Cracker Barrel fried apples are Golden Delicious apples simmered in butter, cinnamon and sugar, then thickened into a glossy sauce, ready in 40 minutes. That makes this Cracker Barrel fried apples recipe a good side for pork or ham, a topping for pancakes, or a warm dessert over vanilla ice cream.
Mixing the cornstarch into cold water before it touches the pan is the step that matters. Cornstarch dropped straight into hot liquid seizes on contact and sets into lumps you will never whisk out. Dissolved in cold water first, it disperses evenly and thickens the whole pan in about two minutes.
Most fried apple recipes stop at tender-crisp after 15 minutes. This one runs a full 20 minutes covered, until the apples are very tender, which lands closer to pie filling than to sautéed apple slices. Six tablespoons of butter for four apples is a heavier ratio than most versions, and that is where the gloss comes from.
Cracker Barrel Fried Apples
Course: Side Dish, DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy6
servings10
minutes30
minutes239
kcalSliced Golden Delicious apples cooked down in butter, cinnamon and sugar until soft, then finished with a cornstarch slurry for a thick, syrupy sauce. Six ingredients and one skillet.
Ingredients
6 tablespoons butter
4 Golden Delicious apples, sliced, or more as needed
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup cold water
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
Directions
- Melt the butter:Melt the butter in a deep skillet over medium-high heat.
- Coat and simmer the apples:Add the apples, cinnamon and sugar, stirring until every slice is coated. Bring it to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for about 20 minutes until the apples are very tender.
- Make the slurry:Whisk the cold water and cornstarch together in a separate bowl until fully dissolved, with no dry pockets left at the bottom.
- Thicken and serve:Stir the slurry into the apples and bring the pan back to a simmer. Cook for about 2 minutes until thickened, then take it off the heat.
FAQs
What apples are best for fried apples?
Golden Delicious is what this recipe calls for, and it is the standard choice because it softens without collapsing into mush. Granny Smith works if you want tartness to push back against half a cup of sugar. Honeycrisp and Fuji both hold up too, and a mix of one tart and one sweet gives the best balance.
Do you peel the apples first?
The recipe just says sliced, so it is your call, and both ways are common. Peeled gives you the smooth uniform texture the restaurant version has. Leave the skins on and you save ten minutes of prep but end up with strips of peel that separate from the flesh as the apples soften.
Why is my sauce lumpy?
The cornstarch went into hot liquid instead of cold. Starch granules swell the instant they hit heat, so the outside of a clump gelatinizes and seals the dry powder inside where no amount of stirring will reach it. Whisk it into the cold water until the mixture looks like thin milk with nothing settled underneath, then pour.
My sauce never thickened. What happened?
Cornstarch needs to reach a simmer to activate, so pulling the pan off too early leaves you with thin syrup. Bring it back up and hold it for the full two minutes. Going much longer than that works against you, because prolonged boiling starts breaking the starch back down and the sauce thins again.
Can you make these ahead?
Yes, and they reheat better than most cornstarch-thickened dishes. Cool them fully, store covered in the fridge, and warm them gently on the stove rather than at high heat. The sauce loosens as it warms and may weep a little liquid, which stirs back in once it comes up to temperature.
