Air fryer apples are the simple dessert you need this summer

I’m not a dessert person, in general. I don’t like overly sweet things and I’d rather spend my precious gut-real-estate on savory dishes. I’ll eat all the French fries and skip the chocolate cake, thanks very much.

But if I am going to indulge in dessert, I prefer something that isn’t cloyingly sweet. A lemon tart or yogurt parfait is more my speed.

So that’s how I stumbled into making air-fried apples. A Granny Smith provides just enough tartness to balance the sweetness in the dessert. And it’s simple and pretty light, as far as dessert goes. Plus you can top it with ice cream. I mean I’m not a sweets person, but even I can admit ice cream is…well…ice cream. It’s great.

Here’s what you need to know to make this super simple recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 Granny Smith apples

• About 2 tbsp of honey

• About 4 tsp of cinnamon

Directions

1. Slice the apples in half, lengthwise from stem to bottom.

2. Using a spoon, remove the core and seeds from the center of the apple, in the process making a circular well.

3. Brush the apples with a thin layer of honey. Do your best to keep the honey from pooling in the well.

4. Sprinkle the apple with cinnamon, just enough to cover the surface.

5. Air fry at 380 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. Remove and enjoy.

The details

This is a seriously easy recipe. It’s a baked apple but cooked in the air fryer. But there are reasons it makes sense to make this in the air fryer. Chiefly: It cooks fast and it’s easy to clean. Baking an apple can get messy since the cooking process breaks down sugars — making a sticky mess — but air fryers are nonstick and easy to clean.

Here’s all you need to make this dish.

Now, you can cook the apple as little or as long as you want. The texture I was going for was soft, but with a little give. Ten minutes seemed to work for that, so work with that as your baseline.

Otherwise, the only thing to watch out for is over-honeying your apple. The little well in the apple can catch a surplus of honey, so you really need less than you think. Aside from that here’s no real way to mess this up.

In total, two apples should yield four servings of air-fried apples. Here’s how my final product looked.

Looks like a baked apple! The verdict on taste? It was good! The apple softened and its tartness mellowed. The honey caramelized. There was a bit of bite while still tasting cooked and softened. It was like good apple pie filling. And I’d definitely recommend you’d top it with ice cream.

If you’re in a pinch for a dessert, I think this is a perfect recipe. It’s simple, low effort, but completely delicious. Even for people who don’t love dessert.