Easy Charoset Recipe

If you ask someone what fruit is sitting in their fridge at the moment, it won't be surprising to hear them say "apple." Our crispy, fruity friend, the apple, is common in most households and also common in many cultural traditions. This easy charoset recipe incorporates apples perfectly, and is brought to us by recipe developer and wellness coach Miriam Hahn. "I love this recipe because it can be eaten so many ways," Hahn says. "It is great for breakfast, as a snack, or as a dessert". Often it is served with Matzo and it may also be included on a Passover Seder plate — but this combination of apples, nuts, raisins, sweet wine, honey, and lemon is tasty any ordinary day as well.

If you want to enjoy charoset year-round, Hahn says it goes well with any type of entrée or can make a nice addition on a brunch menu. We think it is a nice pairing with this simple omelet recipe. Read on to learn how to make this simple, delicious recipe. 

For this recipe, you'll need walnuts, apples, golden raisins, sweet wine, honey, lemon, apple pie spice, and salt. If you are wondering what kind of apples work best, Hahn uses Honeycrisp but comments, "You can choose any type of apple you want. I like the natural sweetness of red apples but if granny smith is your go-to apple of choice, have at it." As far as spices go, Hahn likes to use apple pie spice to keep things simple because it is a blend of spices, but feel free to grab a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cardamom instead. Any sweet red wine will work in this recipe and pomegranate juice makes a nice substitution if you want to keep this dish alcohol-free.

First things first, preheat the oven to 350 F. While it's warming up, lay out the walnuts on a chopping board and dice them up. Spread them out on a baking tray and when the oven is ready, bake them for 5 minutes. "You will smell them cooking," Hahn says, "and stay close because they go from nice-and-toasted to ruined pretty quickly."

Next, let's peel and dice the apples. There are many ways to peel an apple, but Hahn says, "I have been using this simple peeling method for years and it is the quickest way I have found to get the job done." She starts by cutting off about ½ inch of the top and bottom of the apple. Then you are left with defined edges making it easy to run a peeler top to bottom. Once you have the peeled apple, Hahn stands it up, flat side down and makes four straight cuts around the core. A quick dice of the four pieces and you've got a perfectly diced apple. At this stage of the game, you can get your lemon zested and juiced as well.

The rest is simple. Dump the apples into a bowl and add the toasted walnuts, raisins, wine, honey, lemon zest, lemon juice, apple pie spice, and salt. Give it a quick toss and you are ready to serve.

If you can't finish the charoset all in one sitting, no worries. Store the leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.