These sticky maple apple ribs are simmered in a maple syrup and apple juice broth then glazed and baked to sticky perfection!

You know those foods that once you get the craving for them absolutely nothing else will satisfy?

Sticky, finger-lickin’ ribs are one of those foods for me.

Not even a dry rub rib will do, it must be sticky, glazed ribs so messy, an entire roll of paper towels and wipes need to be on standby so you don’t look like you just left the scene of a Dexter episode after eating.

*This post is sponsored by Pure Canada Maple.

This rack of pork ribs has been sitting in our deep freezer for months since we bought half a pig from a local guy at a nearby farm last fall.

His pork has been some of the best I’ve ever tasted so I really have no idea why it took me so long to finally decide to cook these ribs.

As we move closer to fall, I wanted to find a way to give the ribs a different spin than your typical summer BBQ sauce glaze.

Enter maple syrup and apples.

Apple season is revving up here in New York with local cider and fresh juice making their way into grocery stores right alongside the still prevalent zucchini in this weird seasonal transition time and it gave me the idea to essentially poach the ribs in the sweet fall flavor.

Fresh apple juice and sweet pure maple syrup combined with the acidity from apple cider vinegar, make a poaching liquid that’s quintessential fall.

While you’ll easily find pork chops and apples on menus everywhere around here, I don’t think it’s as commonplace to find pork ribs with apples and these sticky maple apple ribs are just begging to be recognized as just as delicious a combination.

Poaching the ribs in the apple juice and maple syrup gives the flesh a slightly sweet taste that’s highlighted by the sticky maple apple glaze slathered on top as they finish off in the oven.

So many times ribs call for brown sugar either in the rub or the glaze but combined with the apple juice, maple syrup brings a much deeper, almost caramel type flavor to the recipe.

I love that it also shows off its versatility as more than just a topping for sweet baked goods.

You’ll be sticky, greasy and dirty at meal’s end with a pile of pork rib bones on your plate (related – can my dog eat pork rib bones?) and perfectly content!

Love this recipe for sticky maple apple ribs with shoestring fried apples?

Looking for more rib recipes? Check out this slow cooker short rib ragu or these grilled BBQ short ribs and there’s always this spicy porter short rib chili for a good comfort meal!