Slow-Cooker Girl Scout Baked Apples. Granny Smith apples, cored and filled with a mixture of butter, brown sugar, raisins and cinnamon and cooked in a slow cooker.A version of baked apples I learned in Girl Scouts.
Baked Apples have always been Girl Scout apples to me because I learned to make them in Girl Scouts just like I did Toad-in-the-Hole. Strangely enough, I never called Toad-in-the-Hole Girl Scout toast and eggs. I’ve asked my mind why it did that and it’s never given me a satisfactory answer. If it ever does, I’ll get back with you. If you’re interested, that is. Let’s quit dawdling and get on with Slow-Cooker Girl Scout Baked Apples.
We were in my troop leader’s kitchen when we made Girl Scout Apples. We made Toad-in-the-Hole on a camping trip. Perhaps I related more to the kitchen experience than the camping experience. A tick hitched a ride home with me from the camping trip. My troop leader’s kitchen was tick-free. Our camp fire keep dying out. Mrs. Troop Leader’s kitchen stove never let us down. We had tree stumps for chairs at the campsite. Mrs. Troop Leader let us sit in comfortable chairs and couches.
In my troop leader’s kitchen, we packed brown sugar and cinnamon in the apple and topped the apple with a pat of butter. That’s the traditional way. And it’s perfectly fine. The Jackie way is easier. Make a compound butter by mixing the softened butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla extract, lemon extract and raisins. I stated that you should use precisely 1 and 1/2 ounces of raisins. The only reason I used an exact amount is because I happen to have a box of those little snack size raisins that told me right on the box it was 1 and 1/2 ounces. Please don’t be under the mistaken impression that I measured out 1 and 1/2 ounces of raisins. I would never do something that frivolous. If I had a big box of raisins, I would have dumped a random amount into my butter bowl. Sometimes, I just start pouring or dumping or throwing in ingredients and let God and the angels decide how much needs to go in. They know how to cook. Have you forgotten the whole manna thing?
Mrs. Troop Leader taught us to bake the apples in the oven. Cooking them in the slow-cooker will allow the wonderful cooking aroma to linger in your kitchen longer. Place the apples in the slow-cooker. Fill the core with the butter mixture. Keep filling and poking and filling and poking until you’ve used all the butter. Yes, I know we are dividing an entire stick of butter between four or five measly apples but the apples don’t mind one little bit. You’ll end up with a beautiful little cloud of brown sugar-butter-cinnamon- raisin on the top of the apples.
Lest you think I’m too prissy to enjoy camping, you need to know my husband and I camped a lot when we were first married. I’m talking about camping in tents, too. We saved money to fund the initial investment, the tent, and bought it from Sears. Camping then was something that would fit into our meager budget. We slept in sleeping bags. That was all the equipment we needed. Each campsite had a grill so we didn’t need a Coleman stove. We needed charcoal which we could afford. Most of the time. If we had to rely on our ability to keep a campfire going to cook, we wouldn’t have needed food. I never received the “keep your campfire lit” badge in Girl Scouts. Unlike our son who had a mild fascination with fires when he was young, my husband has never been mesmerized by fire. He still not crazy about it.
Out of all the activities we did in Girl Scouts, the cooking memories have stayed with me the most. Maybe that was a sign of things to come. My mind was thinking about Syrup and Biscuits even then. I’m glad it told me because Syrup and Biscuits is a good idea.
Y’all come see us!
Slow-Cooker Girl Baked Scout Apples
yield: 4 to 5 baked apples
Baking apples cored and stuffed with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins. Baked in a slow-cooker. My updated version of baked apples I learned to cook in Girl Scouts.
4 to 5 cooking apples (I use Granny Smith)
1 stick softened butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 ounces raisins
Wash and core apples.
Mix together butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and apples.
Stuff core of apples with butter mixture.
Place in a slow-cooker. Cover and cook 3 to 4 hours on high or until apples are tender.
Serve warm. Spoon lots of juice over the apples. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Or both. Or neither. You’re in charge.
Remember the Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes we cooked?I drizzled a teaspoon of the sauce over them. What’s not to love about apples, cinnamon, butter, brown sugar, raisins, sweet potatoes and cream cheese? Exactly! Not one thing.
You might also like the recipe for Apple Dapple Cake.
Slow-Cooker Girl Scouts Baked Apples
Ingredients
- Slow-cooker Girl Scout Apples
- 4 cooking apples I use Granny Smith
- 1 stick softened butter
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 1/2 ounces raisins
Instructions
- Wash and core apples.
- Mix together butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and apples.
- Stuff core of apples with butter mixture.
- Place in a slow-cooker. Cover and cook 3 to 4 hours on high or until apples are tender.
- Serve warm. Spoon lots of juice over the apples. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Or both. Or neither. You're in charge.
Jean says
Now that looks good! You are right. What’s not to love about that? YUM!
Scout leaders are to be admired. I could never deal with that many kids at one time and keep my sanity. I feel sure I would be serving time in prison now. LOL. Good thing there are those born to teach and show. You are a very good teacher!
Jackie Garvin says
Jean,
Thank you for your sweet compliment.
