This Baked Apple Compote is delicious. Apples scented with rich butter and spices cook up tender and full of flavor. It’s so good on Puffed Pancake!
Serve apple compote on its own, atop oatmeal or Overnight Oats with Water, porridge, or ice cream, or with pancakes or waffles. You can even top it with granola for an easy apple crisp. It’s so tasty, you’ll want to make a double batch and freeze the extra for later.
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This Baked Apple Compote is one of those no-brainer recipes that when you make it, you sigh with delight and wonder why you aren’t making it more often.
Yes, it’s that good — and that easy!
Toss chopped apples with butter, brown sugar, and spices and bake them in the oven. That’s all there is to it!
The result is a tender spiced apple compote perfect to eat on its own or to top pancakes or oatmeal for breakfast. Also delicious atop a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a simple and gluten-free dessert.
It can even serve as a tasty foil to Dijon Pork Tenderloin. Booyah!
Why Make This
It’s easy and hands-free. Aside from chopping apples and mixing all the ingredients together, there really isn’t much to do with this recipe. It’s self-cooking, if you will.
Baked Apple Compote is super versatile. Serve this on its own, with cooked meats, or atop breakfast foods, like Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oats. There’s really no end to how to serve this tasty dish.
It’s freezer-friendly. Anytime you can make extra of something and freeze it for later, you are buying yourself some time and likely saving money in the process.
It’s a good cheap eat! At just a quarter a serving, you’re going to want to load up on apples during the next sale and tuck extra away. This is good cheap eating at its best!
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make Baked Apple Compote:
apples – You can use any apples you have or find on sale, but the best ones are those that hold their shape when cooked, such as Granny Smith, Jonathan, Fuji, and Gala. I love the tartness that Granny Smith brings to the table.
lemon juice – Lemon juice adds tang to the compote and prevents the apples from browning.
brown sugar – I love the rich flavor of dark brown sugar, but you can use light brown sugar, regular sugar, or even maple syrup if you prefer.
spices – Spiced Apple Compote is amazingly delicious. I use ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, and ground cloves. You can easily substitute pumpkin or apple pie spice if that is what you have.
butter – I find that the addition of butter helps the apples keep their shape as well as add another layer of richness to the dish.
Variations
Vary the fruit – Feel free to stir in a number of other fruits with the apples, such as pears, cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries.
Get boozy – Sometimes liqueur is added to compote. If you’d like, stir in a tablespoon or two of bourbon, cointreau, rum, or brandy near the end of the cooktime.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s how easy it is to make Baked Apple Compote:
Prep step: Preheat the oven to 425 °. Grease a pie plate or shallow baking dish.
In a medium bowl combine the apples, lemon juice, sugar, and spices. Stir well to combine.
Transfer the mixture to the pie plate. Dot with butter.
Bake for 25 minutes or until the apples are soft and the juices bubble.
Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve.
Freezing Instructions
You can freeze apple compote in one of two ways.
- Freeze before baking: Combine the apples, sugar, spices, and lemon juice in ziptop bags and store in the freezer. The night before baking, pull a bag from the freezer and let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight on a tray to catch drips. In the morning empty the bag’s contents into a baking dish, dot with butter and then let it bake while you take care of other things. Hot and fresh with very little work!
- Freeze after baking: Once the dish is done baking, allow the steam to blow off. Transfer the mixture to a freezer-safe container and chill completely in the fridge before storing in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw and serve.
FAQs & Recipe Costs
In compote you want to use apples that will hold their shape when cooked, ie baking apples. Well-known varieties include Braeburn, Cortland, Jonathan, Fuji, Gala, and Granny Smith.
Apple compote is a great thing to freeze! Once the dish has finished cooking, transfer the apple mixture to a freezer-safe container. Chill it thoroughly in the fridge before placing it in the freezer. Use within 2 months for best texture.
In applesauce the apples are cooked so that they lose their shape and become sauce-like, whereas in compote, the apples retain their shape.
Apple compote is delicious on its own or topped with granola. It’s also a delicious side dish to cooked meats, such as pork roast, pork chops, roast chicken, and turkey. Serve it for breakfast atop oatmeal, porridge, waffles, or pancakes.
Recipe Costs
Knowing how much it costs you to prepare a recipe can help you decide if it’s the type of recipe to make regularly or one you might want to save for special occasions. Let’s crunch some numbers and see how this recipe pencils out.
- apples – $1.50
- lemon juice – $0.10
- brown sugar – $0.12
- spices – $0.10
- butter – $0.20
While your costs may vary depending on where and how you shop, you can expect to pay about $2.02 for a big batch of Baked Apple Compote, about $0.25/serving.
