Cinnamon Apples | Paleo, AIP Recipe

As my diet is currently limited under the Autoimmune Protocol, so sweets are few and far between. I originally made Cinnamon Apples as a breakfast side back when I ate a Paleo diet, but I’ve found it to be so much more versatile than just a breakfast item. It even passes for a dessert in my book. The natural sweetness of the apples is enough to satisfy my sweet tooth!

Apples are one of my favorite fruits. I eat them just about every lunch. With a little extra effort, you can jazz up ordinary apples by just tossing them in cinnamon and cooking on the stove-top with a little water. These apples have no sugar added and make a great topping or stand-alone side dish!

No Sugar Added

There is no added sugar in this recipe for several reasons:

1. I am a Type 1 Diabetic so I try not to add carbohydrates, particularly refined sugar, if I can help it.
2. Sugar does bad things to your brain. Everyone’s brain, whether or not you have an autoimmune disease or are as fit as a fiddle. In recipes like this, I try to rely on the natural sugar in the fruit without supplementing.
3. Refined sugar is prohibited in the Autoimmune Protocol.
4. It is just plain delicious without more sugar!

Toppings are Everything

Do you want to take a meal up a notch? Go through the extra effort to add toppings. If you’ve made potato soup, fry up bacon and chop some green onions. It takes the soup from good to great. If you’ve made pudding for dessert, toast some coconut and throw some fresh berries on top. It’s really the extras that take an ordinary meal to the next level.

Cinnamon apples are very versatile as a topping. For breakfast, put them on oatmeal, grain-free porridge (from flax seed or spaghetti squash), or sausage patties. At lunch, toss the cinnamon apples on top a salad, yogurt, or cottage cheese (if dairy is in your diet). Come dinnertime, apples and pork go together swimmingly. Top grilled pork chops with a scoop of cinnamon apples or even mix into pulled pork.

Simple Sides Improve the Meal

Making more dishes is more work, but a couple simple sides really help to balance out the meal, making it more satisfying. These cinnamon apples only take 25 minutes from start to finish and can cook on the stove while you work on the rest of the meal.

Some meal suggestions:

1. At breakfast, serve cinnamon apples alongside breakfast sausage patties and sliced avocado.
2. For a kid-friendly lunch, serve cinnamon apples in place of applesauce or apple slices. A helping of these next to Almond Butter & Jelly Roll-ups would be delicious!
3. Cinnamon apples could be a side for dinner with any pork main dish, meatloaf, or hamburgers.
4. Dessert – serve cinnamon apples topped with coconut whipped cream or toss the apples on top of pudding or ice cream!

Recipe Notes

My favorite apples are pink lady, so that is what I used in this recipe. Pink lady apples are crisp and sweet with a slight tartness. It isn’t necessary to only this variety, use whatever type of apple you enjoy most!

Make sure to watch the apples as they cook. If they start to stick to the bottom of the pan, it needs more water or less heat. Add only a little more water at a time, about 1 tablespoon, or turn down the heat to low. Then continue cooking.

Enjoy this simple, tasty addition to your recipe box!

What super simple recipes are you enjoying lately? Have any recipes with less than 5 ingredients to share?