I had a great experience in Girl Scouts and had a wonderful leader. But you are so right that it takes a special person. I think our troop was a bunch of well-mannered girls.. I don’t recall anyone being stinker. That would probably be much different with Girl Scout Troops today. Come to think of it, I don’t even know anyone that’s involved with Brownies or Girl Scouts. We don’t even have anyone come to our door to sell cookies anymore. 🙁
Becky says
I was in Girl Scouts until I was finally kicked out.. I went kicking and screaming or I would still be in it today… 🙂 I never wanted to leave.. So this was a sweet reminder of the fun and adventures we shared with our leader as well.. and especially the summer camps. I had my first yummy smore and my training bra hung for the flag pole. I still have pictures of my friends dress with our full uniforms proudly showing off our badges.. and we earned everyone of them.. without cheating.. and dont’ get me started on selling cookies … I always held the record for the most cookies sold in our district..cause it was the only way I was able to go to camp each year..
Jackie Garvin says
Becky,
Thank you for sharing your wonderful Girl Scout memories! It was truly a fantastic experience for me. Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts are organizations that have never gotten the credit they deserve for being a positive influence in young people’s lives. 🙂
Mamabug says
I remember these and other creations from my years of being a girl scout! I always loved making the hobo stew in coffee cans too! Hope you have a great day!
Jackie Garvin says
Mamabug,
I don’t remember making stew in coffee cans. I do remember cooking in foil packs. So many good memories! Thanks for reading and commenting! 🙂
tipper says
YUM-I can almost smell them from here : )
Jackie Garvin says
Thanks, Tipper! We had some last night and I one in my oatmeal this morning. Mmm-mmm good! 🙂
Ginger says
Oh the memories of tent camping ,now fill my head…. Oh how I disliked tent camping ! I did love the yummy treats that came along with camping though. I am in the process of trying to find someone local selling their extra apples , or a local U pick. I was lucky enough to find me someone with extra pears… I can not wait to get some fresh apples and bake them right up for us to eat …Yum!!! I love fall
Ginger 🙂
Jackie Garvin says
Ginger,
I love cooked apples a whole bunch. Generally speaking, I eat a lot of fresh fruit. You’ll always find fresh fruit in my kitchen. Apples are the most popular fruit and they’re the only fruit that I just don’t like to eat uncooked. I think it’s a texture thing. I can tear ’em up when they’re cooked. I’ve got some Gala apples that I’m putting in the slow-cooker tomorrow. I made an Apple Dapple cake over the weekend and I need to get that post done. 🙂
grace says
i never had anything like this when i was a girl scout–i feel shafted! granted, i only participated for a year, but still… 🙂
Jackie Garvin says
Grace,
You poor thing! Maybe you made Girl Scout apples and just forgot about them! 🙂
Julia says
Jackie, you do make me laugh. I look so forward to everything
you write. I liked to camp too, and I did very well over an
open fire with lots of big rocks to place a wire grill across.
Much better than trying to deal with charcoal. We’d came
for sometimes a week at the time long before there was a first
house on Sanibel Island, so that might tell you how long ago
it was. We’d roast fresh fish with the scales left on, and
buttonwood sticks pushed through each side of the butterflied
fish that had been cleaned to perfection. Our Baked Apples
were made in a covered Dutch Oven hanging over the fire and
that worked very well.
I’ve not had the same fascination with baked apples at home
as we did while camping. I think our children loved fresh
apple pies too much to have me bake them without a crust, and
even better were the Fried Apple Pies we’d make.
Our Girl Scout days were not spent in too much camping out.
We all seemed to like crafts a lot more, and me feeling
hesitant about taking a bunch of girls camping wasn’t all that
much fun to think about. A day camp was about all I could
handle, that was all done in a suburb of St. Petersburg called
Pasadena. Beach access made it all the more fun, but kept at
least 2 adults busy just supervising the girls at the water.
We made more S’mores that any other troop that ever received
a cooking badge, I’m sure.
Thank you for another delightful subject to bring up lots of
happy memories for me.
Julia
Jackie Garvin says
Julia,
God bless you for being a scout leader! Scouting is such a worthwhile endeavor and the experience is shaped by the troop leaders. Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Julia! 🙂
Darlene says
This is sad to say but I have never gone camping. My sis ter was a Campfire Girl but I wasn’t anything lOL I would say I am the better cook than she.
Your recipes seem so delicious I need to try using the slow cooker one.
Jackie Garvin says
Darlene,
These slow-cooker apples are better than you can imagine. And you get the benefit of a heavenly aroma wafting through your kitchen for several hours. I hope you give them a try. 🙂
Leigh says
Oh gosh. Talking about Girl Scouts brings back a lot of memories. There is definitely a Girl Scout cuisine, and it’s way more than boxed cookies!
Jackie Garvin says
Leigh,
You are so right. I remember several dishes I learned to make in Girl Scouts. Good, good memories! 🙂
Amy Garvin Wren says
These look yummy! A perfect fall dessert! I never knew you and Dad were campers…..
Jackie Garvin says
We used to camp at Gulf State Park (Gulf Shores, AL) all the time pre-children.
Sharon@theplaidcookieco says
I was in Brownies, but never made it to Girl Scouts. We didn’t do any cooking either. I don’t really recall much of what we did do…except sell cookies. That much I remember. I chuckled out loud at the Toad-in-the-Hole…we called them eggs in a basket, and I learned to make them in Home Ec…another dying experience…you don’t hear much about Home Ec any more either. The apples we made in home ec also. Love them…ours didn’t have the raisens in them…I like that idea. Will have to go buy me some Granny Smiths and get busy. Thanks Jackie. Always a pleasure to see what your’e up to.
Jackie Garvin says
Sharon,
Do you remember when girls took Home Ec and boys took Shop? We didn’t think about questioning the male/female roles.
I had some good experiences in Home Ec, too. Well, the cooking part anyway. I never cared too much for sewing. My A-line skirt never quite looked like an “A”.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Sharon! 🙂