Poppyseed Dukkah-Stuffed Baked Apples with Coconut Caramel

Ingredients

• 6 small honeycrisp apples
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• poppyseed dukkah (recipe below)
• 1 1/2 cup apple cider
• rosemary, thyme or other aromatic herbs for infusing the cider (optional)
• olive oil - for drizzling
• coconut sugar - for sprinkling
• coconut caramel (recipe linked)
• 1 cup raw hazelnuts or walnuts, or a mix of both
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 4 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 3 green cardamom pods – crushed in mortar and pestle, green shells removed
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 soft dates – pitted and chopped
• pinch of sea salt

Instructions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C).

2. 2

   Cut the top off each apple (refer to photos) and set aside. Carefully core the apples using a small knife or apple corer and drizzle the lemon juice over them.

3. 3

   Generously stuff the apples with dukkah, piling it over the top. Close the apples with the apple tops and transfer the apples into a rimmed baking dish.

4. 4

   Pour the apple cider over the apples and add the aromatic herbs to the bottom of the dish, where the cider accumulates, if using. Drizzle the apples with olive oil and sprinkle with coconut sugar. Bake for about 1 hour, until soft throughout, drizzling with the baking liquid every 15 minutes. Take care not to overbake the apples, as they might start coming apart at the seams.

5. 5

   Let the apples cool just a bit and serve drizzled with the coconut caramel and sprinkled with more dukkah. A scoop of vanilla ice cream wouldn't hurt either :)

6. 6

   Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C). Spread hazelnuts/walnuts on a baking sheet and toast for 5 minutes. Add sesame and poppy seeds and continue to toast for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven.

7. 7

   Toast the cardamom and coriander seeds in a pan over medium heat until fragrant, for about a minute or so. Finely grind in a mortar and pestle.

8. 8

   Add the hazelnuts/walnuts to a bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times. Add the sesame and poppy seeds, cardamom, coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, dates and salt to the food processor. Pulse to combine to the consistency of coarse bread crumbs.