Apple Of My Eye

Have I ever told you how much my kids love applesauce? Or how much I use to make them applesauce? It use to be an annual thing I would do every fall, but for some reason the last 3 years, I haven't been making it. 

This year I decided to bring it back, and I'm bringing it back for good. The kids love it and I would rather the kids have homemade than store-bought, that way I know what is going into the applesauce that they are eating and I know that it's not filled with any extra un-needed sugar. I keep my applesauce super simple and depending on how much they eat, which, if I let them, they can polish it off pretty quickly because I mean let's face it, who doesn't like homemade applesauce.

Homemade Applesauce with Love, now that's an even different story. My applesauce is not your regular applesauce either. I add a few extra spices in mine as well that kind of kick it up a notch and give it an extra little flavor which my kids love. 

This years applesauce recipe has been a year of different spices, I like to blame covid for all the changes this year, but this year with the applesauce changes, OMG!!!! SPICES GALORE!!!! SPICES FOR THE GOOD!!!! The more spices for the better. I have a few tricks up my sleeve I want to still try with my applesauce, but here is my typical applesauce recipe that I do not change and I will put the other add-ins at the bottom that I have been doing this year because honestly its AMAZING and the spices on the tongue, trust me, it will make your palette happy!

Spiced up Applesauce for the kids

Ingredients:

- 6 lbs mixed apples (I kind of change it up each time I make sauce. This batch had green and gala)

- 1 cup water

- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar

- 3 tablespoons cinnamon

- 1/2 teaspoon cloves

- 1 teaspoon ground ginger 

- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Slice apples into large chunks. I like to just work my way around the core when I slice my apple and I have fairly big chunks and as I'm slicing, I just throw my apples into a large pot.  Leave the peels on. Waste no apples and with the cores, you can feel free to make a stovetop potpourri with it and really be no waste. I hate wasting food, so I try to use as much food as I can so I don't need to throw any away. 

Add the remaining ingredients to pot. Cover with lid and cook over medium-high heat until your mixture begins to boil, then bring your mixture to heat to low and simmer for 30-45 minutes until the apples are fork tender. You'll know they're ready when your apples start to kind of fall apart.  

Here's where the fun part begins. Turn off the heat and you can either let your apple mixture cool if you're having your kiddos help, or if you're doing the next part on your own, feel free to do this while the apples are still hot. I use my immersion blender on high and start pulsing that mixture away until it's at my desired consistency. You can also put your apples in a blender if you like more of a creamy applesauce, but since our family likes a thicker one, we use the immersion blender. Please also note that if you are doing this while the mixture is still hot, be careful because sometimes that mixture starts to splatter a little bit and those little apple bits sting a little bit when they hit your skin. 

After your applesauce is blended to your desired consistency, store in mason jars for 1 week in fridge. Ours does not usually even last a week because my kiddos are obsessed with this sauce. 

For some other things to add to your sauce:

Cardamom -  This spice is truly one of those spices that doesn't get enough credit!!! It's citrusy, minty, spicy, and herbal all at the same time, and it's highly fragrant, too. ... It is a nice compliment to cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger, so you'll often see it used in conjunction with these spices. Can you tell that I love it?  

Almond Extract- For those of you who have had my coffee, my cookies, my French toast, know my love of Almond extract. If I could I would put almost extract in everything. Almond Extract is life for me. It's just so good and that rich almondy taste gives applesauce such a yummy richness. 

Turmeric - This is one that I haven't yet experimented with in my applesauce, however, I am a strong believer in Turmeric and Golden Milk Tea and the benefits of what Turmeric does for our bodies. 

For those of you who want to speed up the cooking process a little bit, you can do this in your instant pot as well. For Instantpot, you would do everything the same, but you would cook in IP on High 20 min, then let the steam depressurize 10 minutes first before releasing the rest of the pressure, then follow the remaining steps for blending.