GrillinFools
Do you like apples? How about them grilled apples? Well these grilled apples are cored out and stuffed with all sorts of delicious goodness and are one heck of a quick, simple and oh so scrumptious dessert that can be made on just about any grill after the meat has been properly mowed down by family and friends. When I got the idea to do these, at first I pictured a sticky, gooey mess with apples, brown sugar, honey and such on the grill. But the Reynolds Wrap® Non-Stick Aluminum Foil solved that problem quite beautifully. Let’s move past the vagueries and get into the specifics so you can recreate Grilled Cinnamon Apple Packets in your backyard.
Grilled Cinnamon Apple Packets Ingredients:
- 12 Apples of your choice
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup granola
- 1 cup candied cashews
- 1 cup trail mix
- 1/2 cup honey
- Whipped cream or ice cream
- 1 whole nutmeg and microplane
- Cinnamon
- Cinnamon sticks for garnish
- 1 roll of Reynolds Wrap Non-Stick Aluminum Foil
- 1 apple corer
Let’s start off by talking about the ingredients. “Apples” covers a lot of ground. We tried this with the very tart granny smith, the oh so soft golden delicious as well as the ever popular (and expensive) honey crisp. All were fantastic. We added a little extra sugar to the granny smith to counter the tart. And we filled them with all sorts of stuff.
- Pecans
- Honey Pecan Granola
- Cashews
- Trail Mix
- Candied Cashews
Go with what looks good at your local grocer. Simply top with some brown sugar and honey to bring it all together. That’s still a little vague and we don’t do vague here, so we will show you picture by picture exactly how to do these.
Which apples are best for grilling?
Start off by coring the apples. I used one of these things that helps move around ingredients after I chop and diced them:
That hole at the end is the perfect size to core apples:
See how it cores out this honey crisp:
Sure, it sliced down the side as well, but that didn’t impact the process or the final product.
My only problem was getting the cores out of the tool. I had to use a corkscrew! But once I got the core out, I lopped off the last 3/4 inch or so of the bottom:
Then I pushed it back into the bottom of the apple:
Next, I grabbed a spoon and carved out some of the apple to make more room for the other ingredients:
I then created a nest out of the Reynolds Wrap Non-Stick Aluminum Foil to keep the apple upright during the prep, cooking and moving around in between:
Now it’s time to stuff that apple. This is that granola:
Then top it with a heaping tablespoon of brown sugar:
And finally, drizzle some honey:
And here we have a golden delicious with some trail mix:
Aaaannnnnd here’s why we need the Reynolds Wrap® Non-Stick Foil, more on that in a bit:
And for that granny smith, we need to add a little extra brown sugar to the bottom:
I filled this one with some candied cashews:
Then that brown sugar and honey:
Now let’s wrap it in a packet of foil and get them on the grill. Wrap the packet with the “dull side” of the foil facing inward, that’s the non-stick side. I like to use Reynolds Wrap® Non-Stick Foil in the recipe because none of the delicious food will stick to the foil and clean-up is a breeze! Reynolds Wrap® now has a new box that is easier to open and includes a tab that keeps the box fully closed for storing after use. The new color-coded design makes it easier to find the product in the aisle – look for the yellow color for Reynolds Wrap® Non-Stick Foil.
How to Grill Apples:
We set up the grill for two zone grilling with coals on one side and nothing on the other. Target temp inside the grill is 275-325F. We put the foiled apple packets on the side with no heat:
How long this takes depends on the size of the apples and the heat of the fire. These took about 25 minutes to get soft. I simple squeezed the apples inside the foil and to determine if they were done. I pulled them off the heat when they were soft and removed the foil packet. The skin color of the apples got a little drab. Here are the cooked apples next to a raw apple of the same variety:
Plate and Serve
simply slice the grilled apples down the middle and serve a whole one with a pile of whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream, or split them and give everyone half an apple to feed more people. I highly recommend buying whole nutmegs rather than ground nutmeg. You just never use much nutmeg and most of it goes stale. But if you fresh grate it with a microplane, those nuts stay fresh for years if not decades:
So we added some whipped cream and dusted the sliced apple with cinnamon (fresh ground from sticks here does the same as the nutmeg) and nutmeg. A sprig of mint goes a long way too:
Here’s another close up of that one:
And here we have all three grilled apples:
Feel free to garnish with more of the nuts, trail mix, granola, etc. And don’t forget the cinnamon sticks like I did until we took this pic:
Grilled Cinnamon Apple Packets Summary:
OK, I’m done posting hero shots. Well, maybe. (pssst, check below the recipe card if you want to see more). These grilled apples were better than I had imagined by a lot. Don’t take my word for it, take my children’s. My kids ate these so fast leaving nothing behind except for the sprig of mint. And that was after we had shot a few hundred pics and they weren’t warm anymore.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below or send me an email.
Thank you!
I would like to thank Reynolds Wrap® Foil for sponsoring this post. This is a product I use all the time while grilling and have been for decades before they became a sponsor. It is an honor and a privilege to work with them. Please support my sponsors so they can support me so I can continue to bring you this content on the regular.
If you are looking to incorporate apples into a savory dish on the grill, check out this apple stuffed pork tenderloin. Interested in other grilled apple desserts?
Also, you can follow us on our GrillinFools Facebook page, Instagram, and YouTube feeds
Grilled Cinnamon Apple Packets
Equipment
- microplane grater
- apple corer
Ingredients
- 12 apple of your choice
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup granola
- 1 cup candied cashews
- 1 cup trail mix
- ½ cup honey
- whipped cream or ice cream
- 1 whole nutmeg
- ground cinnamon
- cinnamon stick for garnish
Instructions
- Core out the apples and cut off the bottom 3/4 inch of the core and stuff back in the bottom
- Using a spoon or melon baller, carve out the cavity created after coring to make more room for ingredients
- Form a nest with the Reynolds Wrap Non-Stick Aluminum Foil for the apples too stand on. Simply tear off about 12 inches of foil and then roll up the edges into a nest
- Fill with your choice of the granola, nuts, and/or trail mix
- Top with a tablespoon of brown sugar and a tablespoon of honey
- For granny smith apples, drop an extra tablespoon of brown sugar in the bottom before filling with the other ingredients to counter the tartness
- Cover each apple with the foil, place the “dull” side facing inward (that’s the non-stick side)
- Prepare the grill for two zone grilling by placing hot coals on one side of the grill and nothing on the other
- Target temp inside the grill is 300F
- Place the apple packets on the side with no heat and bake till soft (these took about 25 minutes)
- Remove from the heat, carefully remove the foil and slice. Serve half a slice per person or a whole apple
- Add ice cream or whipped cream
- Dust with fresh ground nutmeg and cinnamon
- Add a spring of mint for garmish
Here are some extra Hero shots because, well, I’m proud of so many of these shots I couldn’t stick to just 1 or 2:
Scott Thomas
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