I wash them and remove the core...being careful not to punch through the bottom..I leave the blossom end intact.
Then I mix brown sugar and cinnamon...no measured amounts..maybe t sp cinnamon to 1/2 cup brown sugar. Then I pack the inside of the apples with the brownsugar mix, stand them in a baking dish very close together, top each apple with a pat of butter, pour on about an inch of water ( or cider or apple juice) into the bottom of the pan and lay a piece of foil over the top and bake at 375 for about an hour until soft.
Serve warm with cream poured over.
Linda C

basically the same as Linda but I add chopped pecans with the sugar.

Made this twice and it was good the second time. First time I used chcolate covered toffee bits by mistake :)

Baked Apples with Toffee, Bourbon and Molasses

6 Golden Delicious apples
6 tablespoons toffee bits (such as Skor)
3 tablespoons bourbon
3 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups apple cider
3 tablespoons mild-flavored (light) molasses
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350°F. Peel skin off top third of each apple. Using small melon baller, scoop out stem and core, leaving bottom intact. Stand apples in 11x7x2-inch baking dish. Place 2 tablespoons toffee bits around apples in dish. Divide remaining bits among cavities of apples. Add 1/2 tablespoon bourbon and 1/2 tablespoon butter to cavity of each apple. Whisk cider, molasses, sugar and ginger in bowl; spoon over and around apples.

Bake apples until tender, basting often with pan juices, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Transfer apples to bowls. Pour juices from dish into small saucepan. Boil juices until thick enough to coat spoon, about 6 minutes. Spoon sauce over apples. Serve apples warm with vanilla ice cream.
Bon Appétit, November 2000; Too Busy To Cook?"

This is so good. I omit the dates or currants or raisins but if you like one of them, use it.

WAR EAGLE BAKED APPLES (serves 6)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Dash of freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups apple juice
6 large Rome apples
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup cake crumbs or cookie crumbs
1/4 cup chopped dated, currants or raisins
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400°. Combine the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg & apple juice in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat & simmer only until the sugar dissolves. Starting at the stem end, peel 1/3 of each apple. Carefully core to within 1/2" of the blossom end. Mix the nuts, crumbs & dates; stuff into the apples.
Arrange the apples in a shallow 8x11" baking dish & pour the hot apple syrup over the top. Bake, basting often with the pan juices, 45 minutes or until the apples are shiny, sticky & soft. Transfer to dessert dishes. Strain the baking juices into a saucepan. If necessary, boil over high heat until the liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup, but do not allow juices to caramelize. Stir in the cream & pass separately as a sauce.~~Sassafras!

I'm not keen on cooked apple, but I don't mind baked apple occasionally, served with lashings of warm custard. I do mine just with brown sugar and butter on top. I make a shallow cut all around the centre of the apple, too - this stops it from bursting out of its skin. If you do it Linda's way, you can use cardamom powder instead of cinnamon for a flavour change.

Below are some variations on the theme:

Baked Apples
6 large tart apples
25g butter
1/2 cup raisins, dates or fresh berries (optional)
6 tablespoons brown sugar

Peel and core apples, leaving them whole. Butter a shallow dish and pour in enough water to cover the bottom. Mix sugar and butter to a paste with a wooden spoon, stuff apples with the mixture, and spread remainder over the top of each apple. Cover and bake in a moderate oven 20 minutes, then remove cover, baste with the syrup in dish, and continue cooking gently till apples are tender. Serve with custard.

Baked Apples with Cranberries
1 orange
2 cups cranberries
3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 large apples
4 cinnamon sticks

Remove zest from orange. Mince half the zest, leave the other half in strips. Mix cranberries, orange juice, brown sugar and butter. Divide this mixture in half. Stir minced zest into one half. From the stem end of each of apple, slice off 1cm to form a cap. Remove stem from each cap, and cut an opening large enough for a cinnamon stick. Core each apple with a melon baller. Place apples in a small baking pan and stuff each with a portion of the cranberry mixture containing the zest. Replace cap on each apple, with a cinnamon stick through the old stem opening. Pour remaining cranberry mixture around apples, stirring in remaining zest strips. Bake at 180°C until apples are tender, about 45 minutes. Transfer apples to serving plates, pour cranberry mixture from baking pan into a saucepan and simmer over medium heat until reduced to a thin syrup, 7-10 minutes. Spoon some of the thickened cranberry mixture around each apple. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream if desired.

Tea Baked Apples
1 cup water
4 green tea bags
4 large baking apples, cored
1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
2 tablespoons sultanas or raisins (optional)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons butter

Preheat oven to 180°C. In a saucepan, bring water to the boil, then remove from heat. Add teabags and brew 1 1/2 minutes, dunking occasionally. Remove teabags. Peelthe top one-third of apples. In a 20cm square baking dish, arrange apples, peeled end up. In small bowl, combine brown sugar, walnuts, raisins and cinnamon. Evenly spoon the mixture into the centre of apples, then evenly top with butter. Pour tea over and around apples. Bake, uncovered, basting occasionally, for 1 hour or until apples are tender.

These all sound delicious. My DIL is apple pickin as we speak, so I will try them all.
Thank you,
Barb

These sound great.

I have copied them all and I think I will make the toffee/bourbon one first!

Thanks!