This simple recipe for air fryer apples is full of the sweet and spicy flavor of cinnamon sugar!
Apples cooked in an air fryer that are good for you
I finally bought an air fryer after years of talking about it.
I have tried a lot of air fryer recipes in the last few weeks to make up for lost time, and these quick caramelized cinnamon apples are my favorite.
When you take them out of the air fryer, they are soft and crispy at the same time.
And they taste even better than homemade apple pie filling!
The recipe for an air fryer snack with three ingredients calls for apples, cinnamon, a sweetener of your choice, and butter or oil for extra richness.
You need two big apples of almost any kind. Some of my favorite apples for cooking are Braeburn, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Gala, Golden Delicious, Pink Lady, and Fuji. I don’t think you should use Red Delicious apples because they get mushy when you bake, stew, or fry them.
You can peel the apples if you want to. I leave the skins on so that the apples keep their fiber and vitamins.
Cinnamon
The sweet taste of Fall apples goes perfectly with a teaspoon of spicy ground cinnamon. You could also try adding a tiny bit of salt to the mix. You could also use other fall spices like ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, or cloves.
Sugar
You can use any kind of all-purpose sweetener, whether it’s granulated or liquid. I like unrefined coconut sugar or pure maple syrup. You can also use regular white sugar, brown sugar, honey, or agave. If you want cinnamon apples without any sugar, use erythritol, xylitol, stevia, a monk fruit blend, or your favorite sugar-free sweetener.
- ( ) 2 big apples
- ( ) 1 teaspoon spicy ground cinnamon
- ( ) Sweetener of your choice (any kind of all-purpose sweetener, whether it’s granulated or liquid; e.g., unrefined coconut sugar, pure maple syrup, regular white sugar, brown sugar, honey, agave, erythritol, xylitol, stevia, a monk fruit blend)
- ( ) Melted coconut oil or butter (optional, for extra richness)
Instructions
- The first thing you need to do is get all of your ingredients together.
- Grease the tray of your air fryer or put air fryer liners in it.
- If you want, peel the apples and then cut them into small squares. Throw away the cores and seeds. You can also make air-fried apple chips by cutting the apples into sticks or thin slices.
- In a big bowl, mix the diced apples with the cinnamon, pure maple syrup or sweetener, and melted coconut oil or butter if you want to.
- Set the air fryer to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Put the apples in a single layer on the tray you made. Don’t put too many apples in the pan at once to make sure they fry evenly. If your air fryer is small, you might have to air fry in two batches.
- After seven minutes, open the door and shake the machine to turn the apples so they cook evenly on all sides.
- Cook for another eight minutes or until they are as crisp as you like them.
Serving Suggestions
Make 2-Ingredient Bagels while the air fryer is out.
You can have the apples for breakfast over your oats, or you can make your own healthy apple crumble by adding a simple brown sugar oatmeal streusel. These are a great topping for protein waffles or vegan pancakes. Use the recipe to fill homemade apple fritters or hand pies. One of my favorite ways to use cinnamon air-fried apples is as a topping for coconut, vanilla, or banana ice cream.
You can keep leftovers in the fridge for up to five days if you put them in a container that is airtight and has a lid. You can freeze this recipe, but the apples will be different when they thaw. So I don’t think you should freeze them.
Nutrition and Health Benefits
This tasty fruit snack is a great source of fiber and vitamins C, K, and E because it has a lot of cinnamon and apples in it. Cinnamon apples also have potassium and iron in them.
The healthy snack made from whole foods can be free of dairy, soy, vegan, fat, paleo, and added sugar. And they are naturally free of gluten, nuts, eggs, and sodium.
Cinnamon may help lower blood pressure and has anti-inflammatory properties. Apples have a lot of antioxidants, like quercetin, that can help keep your heart healthy and keep your blood sugar in check.
Alternative Cooking Methods
If you want to make baked cinnamon apples in the oven, set it to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Follow the recipe for air-fried apples below, and spread the diced apples out in a single layer on a baking sheet that has been greased or lined with parchment paper. After fifteen minutes in the oven, turn with a spatula. Bake the pan for another ten to fifteen minutes, or until the apples are soft and caramelized to your liking.
If you have a convection oven, you can also bake for the same amount of time as you would in an air fryer. A fan moves air around in both convection ovens and air fryers while food cooks.
Want an even simpler way to cook? You can fry the apples in a pan on the stove with some butter or coconut oil.