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This easy, delicious Apple Glaze is just 3 ingredients (apple juice, honey, and mustard) and perfect brushed on any protein, especially pork and poultry.
Developed for a pair of roasted Cornish Hens with bread stuffing, apple glaze could add a lovely sweetness to roasted chicken, turkey, or pork tenderloin, too. It’s also delightful when brushed on pound cake or other desserts, too.
It’s as easy as cooking down some apple cider until reduced by half and thickened, then stirring in a touch of Dijon mustard and honey (or your preferred sweetener).
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Apple cider or juice: You can make your own cider in about 3 hours, or find it at the store at certain times of the year. Apple juice works too!
- Honey: Or sweeten with sugar or maple syrup to taste.
Step-by-step instructions
- In a small saucepan, bring the apple cider to boil and cook until reduced by half (1 cup). Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in honey and Dijon mustard. Set aside ½ cup for serving.
- Brush remaining glaze onto chicken, pork, or Cornish game hens during the final 30 minutes of roasting, basting with pan juices occasionally (cover with foil if anything starts to brown too quickly).
- Remove hens from oven, tent with foil, and let stand 10 minutes. Serve with reserved apple glaze.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes about 1 cup glaze (technically 1 cup + 2 tablespoons). It’s enough to handily glaze 2 chickens, a large turkey, or 4 trussed Cornish hens (or reserve some sauce for passing separately).
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: Prepare the glaze a day in advance and store covered in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before basting or reheat any reserved sauce on the stove before passing separately.
Cornish Hens with Stuffing
Roasted Cornish Hens with Stuffing make Thanksgivings extra special. An easy apple mustard glaze takes the place of gravy, and a classic bread stuffing soaks up all the flavors.
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Apple Glaze
Ingredients
- 2 cups apple cider or apple juice (see note 1)
- 1 tablespoon honey (see note 2)
- 1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, bring the apple cider to boil and cook until reduced by half (1 cup). Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in honey and Dijon mustard. Set aside ½ cup for serving.
- Brush remaining glaze onto chicken, pork, or Cornish game hens during the final 30 minutes of roasting, basting with pan juices occasionally (cover with foil if anything starts to brown too quickly).
- Remove hens from oven, tent with foil, and let stand 10 minutes. Serve with reserved apple glaze.
Notes
- Apple cider or juice: You can make your own cider in about 3 hours, or find it at the store at certain times of the year. Apple juice works too!
- Honey: Or sweeten with sugar or maple syrup to taste.
- Yield: This recipe makes about 1 cup glaze (technically 1 cup + 2 tablespoons). It’s enough to handily glaze 2 chickens, a large turkey, or 4 Cornish hens (or reserve some sauce for passing separately).
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make ahead: Prepare the glaze a day in advance and store covered in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before basting or reheat any reserved sauce on the stove before passing separately.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
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Thanks, Bahar! – Meggan