While on vacation this past week, we stopped at Bartlett’s Orchard
outside of Pittsfield, MA. Sadly, apple
picking season was over (boo), but they still had goods for
sale! My friend Bailey (who grew up in
Pittsfield) said Bartlett’s was a "must" because of their
apple cider donuts…and OMG…they were amazing. Being from the south, I’d never
had a cider donut before moving up here – it’s something the south needs to
adopt ASAP! A-mazing. We also bought some apples from their store
so I could make applesauce when we got home.
I decided
that Monday night was the perfect time to whip it up, since we’d need something
sweet to take the bad taste out of our mouths from the debate...har-har-har. Here’s a super simple (but delicious) recipe
you make in the crock pot! I used a
mixture of Jonagold, Northern Spy, and Gala apples. It’s fun to experiment with lots of different
varieties.
Crock Pot Applesauce
10-12 apples
¼ cup water
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Start by
peeling, coring and slicing your apples.
There are a number of tools to help make this easier, but my favorite is
by far is a combo tool that does all three of those at once – a peeler, corer,slicer. I found this one at a store a few years ago
for $6 and it’s been one of my favorite gadgets ever since!
Mix apples,
water, brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice to your crock pot and cook on
high for 3-4 hours, stirring periodically.
Note that the amount of sugar you use will depend on what apples you use
(sweeter apples, less sugar!), and your individual taste. Taste after cooking for a few hours and then
decide if you want to add anything else.
After 3.5
hours I turned off the crock pot and fired up my handheld mixer to finish the
sauce. That way, you control the chunky/sauce
ratio. Travis is a fan of “super-fine”
applesauce, so that’s what we did this time!.
Here's the finished product - so yummy. Enjoy it warm shortly after you remove from the crock pot or refrigerate overnight and eat it cool!
What a great use for the crock pot! Mostly I use mine for making chicken broth; I will need to try this.
ReplyDeleteYou should try it! I've never done chicken broth before actually...I'll try that one too!
DeleteThis applesauce looks delicious! So glad you found my blog - I have a mini-doxie too! Toby is so adorable and seems like such a sweet pup! Hope you're having a great day! xo, Sara
ReplyDeleteI was just seeing your pup too! So cute. There's a Halloween doxie meet-up on Boston Common Saturday at 11 we're going to. Should be fun!
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