- 4 (6-oz) red apples such as Gala or Rome Beauty
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup finely chopped dried apricots
- 2 tablespoons dried currants
- 2 tablespoons chopped pecans, toasted
- 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1/2 cup unfiltered apple cider
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup low-fat vanilla or maple yogurt
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Core apples with corer. Stand apples up and make 4 evenly spaced vertical cuts starting from top of each apple and stopping halfway from bottom to keep apple intact. Brush inside of apples with lemon juice and stand apples in a 9-inch ceramic or glass pie plate.
- Toss together apricots, currants, pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Rub softened butter into dried-fruit mixture with your fingers until combined well, then pack center of each apple with mixture. Put a piece of remaining butter on top of each apple. Pour cider and vanilla around apples and cover pie plate tightly with foil.
- Bake in middle of oven, basting once, until apples are just tender when pierced with a fork, about 40 minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake until apples are very tender but not falling apart, 20 to 30 minutes more.
- Transfer to serving dishes and spoon sauce over and around apples. Serve with dollops of yogurt.