Daily Archives: October 30, 2014

Since I grew up in the state of Washington, I cannot help but think of apples when I think of fall.  During my childhood, the change of weather from summer to cool and crisp days meant that apple treats would soon be on their way.  My siblings and I collected apples from the trees in our yard and brought them to my mother as a subtle suggestion. She received them warmly and made pies, apple crisp, and heavenly cinnamon apple sauce.

My mother always made her applesauce in a dutch oven on the stove, which I also did for many years.  This method required remembering to check on the apples intermittently over a long period of time in order to stir them and to make sure the liquid in the pot had not completely evaporated.

This year I decided to see if I could simplify the process by using my slow cooker instead. Needless to say, it turned out great!  I almost felt guilty about how easy it was. Here is what I did:

1.  Quarter and core apples (I use several varieties) and place in your crock pot.  The number of apples will vary depending on the capacity of your slow cooker.

2.  Add 3/4 cup of water, 1 tsp. lemon juice, and  3-4 cinnamon sticks to the apples.

3.  Put on the lid and turn your slow cooker to HIGH for 4 1/2 to 5 hours.  Do your laundry, read some books to your kids, or take a nap.  When you wake up, your house will smell like fall, and your family and friends will think you spent all day in the kitchen.

4.  Turn off the cooker, and gently spoon small portions of the cooked apple mixture into a food mill fitted with the fine disk and placed over a bowl.  Remove and discard the cinnamon sticks as you come across them.  Turn the crank, and the skins will separate from the sauce.  If the mill seems hard to turn, give it a few turns in the opposite direction before resuming.

5.  Wait for the applesauce to cool before placing in freezer containers or your fridge. The sauce will keep up to a week in the refrigerator or for several months in the freezer.  I don’t add any sugar to my sauce, but you can add a little brown sugar at the end if you feel it is too tart.  The flavor and tartness can vary quite a bit, depending on the types of apples you use.

A Few Notes:

If you like your applesauce to be very light in color, peel the apples before cooking them.  The skins impart some color to the sauce.  If you do not have a food mill, you can use a potato masher instead.  Just be sure to PEEL, quarter, and core the apples before cooking.  Then mash the cooked apples to the consistency you like.