconut milk is prepared separately, using the linked recipe, rather than a canned milk with extra ingredients.

This version uses no dairy, eggs, or nuts. Its cooked fruit and coconut oil can also fit More-Plant GAPS once the ingredients are introduced. You can serve the apples without the optional coconut milk and keep the coconut oil in the filling.

The Stage 5 Intro apple preparation is a peeled, stewed purée with fat. That is a different texture and preparation from these whole apples with skins and raisins. Keep this recipe with your Full GAPS fruit dishes.

Ingredients

• 6 ripe Granny Smith apples
• 1/4 cup plain raisins
• 2 tablespoons natural honey
• Pure ground cinnamon, to taste
• Coconut oil, to taste, for the filling
• Filtered water, enough for a depth of 1/2 inch in the pot
• Homemade coconut milk, for serving, optional

Apples: Choose sound apples that fit upright in your cooker without being forced against one another. Similar sizes are easier to check together. Keep the skins on and leave about half an inch at the bottom when you remove the cores.

Raisins: Measure the quarter cup for the whole batch, then share it among the six hollows. The dried fruit becomes softer and plumper as it cooks with the apples and honey. Check the ingredient label for the plain fruit described above.

Honey: Two tablespoons go into this batch. Divide it among the apples along with the raisins. The honey is heated during the long cooking time; it is part of the filling from the start.

Cinnamon and coconut oil: Add your preferred amount to the centers. Share them among all six apples so each has some spice and fat with its fruit filling.

Water: Use the depth in the pot as your guide. Half an inch is a shallow layer, not enough to submerge the apples. A wider pot needs more water than a narrow one to reach that same depth.

How To Make Slow Cooker Baked Apples With Raisins

1. Core the apples with a paring knife or apple corer, leaving about 1/2 inch of apple intact at the bottom. Remove the seeds and firm core while keeping a base beneath the hollow.
2. Stand the apples upright in the cooking pot. Divide the measured raisins and honey among the centers, then add cinnamon and coconut oil to each one.
3. Pour filtered water into the pot to a depth of 1/2 inch, around the apples.
4. Cover and cook on LOW for about six hours, until the apples are soft. For the Ninja Foodi FD401, use its Slow Cook LOW program with the pressure lid fitted and the release valve at VENT; set six hours and press START/STOP.
5. Check the flesh with a fork. It should yield easily rather than meet a firm layer. Support each softened apple with a broad serving spoon when lifting it from the pot.
6. Serve warm in small bowls with some of the cooking juices. Add homemade coconut milk if desired.

Keeping the base intact gives the filling somewhere to sit. An apple corer can make the hollow, but stop before it goes through the bottom. A paring knife lets you remove the core in smaller pieces while watching the depth.

Use LOW for this method. The apples cook in a covered pot with moisture around them, so expect soft fruit and wrinkled skin rather than a dry, browned crust. Some apples may split or slump as their flesh becomes tender.

The raisins should look moist and fuller than when you put them in. The honey and melted coconut oil can run into the apple juices. That liquid is part of serving the dish, so have bowls ready instead of trying to move very soft apples onto a flat platter.

When you open the lid, expect the smell of warm apples and cinnamon. Look for softened skins and moist raisin filling, with the coconut oil melted into the juices.

Test the side of an apple with the fork rather than only checking its filled center. You are looking for soft fruit. Six hours is the planned cooking time; apple size and the way your cooker heats can affect when that tenderness arrives.

Allow about 15 minutes for preparation and six hours for cooking, or roughly six hours and 15 minutes overall. Starting earlier does not mean using Keep Warm in place of the cooking program. Set the LOW cooking cycle first.

Serving And Storage

Scoop a little of the warm liquid into each serving bowl with the apple. The honey sweetness and cinnamon are in that liquid as well as the filling. Support the fruit from underneath so the softened bottom does not pull away while you lift it.

Add the homemade coconut milk at serving time. It loosens the honey-and-apple juices in the bowl and gives the dish a creamy finish. Keep the milk separate if you are putting some apples away for later.

Refrigerate leftovers in a covered container within two hours and use within three to four days, or freeze for longer storage. Save some cooking liquid with the apples. Individual portions are convenient if you want to warm one apple at a time.

Reheat the apples with their juices in a covered oven-safe dish until hot through. Add the coconut milk afterward. The cooked fruit will already be soft, so use a broad spoon again when moving the reheated portions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Make These In The Oven?

Yes. The same filling can be cooked in a covered glass dish at 350°F for about 45 minutes to one hour. Keep the shallow water layer and check that the apple flesh is soft. The main card time below is for the six-hour slow-cooker method.

How Do I Set The Ninja Foodi?

On the FD401, fit the pressure lid and put the release valve at VENT. Select SLOW COOK with FUNCTION, use TEMP to choose LOW, and set TIME to six hours. Press START/STOP. This is the Slow Cook program, with the valve vented.

What If An Apple Falls Apart?

Serve the softened fruit and filling from a bowl with its juices. Apples can lose their shape as they cook. A broad spoon supports them better than lifting by the top or trying to grip the skin with a fork.

Do I Need To Double The Water At 2×?

The 2× card gives 12 apples, half a cup of raisins, and four tablespoons of honey. Use enough cooker capacity, or make two batches. Keep the water 1/2 inch deep in each pot and the apple bases about 1/2 inch thick when coring.

Can I Leave Off The Coconut Milk?

Yes. It is an optional serving finish. Keep the coconut oil in the filling and spoon the cooking juices over the warm fruit. You do not need to make another topping before enjoying the apples.

Recommended Equipment

I use a Ninja Foodi FD401 for slow cooking. This recipe uses LOW for six hours with the pressure lid fitted and its release valve at VENT. Select LOW explicitly; do not leave the program on its default HIGH setting.

A conventional slow cooker also works for the main method. Use its proper cooking insert and lid, with enough space for the apples and without exceeding its fill limit. On the Foodi, keep the ingredients below MAX. A paring knife or corer, measuring cup and tablespoon, fork, and broad wooden serving spoon complete the setup.

Related Recipes

Homemade coconut milk is the separate pantry recipe for the optional topping. Prepare it ahead and have it ready for serving.

For a butter-filled oven version, try baked apples with homemade butter. It has its own filling and 375°F method. Peel-on slow cooker applesauce is another Full GAPS fruit preparation when you want the apples cooked down for mashing.

Baked apples with raisins and ginger are another whole-apple option, filled with homemade butter and basted with fresh apple juice in the oven. Use that separate recipe for its filling amounts and baking directions.

More Simple GAPS Snacks

My upcoming Sweet Snack Recipe Card Deck will be in the WFLI shop. It keeps the ingredient amounts and preparation notes together, including the LOW cooking time and the water depth to use when changing batch size.