photo from Simply Recipes
As parents, we want to give our children healthy snacks to eat. We also want simple yet delicious natural foods for our own amazing bodies. What better way to do that than with this homemade applesauce recipe from Simply Recipes? The fun thing about this is that your kids can join you in the process of making this delicious snack. It’s not only healthy, but it tastes fantastic.
Ingredients:
- 3 to 4 lbs of apples (about 7 to 10 apples, depending on the size), peeled, cored, and quartered* (use apples varieties that are good for cooking such as Granny Smith, Pippin, Gravenstein, McIntosh, Fugi, Jonathan, Jonagold, or Golden Delicious)
- 4 strips of lemon peel (use a vegetable peeler to strip 4 lengths, zest only, not the pith)
- 3 to 4 Tbsp lemon juice (more or less to taste)
- 3 inches of cinnamon stick
- 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar
- Up to 1/4 cup of white sugar
- 1 cup of water
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
*To prep the apples, use a sharp vegetable peeler or paring knife and cut away the outer peel. Then quarter the apple and use a paring knife to cut out the tough core parts from the quarters. Or use an apple peeler corer.
Directions:
1. Place the peeled, cored, and quartered apples into a large pot. Add the strips of lemon peel, the lemon juice, cinnamon stick, sugars, water and salt. (You might want to start with half the sugar at this point and add more to taste later.) Bring to a boil on high heat, then lower the temperature, cover the pot, and maintain a low simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the apples are completely tender and cooked through.
2. Once the apples are cooked through, remove the pot from the heat. Remove the lemon peels and the cinnamon stick. Use a potato masher to mash the cooked apples in the pot to make a chunky applesauce. For a smoother applesauce you can either run the cooked apples through a food mill, or purée them in a blender. (If you use a blender, do small batches and do not fill the blender bowl more than halfway.)
Add more sugar to taste. If too sweet, add more lemon juice.
This applesauce is delicious either hot or chilled. It pairs well with grilled chicken, porkloin or turkey breast at meal time.
Freezes well and will last at least a year in a cold freezer.
