Homemade Applesauce Recipe

Since getting married in 2010, Fall has become one of my favorite seasons. Something about it makes me want to bake everything imaginable, clean my house, and pull out all of our blankets. Clearly I was meant to hibernate! It's become a fun Fall tradition around our house to go apple picking and load up bag after bag of the best looking apples that we can find. Apples are much cheaper when you pick them yourself, rather than buying them at the grocery store...and I can't pass up a money saving opportunity!  This is the first Fall that I have limited myself to one-20 pound bag of apples, and I found myself a little disappointed. But, with as busy as this year has been, I didn't want to get in over my head. The one bag ended up being plenty of apples for me to make several batches of applesauce, an apple coffee cake, apple fritters, and I am saving my last few apples for pies. Making homemade applesauce is much easier than it sounds, and tastes so good that you may never go back to store bought sauce. My particular recipe is one that my generous mother-in-law shared with me and it's the one that I've continued to use ever since. Feel free to experiment with different apple varieties, but we prefer to use Golden Delicious apples because of the sweet taste and soft texture when cooked. This applesauce will keep in your fridge for several weeks (it never lasts that long around here!), or you can freeze it in ziplock baggies or freezer containers, and it will keep for several months. If you're really ambitious, you could can your applesauce, but I don't have the patience for it!

Homemade AppleSauce

Ingredients:

Golden Delicious apples (enough to fill your stock pot, I use a 6 qt. stock pot)

water

cinnamon

sugar 

Peel, core, and slice all of your apples (I use a corer, peeler,slicer from Meijer that makes it super easy!).  Fill your stockpot to the top with the apple slices and add 1/4-1/2 cup water, depending on how juicy your apples are. Cover and cook on med-high heat for about 15-20 minutes, until soft, stirring often so that the apples don't burn. Once the apples are soft, mash them with a hand masher. (If you don't like your applesauce chunky, go ahead and throw it in a blender or food processor until desired consistency). Once your sauce is mashed, add cinnamon and sugar to taste. Enjoy chilled or warmed.