Ginger-Stuffed Baked Apples

A treat any time of year.

• 4 Rome Beauty apples
• 1/4 cup crumbling ginger snaps, 2-4 cookies
• 2 Tbs. golden raisins
• 1 Tbs. dried currants
• 1 Tbs. light brown sugar
• 1 tsp. minced crystallized ginger, or 1/4 tsp. ground dried ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. ground cardamom
• 4 Tbs. wildflower or clover honey
• 1 cup apple cider
  

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Peel the apples, removing the skin from only the top half. With a medium-size melon baller, scoop enough flesh from the center of each apple to make an inch-wide cavity reaching almost to the bottom of the fruit. This includes removing the core. Place the hollowed-out apples in an ovenproof dish just large enough to hold them without touching.
In a small bowl, combine the crumbled gingersnaps, raisins, currants, sugar, ginger, cinnamon and cardamom. Spoon this filling into the apples, filling them all.
Drizzle a tablespoon of the honey over each apple so it coats the exposed flesh as it drips down. Pour the cider into the pan around the apples.
Bake the apples, uncovered, until they are soft when pierced with a knife but not collapsing, 50-60 minutes. After 30 minutes, add more cider if the pan looks dry. Cool the apples to lukewarm. Spoon some of the liquid from the pan over the apples before serving. Or cool, cover and refrigerate the apples, then bring them to room temperature and serve. These apples keep, covered in the refrigerator, 3-4 days.
Serves 4, with 264 calories, 1 gram of fat per serving.
Source: American Institute for Cancer Research