Tell me… are you already cooking and baking with apples or are you still in a more summery mood? You can tell by this recipe alone that I love my apples, but I have to say the weather these past few days has been very spring-like. Which is just weird.
I mean… September was pretty cold, so I kept thinking we’d get some snow soon, but the situation is so different right now. I love warm autumnal days, not gonna lie, but I love chilly days too.
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Either way, I love ALL the apples. So, hot or cold, I’m cooking! Now, I’ve been thinking about apples pretty much 24/7, trying to come up with ways I can incorporate them into everything. I usually make breakfast that’s on a healthier side, so my desserts are usually heavy. But sometimes I think we all need dessert that’s sweet but not that heavy, am I right?
So I came up with these caramelized apple yogurt dessert jars. They’re basically trifles that will remind you of apple pie, but are made with greek yogurt! Isn’t that awesome? They’re honestly so creamy and good you don’t even notice you’re not eating mascarpone or something equally decadent.
But look… I didn’t say these are sugar free, however I didn’t put that much in. Just a bit to sweeten the slightly tart apples and help them develop their flavor even more. And the cookies in this are sweet too, of course, but you only need a small portion.
The possibly most beautiful thing about these caramelized apple yogurt dessert jars is that you can multiply the recipe how many times you want. Depending on how many people you’re making this for. And another great thing is that this dessert holds up beautifully in the refrigerator overnight, so you can serve these for breakfast or brunch too.
And yes, I totally had one for breakfast. It’s one of those things you just cannot ignore once you open the fridge.
Caramelized apple yogurt dessert jars
A healthier apple dessert, easily made ahead!
Recipe makes 3 jars, which can be split into 4 smaller portions.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 3 portions 1x
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
Caramelized apples
- 30g (2 TBSPs) unsalted butter
- 2 large apples (about 400g / 14oz) ; peeled, cored and finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 50g (1/4 cup) Demerara sugar (or white granulated)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
- 60ml (1/4 cup) cold water
To make jars
- 400g (14 oz) greek yogurt
- about 120g / 14oz plain shortbreads or similar cookies, broken up (save a few for serving)
- 3–6 TBSPs fruit jam of choice
- honey
- apple slices or roses (optional)
Instructions
- First make the caramelized apples:
In a medium skillet or saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, then add apples and lemon juice. Cook, stirring frequently, until apples are almost tender, about 10 minutes. - Stir in brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Cook like this for about a minute.
- Dissolve cornstarch in water and add to the apples. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid thickens a bit. Remove apples from heat and cool to room temperature.
- Next, assemble the jars:
Add a dollop of yogurt into each jar. Top each dollop with 1/3 of smashed cookies. Next, add a thick layer of caramelized apples. Top with remaining yogurt, any leftover apples and some fruit jam (I use plum quick jam). - Finally stick a whole cookie into each jar, crush one cookie for an addition of crumbs and drizzle everything with honey.
- Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator until serving time. These hold up well for a day, so you can make them in advance.
Notes
You can easily adapt these to your taste by adding more apples or cookies.
The fruit jam on top is optional, but I think it adds a nice extra layer of flavor. I suggest red, tart-ish jams, like plum or cherry.
Made the apple filling, paired it with apple-cinnamon granola and plain yoghurt for breakfast. New favourite! Also cheap, because I already have most ingredients in my kitchen 🙂
★★★★★
yum, that’s a great breakfast! so happy you like this 🙂