How ‘Bout Them Apples
They say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. But if you’ve been apple picking this fall and come home with a few too many bushels of different varieties of apples (they’re hard to resist, all shiny and red), you might be looking for something to do with them, rather than bumping your quotient up to five apples a day.
While there are hundreds of delicious apple recipes out there, personally I am not much of a baker, so when I end up with too many apples, I love to make homemade applesauce. It’s quick, easy and delicious. Don’t leave out the lemon peel—it really makes the flavour better. For chunkier applesauce, just mash the cooked apples with a potato masher. For smoother applesauce, run the cooked apples through a food mill. You can use more or less sugar, depending on your preference, but if you reduce it a lot, be sure to reduce the amount of lemon juice you add as well.
Homemade Applesauce
You’ll Need
- 3–4 lbs of peeled, cored, and quartered cooking apples (Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji, Jonathan, or Macintosh are good)
- 4 strips of lemon peel
- Juice of one lemon, about 3–4 Tbsp
- 3 inches of cinnamon stick
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- Up to ¼ cup of white sugar depending on taste
- 1 cup of water
- ½ tsp of salt
Prep and Cook
- Put all ingredients into a large pot. Cover and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20–30 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Remove cinnamon sticks and lemon peels. Mash with potato masher.
- Serve warm or refrigerated, plain, on vanilla ice cream or with vanilla yogurt. Freezes well for up to one year.
