Maple-Cranberry Baked Apples

Tips: Use real maple syrup instead of pancake syrup. The flavor is worth the extra cost. Peel the top half of the apples, or they may explode in the oven. Use raisins in place of dried cranberries, if desired. Shave white chocolate with a vegetable peeler. Also, be sure to store the chocolate at room temperature because cold can make it crumble.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 apple, 2 tablespoons syrup, and 1/2 tablespoon white chocolate)

Ingredients

• 2 1/2  cups  cranberry juice cocktail
• 1/2  cup  maple syrup
• 1/4  cup  firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1  tablespoon  lemon juice
• 2  teaspoons  grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1  teaspoon  cornstarch
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 8  medium Rome apples, cored
• 3/4  cup  dried cranberries
• 1/4  cup  chopped pecans
• 1/4  cup  shaved white chocolate

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

Combine first 8 ingredients. Stir well; set aside.

Peel top half of each apple; place in a shallow roasting pan. Fill centers of apples evenly with cranberries and pecans. Pour cranberry-maple mixture over apples. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until tender, basting apples twice with syrup from pan. To serve, drizzle with remaining syrup. Sprinkle with white chocolate.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

286 (14% from fat)

Fat:

4.6g (sat 1.2g,mono 2.6g,poly 0.8g)

Protein:

1.2g

Carbohydrate:

64g

Fiber:

4.4g

Cholesterol:

0.0mg

Iron:

1mg

Sodium:

13mg

Calcium:

47mg