I am not from the south and I sure didn’t grow up with Southern Fried Apples but, boy, do I wish I did. You might look at them and think “Oh, dessert!” but there are so many more options. Pile them on top of some pork chops, waffles, or yes, you could put them in a pie. They’re truly wonderful — simple to make, but buttery and sweet with a serious kick of cinnamon.

You need an entire stick of butter. You’re going to melt that in a skillet.

And then you’re going to add a half cup of sugar, two tablespoons (yes two tablespoons, that’s not a typo) of cinnamon, and a pinch of nutmeg.

Stir it until it dissolves…

And then add a whole bunch of sliced granny smith apples. Four to six apples is good with this amount of butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Granny smith is absolutely your best choice here — they hold up well to cooking but their tart flavor also holds up well to all that sugar and cinnamon.

And then you keep cooking. Or frying. Stir them occasionally, but not too much.

Some of the apples will get really soft and some will be more firm, but that’s okay. It’s hard to avoid without turning all of them to mush and, besides, the variation in texture is really nice.

Sometimes we all need a simple little special treat to perk up the day. That’s just what these are — simple, sweet, but still special. And you can eat them anytime of day.