Best Air Fryer Baked Apples

Name: Best Air Fryer Baked Apples
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 2 Pink Lady apple; 4 tbsp butter; 4 tbsp sugar; 1 tbsp cinnamon; 1/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats

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Air Fryer Baked Apples are my new obsession!!! This quick dessert is the best way to enjoy apple season. Fresh apples are topped with a crispy, and crunchy buttery topping which pairs great with the tart sweetness of a crisp fall apple!

Why You’ll Love These Air Fryer Apples

These easy baked apples are made with simple ingredients and are ready in 15 minutes! This refreshing apple dessert can be topped with whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream. It’s almost like an apple crisp! The best part is apples are great year round and this dessert is just right for any sweet tooth.

Baked Apple Ingredients

These easy air fryer dessert apples are soft and full of cinnamon with a crunchy brown sugar and oats topping – it’s like a bite of apple pie or cobbler in just minutes!! You won’t believe how much flavor they have and with ice cream – oh mylanta – they’ll have everybody begging for more. Here are the main ingredients you need:

Pink Lady apples – these are the best apples in my opinion! It’s great to use crisp apples too so they hold their structure in the air fryer.
butter
sugar – I used granulated white sugar, but you could also use brown sugar
ground cinnamon
old fashioned rolled oats

How do you make air fryer baked apples?

This baked apple recipe is such an easy dessert!!!! Soft warm apples sliced up hasselback-style so that the buttery topping slips into all the cracks and crevices. Here are step by step instructions to make this easy air fryer recipe:

Peel apples and slice in half vertically. Carefully remove the cores from the apples so as to not break them in half.
If you have an apple corer – feel free to use it first!
Place each apple half flat side down on a cutting board and use a paring knife to hasselback the apples. You make thin slices along the arch of the apple but do NOT slice all the way through. These shallow slices will create crevices for the sugar mixture to seep into.
Line air fryer with parchment paper and transfer apple halves to air fryer basket flat side down
Brush the top of each apple with softened butter and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp sugar
Air fry at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes, you’ll have tender apples that are just starting to caramelize
While apples are cooking, in a small bowl melt remaining 3 Tbsp butter.
To the melted butter, add sugar, cinnamon and oats and stir together
Once 10 minutes are up, open air fryer and smother the top of the apples with sugar/oat mixture. Pat down around the arch of the apple.
Air fry an additional 5 minutes.
Remove apples from the basket of the air fryer to your serving dish and top with whipped cream. Be sure to remove the parchment and pour any sauce run off onto the apples.

Variations

I love these delicious air fryer baked apples but you can make some tweaks if you’d like:

Alternate Sweetener – if you’re not wanting to use sugar, you could swap the sugar & butter with maple syrup or honey
Serve with – Whipped cream is great – but top it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or even butter pecan and a drizzle of caramel sauce
Seasonings – Want more than cinnamon? Try using apple pie spice!
Hasselback too much Hassle? – You can just slice the apple in half and top the open slice with the crumble topping. You might need to set it in a baking dish so it doesn’t tip over.

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Here’s my ultimate list of best air fryer accessories – whether you have a basket- or oven-style! I’ve also included a price guide as well as my favorite recipes for those accessories.

Tips, Tricks & FAQs

What apples are the best for baked apples?

You need to use a whole apple that is large enough and yet also has some sweetness. My favorite apples are Pink Lady – but you could also use another type of large apples like Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, Jonagold, Braeburn or Gala apples.

Are air fried apples healthy?

Well – you’re eating apples so that’s healthy! The oats are also very heart healthy. As far as the butter and sugar – everything in moderation. 😉 So this easy recipe is a fairly healthy dessert.

Can you bake in an air fryer?

Yes! It’s essentially a convection oven. The cooking time is shortened because the hot air is circulating around the food which cooks it more quickly.

What fruits can you put in an air fryer?

So many! I’ve done pineapples, peaches, bananas and more – all on their own – they make a perfect sweet dessert. I’ve also made lots of fruit-filled desserts in the air fryer as well.

How do you store & reheat leftovers?

I recommend making just what you’ll need but if you do have leftover apples – or extra apples – they’re easy to store and reheat! Store in an airtight container and refrigerate up to a week – or freeze up to three months. Reheat in the microwave for 30-60 seconds or in the air fryer for 3 minutes.

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