We are having a gorgeous fall here in Kelowna and one thing our community has an abundance of, is apples. People are giving them away left right and centre and let me tell you they are the best of the best. Recently a friend of ours offered us as many apples as we would like. My youngest daughter and I went and picked them one gorgeous sunny day and something amazing happened; it resurrected her love for apples! She had been going through a faze of “I hate apples”, but I think the activity of picking them and eating them out in the field made her appreciate how delicious they taste.
I like to use applesauce as a sweetener in my baking and I detest buying those little cups of applesauce with the foil wrapping. It is such an environmental burden. The problem is, when I buy the 500 ml jars of applesauce, I don’t use them up fast enough and then they mold.
In an effort to minimize wastage, I came up with a quick and easy option for storage… I love simple and I avoid processing glass jars like the plague, so my solution was to freeze them on parchment paper covered trays in 1/2 cup dollops! Easy-peasy. Pop them out of the freezer an hour before you need them, et voila!
Many of the applesauce brands in the stores have added sugar which is certainly not needed in my mind. You can make delicious applesauce with only 4 ingredients. Apples, water, lemon juice and cinnamon! If you happen to not like cinnamon just omit it and you are down to three! (Or add in nutmeg for a different flavour)
I have fond memories of picking crab apples growing up in Saskatchewan and helping mom make them into applesauce. She did it the long and drawn out way though, with the whole squeezing through of the cooked apples through a special strainer then sealing the jars by boiling in a huge pot of water. Call me lazy, but I’d rather be outside enjoying the sun!
So here is what I did…
Ingredients
- 4 cups of apples, cored and cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Wash, cut and core apples. Do not peel. You can keep this valuable fibre in your applesauce!
- Place into a large pot with water.
- Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer.
- Add cinnamon and lemon juice.
- Cook until soft adding extra water if needed to keep it moist.
- Scoop into a Vitamix or food processor and process until smooth.
- Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour dollops of applesauce on the parchment paper in 1/2 or 1 cup portions and freeze until set.
- Once set, cut the parchment paper so that each dollop has its own mini parchment patch. Freeze in a large ziplock bag.
- Pull out when needed for baking. Applesauce also makes a delicious dessert warm with a scoop of coconut or soy ice cream. You could even get wild and crazy and drizzle some caramel sauce on it!