Grandma's Slow Cooker Pork Chops with Cinnamon Apples

Grandma's Slow Cooker Pork Chops with Cinnamon Apples

There are some recipes that live in your memory long before you ever learn to make them yourself. This is one of those dishes. Every September, when the apple trees were heavy and the air started to turn crisp, grandma would pull out her slow cooker and fill the whole house with a smell that could only mean one thing — pork chops and apples were on the menu.

It's the kind of comfort food that doesn't need much explaining. Tender, fall-apart pork chops nestled into caramelized apple slices, all bathed in a savory-sweet pan sauce that develops low and slow over hours. This is the recipe worth keeping in the family. Here's how to make it exactly the way she did.

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in pork chops, about 1 inch thick
• 3 large apples (Honeycrisp or Gala work beautifully), peeled, cored, and sliced into wedges
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup apple cider or apple juice
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• Fresh thyme sprigs, optional

Method