With the Christmas around the corner, we all seem to be focused on Christmas Treats {of course we are, who doesn’t love Christmas candy and cookies??}; however, if you want something special for a holiday dinner, here is one of our favorites.  Apples are my husband’s favorite.  He will always pick apple pie over any other and any recipe with apples is always a winner with him.  So of course he loves these pork chops baked with apples and raisins – the whole family does. The combination of apples and pork chops is classic – we love to serve it with a simple bread stuffing, another family favorite,  for a perfect meal around the holidays- or any day for that matter!

Cider Pork Chops with Baked Apples

Ingredients:

1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
4 (1 inch thick) bone-in pork chops
2 tablespoons canola oil
4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup apple cider
1/8 teaspoon allspice

Directions:

Combine flour with salt and pepper in a shallow bowl or plate.  Dredge pork chops in flour mixture.

Heat oil in large skillet; add pork chops and cook 5-7 minutes on each side or until nicely browned.

Lightly coat a 13 x 9 pan with cooking spray.  Place apple slices in bottom of dish and top with raisins.  Sprinkle brown sugar over the apples and then the allspice.  Drizzle with apple cider.  Arrange pork chops on the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until pork chops are done.

Note:  you can use pork chops without the bone, but make sure to get them nice and thick.