Welcome Fall With Homemade Applesauce

I'm a big fan of making my own food versus the processed version if possible and really, it is nearly always possible if you are willing to try. I found today's recipe while baking a pear cake a few years ago. Part of the recipe required actually making pear sauce, as an ingredient, which was also included in the recipe. It was so easy I thought 'Why haven't I made this before?'.

Now, I use a similar version to make my own apple sauce. You can do either with this recipe. It is easy and you can also change the sweetness level to your liking.

First, you start with 8 apples. I am using Gala today but you can use many different kinds. On researching I found some sites stating you never use Red Delicious and others stating you should only use sweeter apples like Red Delicious so I do think it just comes down to taste and if you use a sweeter apple just cut the sugar down. I prefer Gala, or HoneyCrisp when I can get them.

You'll want to peel your apples and then cut into chunks. I peel mine by hand, then use an apple corer to cut into 8 sections. Then, I slice into cubes around 1 inch each. Turn on some music and start cutting. It will get you through the process much quicker, trust me. This is by far the hardest part. And, it's not really hard, just a bit time consuming.

I would recommend buying an apple corer/slicer if you don't already have one. Our whole family eats apples regularly and this makes quick work of slicing:

Add the pieces to a pot along with water up about an inch in the pot, around 3/4 cup. You can also use apple juice or cider here. I got a great deal on apple cider so I used that. As a side note, check the labels on your apple juice or cider. I was shocked to find a lot of apple juices are NOT made in America. I don't want to get too preachy but do we really need to import apple juice of all things? Okay, enough of that! I'm stepping down off of the soap box now.

Next, add 1/4 cup lemon juice. Then, add in the rest of the ingredients: 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick:

Mix together and cook for 15-20 minutes on medium low:

Let cool slightly.At this point the apples will be very soft. Use a potato masher to smash it up to the consistency you like. It will thicken a bit when cooled off and viola! You have made yourself some wonderful apple sauce:

HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE

8 regular sized apples
1/4 lemon juice
3/4 cup apple cider (or apple juice or water)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick

1. Peel and cube apples.
2. Add apples to pot.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, lemon juice, apple cider, sugars, and cinnamon.
4. Cook for 15-20 minutes. 
5. Cool slightly.
6. Use potato masher to desired consistency. 

See how simple it is!

This homemade applesauce will last up to 3 weeks in the fridge and you can also freeze it. If you don't need this much just cut the recipe in half.

See! Very easy and versatile!

Play with the recipe a little, add more or less sugar. If you make it with pears use water instead of apple juice and try adding a 1/2 tsp of cardamom.