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Friday, December 16, 2011

Two Applesauce Variations

My family and I are leaving for the Bahamas for Christmas (I still can't believe it!) and I had a box of apples that I knew wouldn't keep until we got home.  So, I decided to break out the apple-peeler-corer-slicer and make some homemade applesauce!  If you like to cook with apples and don't have one of these tools you've gotta get one!  I literally peeled, cored and sliced 24 apples in less than 10 minutes.  You can find one here.


worth its weight in gold!

Little Brother, my helper today in the kitchen ♥


I made two variations of my basic applesauce recipe which you will  find below.  The kids and I ate some warm right out of the pot, and the rest went into freezer bags for later. 


 You'll need:

4 lbs. apples, peeled, cored and sliced (about 12 apples)
1 c. water
1-2 cinnamon sticks (if desired)
1/2-1 c. sugar (brown sugar is nice, too!)

Prepare apples being sure to remove any seed bits that your corer might have missed.  Combine with all other ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to simmer for about 30 min. till apples are tender.  The thinner your slices the faster it will cook.  Remove from heat and using a hand blender, blend until you reach your desired texture, being sure to remove any cinnamon sticks first.  If you don't have a hand blender, you can press the pulp through a sieve or food mill.  I've even used a potato masher which produces a nice, chunky sauce.

Enjoy warm, pop in the fridge, freeze or pack into sterilized jars and process in a boiling-water canner for 15 mins. for pint-sized jars.  You'll get about 3 pints of sauce.

VARIATIONS

Browned Butter and Cinnamon:
tastes like apple pie!
In a small saucepan heat 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) over low heat until melted.  Continue cooking until it turns a golden brown.  Add to apples along with the sugar and cinnamon sticks (you could probably use ground cinnamon as well.)

Maple:
perfect for pancakes!
Prepare as in basic recipe, substituting real maple syrup for the sugar.

1 comment:

  1. Oh my gosh, I love that picture of your little helper on his tippy toes and the gorgeous pile of apple peels. Yum! And thank you so much for linking back to me for the caramels, I'm glad you liked them :D

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