The smell of apples simmering away fills my home. A couple weeks ago I bought almost 30lbs of organic apples from my co-op (Azure Standard). Since then I have taken a break from pumpkins and squash to make all sorts of apple treats. Never fear, the pumpkin will make an appearance again soon.
I like to make my own apple sauce and my favorite way of making it is in a slow cooker. Making your own applesauce doesn’t get any easier than this! You can remove the peels if you want but I prefer to leave them on for, nutrition, fiber and color. This time I used fuji apples but my favorite way is to use a mixture of different kinds. The fuji apples made for a perfect balance of sweetness. If you feel like you need to add sweetener add a small amount of raw honey once it is done cooking. Using organic apples is very important because none orgainc apples are near the top of the Dirty Dozen because the contain a high level of pesticides.
Slow Cooker Applesauce
Ingredients
- 4 quart slow cooker*
- 12 or so large organic apples
Instructions
- Remove the stems from the apples. Cut the apples into quarters and remove the cores**. Cut the apples into large chunks.
- Throw in a 4 quart slow cooker and cover with the lid. Cook on high for about four hours.
- You can leave the apple sauce chunky or blend it till it is smooth like I did. Another option is to blend half the apple sauce and leave the rest chunky, mixing the two together. This makes about 2 1/2 quarts.
- * You can also cook this in a large sauce pot on the stove over medium heat. Keep a vigilant eye on the cooking apples to be sure they don't burn or bubble over.
- **If you want you can save your apple cores and peels for making apple cider vinegar. Another option would be to feed them to your chickens or compsot them.
This post is part of Fat Tuesday, Teach Me Tuesday,
Hi Katie – Thanks for this. I’ve just been given a lot of homegrown apples. They are headed for my slow-cooker and are then to be donated as an accompaniment to pork baps (Fundraiser). Jo
Sorry about that Amber, I put it in the fridge or frezzing. It should stay good in the fridge for about two weeks.
How do you keep your applesauce, once it is sauced? Do you pop them in the freezer?