The marvelous flavor of cinnamon and warm spices, the soft bite of cooked apples. If you love apple pie you'll love this cinnamon apple compote too. It is easy to make and delicious year round, not just in fall. Make it in less than 30 minutes. It's a good multitasking recipe too, serve it with with breakfast over oats or as part of dessert over ice cream.
Fruit compote can be made with almost any fruit, but when apples are available, use them to make this apple compote. I've added cinnamon and other warm spices such as nutmeg, allspice and clove. While it's cooking, the house smell like you're making apple pie.
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Why You'll Like This Recipe
- Tastes like apple pie!
- Terrific to top things oatmeal, overnight oats with chia seeds, yogurt, even ice cream.
- Easy to make.
For another recipe with apples, try this easy, creamy butternut apple soup.
Chef's Note: What's a compote? A compote is a chunky fruit sauce cooked with a sweetener and other flavorings. Is compote just jam? No. Jams are spreadable and uniform in texture. The cooked fruit is more broken down. Fruit compotes usually have a little spice involved. Some recipes add sugar syrup or thickeners, even a splash of a fruit liqueur (optional).
Recipe Ingredients
- Apples: For apple compote, choose crisp versus soft apple varieties. Softer apples tend to fall apart with cooking (like for applesauce). While I like Honeycrisp apples, Fuji apples, Gala apples, Pink Lady apples, or tart apples like Granny Smith apples are all good options. And be sure to choose organic, as apples are always on the Dirty Dozen list.
- Sweetening: I use a combination of maple syrup and just a little brown sugar to sweeten this compote. I typically reduce the sugar level with monk fruit-based maple syrup (it's terrific).
- Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon is perfect.
- Nutmeg: There are two options: ground and whole nutmeg. For the freshest flavor use a whole nutmeg and a microplane zester to grate it fine. Whole spices stay fresh longer that ground, so the flavors can be a bit more bold. Alternatively use ground nutmeg or mace (which is part of a nutmeg). It's more mild. Both work.
- Allspice: Common in Caribbean cooking, allspice works well in warm spice blends
- Vanilla: Use either vanilla extract or vanilla paste. As a vanilla lover, I have both vanilla extract and paste in my pantry. Vanilla paste gives you little flecks of vanilla bean. For vanilla paste try this one, as it comes in a small size.
- Lemon: You need the lemon juice only, for lemon water (acidulated water) and for a lift of flavor in the compote of desired.
See recipe card for measurements.
Check out this chart from the Washington Apple Commission for more information on apple varieties. If you'd like to bake an apple pie, here's a terrific recipe for a gluten-free apple pie.
Chef's tips on cinnamon: You'll see several types of cinnamon at the store, so what's the difference? Ceylon and Cassia (and blends with no type listed) come from the bark of the same tree but they taste a little different. Ceylon cinnamon, called true cinnamon, is softer in flavor, while the Cassia cinnamon is bold and more commonly found. It's also less expensive. Use what you prefer. Read more about cinnamon here.
Substitutions and Variations
- Add a pinch or two of ground clove. It's potent so a little goes a long way.
- Use different apples or a variety of apples.
- If you live near apple orchards, pick your own apples to make apple compote.
- Try a spice blend like Chinese Five Spice with cinnamon, star anise, clove, fennel, and white pepper. It's one of my favorites.
If you'd prefer a smoother texture, make homemade apple sauce with this easy cinnamon applesauce recipe.
Recipe Instructions
Start by peeling and chopping the apples. It's easiest to core apples using an apple corer tool, then cut the apple in half, lay the halves flat, then chop into ½-inch chunks. Don't cut them much smaller or you will end up with applesauce.
Set up a medium bowl of cold water and squeeze in half a lemon (called acidulated water).
Serving Suggestions
Versatile apple compote. Serve it chilled, warm, or room temperature. Here are ways to use it in both sweet and savory dishes:
- Serve it over breakfast oats or overnight oats with chia seeds (photo below).
- Top yogurt or vanilla ice cream for dessert.
- Use it with yogurt, a little granola, and make a layered Greek yogurt breakfast parfait.
- Try apple compote with a roast pork or pork tenderloin. Pork and fruit is a classic combination. If you serve it this way and enjoy liqueurs, add a splash of apple liqueur, cognac, or Grand Mariner while cooking.
- Serve it with pancakes, golden gluten-free waffles, or French toast for a nice upgrade, or a Dutch Baby oven pancake.
- Apple compote makes a nice hostess gift tie up with ribbon or twine and a cinnamon stick.
Recipe FAQs
Many recipes state up two weeks in the refrigerator. But note, sugar is a preservative and this recipe is lower sugar, unless you prefer it sweeter and add more. For food safety, 5-7 days is safer kept tightly capped and refrigerated.
Enjoy fruit compote hot out of the pan, warm, or cool completely and refrigerate. They all work. The flavors are more pronounced when it's warm.
It's meant to be chunky, not as smooth as applesauce and not pureed as is a couli or smooth fruit sauce.
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📖 Recipe
Easy Cinnamon Apple Compote Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large lemon divided use
- 1 ½ pounds apples 3-4, I use honeycrisp
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup or sugar-free maple syrup see sweetening notes below.
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar or monk fruit see sweetening notes below.
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- 2 pinches ground clove optional
- 3-4 tablespoons water as needed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ½ teaspoon vanilla paste
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Instructions
- Fill a medium bowl half full with cold water and squeeze in half a lemon. Peel, core, and chop apples into ½-inch chunks. As you go, add the pieces to the lemon water to stop browning. When done, drain the apples through a sieve.
- To a medium pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of water, maple syrup, sugar, and spices. Stir until smooth. Add the drained apples tossing in the spice mixture. Cook stirring occasionally until liquid is mostly reduced, compote is thickened, and apples are softened to your preference, about 15 minutes. If needed, add another tablespoon of water or lemon juice as apples are cooking. Taste and see. A little lemon juice lifts the flavor. Watch your heat level and turn down if needed. Stir in the vanilla at then end. Serve warm or cool completely. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to a week.
Notes
Nutrition
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