I spent one morning this week using up a rather large box of Golden Delicious apples my friend gave me. Someday our own apple trees will yield more than 1 apple, but until then, it's nice to have friends who share! I've wanted to make my own applesauce for a while now but never quite got around to it. This year I made it first on my list and what a surprise! I was given a recipe suggestion that just seemed too easy. However I went with it and am so glad I did. Two ingredients and the perfect flavor. A nice hint of cinnamon that enhances the fresh apples without overpowering it. Try it- it'll ruin store-bought applesauce for you forever!
Homemade Apple Sauce
Ingredients:
- about 12-13 medium sized apples, peeled, cored and chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- lemon juice in water, to prevent browning {optional}
Directions:
Get your crock pot out and turn it on high to start warming it up. Keep the lid on so it warms up faster!
Even though I peel the apples, I still submerge them in a sink full of water to wash them. These apples came off a tree and well, they tend to carry along some friends. See the little guy in the picture above? Yeah, I'd prefer to not have him in my apple sauce.
I highly recommend an Apple Peeler, Corer and Slicer. These little gadgets shave about a zillion hours off the process of peeling, coring and slicing even 13 apples, never mind the sink full I had to work with.
So easy even a cute 4 year old can help!
After the apples are peeled, sliced and cored, I like to remove the small piece at the top and bottom that still have pieces of peel. the only reason I did this was because I wanted chunky applesauce, so I didn't fully blend mine and didn't want large pieces of peel to contend with when eating!
Add your apples to the warm crock pot and sprinkle cinnamon on top. Stir a bit to combine. I didn't even cut my apples any further. If you want well blended applesauce, you could cut them up a bit more, but it's not really necessary as it's easy to do after they're cooked.
Depending on how much time you have...
- Cook on high 3-4 hours
- Cook on medium 5-6 hours
- Cook on low 7-8 hours
When they're done, you can mash them up to your desired consistency. I wanted chunky apple sauce, so I first used one of those Pampered Chef food chopper things. {What are they called??}
Nope, still too chunky.
So then I brought out a potato masher.
Still too chunky.
Then I pulled out the big guns. My hand held immersion blender. {Oh how I love this thing!} I didn't go to town on the sauce, but rather stuck the blender in and pushed the button for a second or two. Moved it to a new spot and repeated the process, oh about 7-10 times.
PERFECT.
I had to take a bit and test it out. Such amazing, fresh flavor! I didn't add any sugar but the sauce was nowhere near tart. It has a nice cinnamon flavor that enhances the apples. Delicious!
I used 13 medium apples and it yielded 48 oz of sauce. Being as it has no sugar to aid in preservation, you'll need to store it in the fridge and plan on eating it within a few days. It freezes well too!
Enjoy!