More Apple Recipes
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Baked Apple Compote
Equipment
- large mixing bowl
- rubber spatula
- pie pan
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds apples peeled, cored, and chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoon butter cut into cubes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 °.
- In a medium bowl combine the apples, lemon juice, sugar, and spices. Stir well to combine.
- Transfer the mixture to a pie plate or small baking dish. Dot with butter.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until the apples are soft and the juices bubble.
- Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve.
Notes
- Freeze before baking: Combine the apples, sugar, spices, and lemon juice in ziptop bags and store in the freezer. The night before baking, pull a bag from the freezer and let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight on a tray to catch drips. In the morning empty the bag’s contents into a baking dish, dot with butter and then let it bake while you take care of other things. Hot and fresh with very little work!
- Freeze after baking: Once the dish is done baking, allow the steam to blow off. Transfer the mixture to a freezer-safe container and chill completely in the fridge before storing in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw and serve.
- Vary the fruit – Feel free to stir in a number of other fruits with the apples, such as pears, cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries.
- Get boozy – Sometimes liqueur is added to compote. If you’d like, stir in a tablespoon or two of bourbon, cointreau, rum, or brandy near the end of the cooktime.
Nutrition
This post was originally published on January 11, 2012. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Susan
Vanilla ice cream is my favorite thing to top with cooked apples
Carla
On Mother’s Day I scrapped my dinner menu due to me getting over a stomach bug. We went out for lunch but wanted something light for dinner. DH gladly grabbed a loaf of texas toast when i told him I’d do French toast for a breakfast dinner (the only time I buy the stuff). Hmm, forgot syrup but had already started the FT. Remembered seeing this recipe, saw my big bag of apples and whipped up a big batch on the stovetop (since I was time-crunched). Made sure there was extra “sauce” to go with it and this replaced syrup. Made some whipped cream. My boys came in, “Wow, you are the best mom EVER.” Hmmm, so easy to please. Maybe new bribery to get them to clean their rooms?? DH didn’t complain either. Cannot wait for fall to get bulk apples and do some to freeze–oh, I slice real thin then chop and leave the skins on (since I don’t have one of those wonderful devices). 😉
Jessica
@Carla, how fun is that?! Best mom ever!
Wendy
I canned something similar. On Christmas I made some later we had some on our cheesecake was very delicious.
Sharon
Ahhhh. This is wonderful. Perfect addition to oatmeal for my hubby who can’t eat raw apples, but can eat cooked! Now I just need to research some other apple varieties that are good for cooking. I’m sure there’s a list somewhere on the web. Google, here I come!
Katie
Sounds great but I am going to throw it in the crock pot!
Ellisa
I’d love to try this, except my hubby HATES cloves. Would it be as good if I left them out, or is there a substitution for cloves?
Jessica
@Ellisa, leave them out. No worries.
Sandi
I’m also thinking some walnuts or pecans would be a nice addition.
SnoWhite @ Finding Joy in My Kitchen
@Sandi, Craisins, dried cherries or even sweet potatoes are yummy too!
Denise
I’m not a cook by any means, but I’ve been wanting to know how to make apple compote. There is a baby food by Earth’s Best that my daughter loves that has apple compote in it (i think it’s Chicken Apple Compote). Now that she isn’t eating baby food anymore, I need to make this for her! Thank you!
Debbi Does Dinner Healthy
I haven’t made this in so long, I so have to make it again. So easy and an awesome dessert, thanks!
Tabitha (Meet Penny)
Looks so good, Jessica! I made sure to pin this to my Side Dishes board. Thank you!
Jessica
Thanks!
Leah
Thanks for the “food for thought.” I hadn’t thought of trying things in the oven that I had previously had to stand over the stove to cook. Hmmm…lots of experimenting ahead!
Jessica
That’s what I’m thinking. Oven or crockpot or maybe even rice cooker.
Cassie
Do you think it would work to bake and then freeze? Just thinking it would take up less room in the freezer and you would just have to heat them up but not actually bake them. Anytime I can NOT use my oven to heat up the house is usually better (we live in FL).
Jessica
I don’t think space is an issue if you freeze the mixture in ziploc bags. But, yes, you could totally cook the apples first and then freeze them. The same mixture could be tossed in a crockpot, too. I have friends in hot weather country who move the crockpot OUTSIDE so even that isn’t heating the house. 😉
Sandi
@Jessica, Ha! This Florida girl was just going to ask if there was any reason a crockpot would not work for this. From freezer to crock to simmer overnight and be ready for oatmeal in the morning sounds perfect to me. I’ll probably skip that peeling step, though.
SnoWhite @ Finding Joy in My Kitchen
@Sandi, We do the crockpot for this, and if you slice them thin enough, you can even do it in a skillet. They are delicious with granola, or ice cream, on top of pancakes is a good one too!