It’s Fall: Let’s Make Some Applesauce!

It’s Fall, and few things make me drool harder than homemade applesauce (in case you were wondering what else could possibly trump applesauce on the list see: the cast of Ocean’s 11, dental work, and a good nap).

By CC Staff

I digress. Homemade applesauce is surprisingly easy to make and cooks up really fast. It’s a great way to use apples that are starting to get mushy, or a fun way to make use of your haul after a visit to the orchard. Plus, it’s a lot less work than making a pie.

For your consideration, here’s my really simple recipe.

3 Pounds of apples – That’s 6-8 apples for those you without food scales. (Any variety will do but Gala, Red Delicious, Fuji, Macintosh and Honeycrisp work really well.)

¾ – 1 Cup of Sugar

½ Cup of Water

2 Teaspoons of Cinnamon (more to taste if that’s what you’re into)

The juice of half a lemon

1. Rinse, peel, core and chop your apples. Do not chop the fruit too finely, a small bite size pieces will do the trick.

2. Place your apple chunks, water and sugar into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Make sure the sugar dissolves.

3. Lower the heat to medium or medium-low and let the apple mixture simmer for 20-25 minutes or until soft. Stir and mash up the apples every few minutes.

4. Cook, stir and mash to your desired consistency. If you like your sauce chunky, you may be done at closer to the 18 minute mark. If it’s thin applesauce you crave, let it cook a while longer. You may also want to run your mixture through a sieve or food mill to get out any remaining chunks.

5. Once you’ve achieved the desired consistency, take the saucepan off the heat. Add cinnamon and lemon juice to taste.

This recipe makes two to three hearty servings of applesauce. If you’re making applesauce for a group, check out Ina Garten’s awesome recipe for baked applesauce. It’s a bit more work intensive but also a real crowd-pleaser!