You know that saying, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”? Well, I’m that person who actually does eat an apple a day—not because I have to but because I just really love apples. Most of the time, I simply eat them as is, but on occasion I do mix it up by adding them to oatmeal, using them as dippers for cottage cheese, or even in the form of applesauce.

I’m on a make-it-homemade kick these days (see my hot cocoa mix, tomato soup, and ranch dressing recipes for proof!), so I thought I would try my hand at making applesauce. As it turns out, the process is pretty easy. Just dump a bunch of apples in a pot, wait a while, and you’ve got applesauce. I figured you might want a little more detail than that, so here’s the recipe:

Homemade Applesauce {No Sugar Added}

Makes 8 1/2 cup servings

Ingredients

• 6 large apples*, peeled** and diced
• 1/2 cup water
• lemon peel + 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for garnish
• 1 cinnamon stick

Method

1. Place apples, water, lemon peel, lemon juice, ground cinnamon, and cinnamon stick in a slow cooker or large pot.

2. Cook on high for 3 hours. Remove lemon peel and cinnamon stick.

3. If you like a chunky applesauce (as I do), then simply mash with a potato masher. If you prefer a smoother texture, puree with an immersion blender, food processor, or blender.

4. Enjoy!

  

Notes

*Try to use a mixture of different apples, so as to get a little bit of sweet and sour. I used 2 Fuji apples, 2 Pink Lady apples, and 2 Granny Smith apples.

**It would pain me to throw away all that good nutrition in the peels, so I saved them! I plan on throwing a few into my smoothie tomorrow morning for a little nutrition boost

Nutrition per 1/2-cup (100g) serving: 80 Calories, 0.4g fat, 0mg cholesterol, 0mg sodium, 21.6g carbohydrate, 2.5g fiber, 9.8g sugars, 0.1g protein

Filed under: Recipe