Acorn Squash with Cranberry and Apples

I love the mix of apples & cranberries.  The pair just seem to go together so well.  A Thanksgiving recipe that includes them together is always the first thing I seem to try.  This recipe was shared with me a few years back on Thanksgiving — after I had eaten as much as possible ;)

The original recipe called for soaking the cranberries in ‘grape juice’, but that just seemed so odd to me.  I then experimented with cranberry juice and orange juice.  Both work really well.   See below for some variations.

Acorn Squash with Cranberry and Apples

2 acorn squash
6 tablespoons butter, melted, divided
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup cranberry juice (or orange juice)
3 medium apples
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Acorn Squash

Prep the squash by cutting it in half, and cleaning out the seeds & strings.  Brush the top

with melted butter. On a baking sheet, place the squash face down, and pour 1/2 cup water onto the baking sheet – it should be just enough to cover the bottom.  Bake for about 30 minutes at 350F.

Meanwhile, soak the cranberries in the cranberry juice (or orange juice).  Peel, and chop the apples until they are about 1/2 inch or so.  Melt the remaining butter (about 4 tablespoons) in a frying pan, and add the apples.  Cook about 5 minutes.  Stir in the brown sugar and lemon juice.

Once the squash has baked for about 30 minutes, flip it over.  Drain the cranberries, and mix into the apples.  Fill the squash with the apple-cranberry mix, and return to the oven, baking about 30 minutes more, or until the squash is tender.

Garnish with a bit of cinnamon.

Note:

  • You can replace the cranberries with raisins or currents.
  • Soak the fruit in red wine
  • Add some chopped walnuts to the apple cranberry mix before you stuff the squash

About Michie

I write two blogs - This Food Thing, (www.thisfoodthing.com) and This Life I Lead (www.thislifeilead.wordpress.com).
This entry was posted in Side Dish, Thanksgiving and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

3 Responses to Acorn Squash with Cranberry and Apples

  1. Sounds delicious! I made this great Moroccan-style stuffed acorn squash over the weekend.
    http://michaelbeyer.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/moroccan-style-stuffed-acorn-squashes/
    I like the combination of cranberry and apples too. I was thinking of developing a cranberry apple granola at some point…

  2. Pingback: this food thing » Postings and Thanksgiving Recipe Collection

  3. Its such as you learn my mind! You seem to know a lot about this, like you wrote the ebook in it or something. I think that you just could do with some percent to pressure the message house a bit, but instead of that, that is magnificent blog. A fantastic read. I’ll definitely be back.

Leave a Reply