Today Matt Swaim and I chatted about apples on my weekly Bible Foods & Herbs segment on the Sunrise Morning Show.

APPLES

There’s been a debate for years about the “forbidden fruit” mentioned in Genesis, Chapter 3 where we learn about Eve tempting Adam with the only fruit they were not permitted to eat. Some scholars say it may not have been an apple at all, but a pomegranate or apricot.  

Genesis does not name the guilty fruit at all; it is merely “the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” It was turned into an apple by imaginative European artists who needed a fruit-bearing tree to put in their pictures.  We may not ever know what this forbidden fruit was, but we do know apple groves flourished at an early date in Egypt and Palestine so I believe apples were an important fruit to Bible diets. They ate them fresh and most likely dried them in the sun.

Everyone has a favorite apple. 

When our kids were little, we put in an orchard of about 60 trees and we sold apples and made cider.  Jonathan and Yellow Delicious are my favorites.

Most people love Red Delicious. Are they good for baking?

No, they’re good for eating only. They don’t hold up well in baking or applesauce, and the flavor is so mild that it gets “lost”.

Why do apples turn brown when you cut them up?

When the air hits them, they oxidize. But just put them in some acidulated water (vinegar or lemon juice) or use a commercial freshener, like Fruit Fresh, to keep the flesh white.

What are the health benefits of apples and why should you never peel them?

Apples contain pectin, which helps remove cholesterol out of the body. The pectin is greatest right under the skin so don’t peel unless you have to. The peel also has a lot of good fiber. Apples are good for lung health, too.

I wrote an apple article for Countryside Magazine:

Best Baking Apples For Pie, Kuchen, and Dumplings

Exploring the Most Popular Apples for Eating 

THREE INGREDIENT APPLE PIE CUPS

Make your own pie filling, cooked on top of the stove to soften apples, or just use a canned filling, like this. Adapted only slightly from the Pillsbury recipe. 

Ingredients

1 can refrigerated flaky cinnamon rolls with icing

Canned apple pie filling

Shake or 2 of cinnamon or apple pie spice (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375. Spray 8 regular size muffing cups. Separate dough into 8 rolls and put one in each cup and smoosh and press down in the middle and up the sides to make a cup.

Spoon 2 heaping tablespoons pie filling into each.
Bake 13-17 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Cool and drizzle icing on that comes with the rolls (you have to microwave it a teeny bit first to make it pourable). Or make your own confectioners glaze.