For all the recipes that I have tried and all the time I spend in the kitchen, it is surprising, even to myself, that I have never made a batch of apple sauce. I KNOW! It is likely the simplest thing ever to make, yet I have never tried to make it myself. Maybe because I can buy an entire jar of it at the grocery store for only a few dollars? Anyway, this weekend I set myself a goal to make a batch of apple sauce!

The ingredient list is quite simple, apples, cinnamon and lemon. Yep, that is it! I found some recipes that called for sugar to be added, but when I buy apple sauce at the grocery store, I always pick up the unsweetened variety, so I opted to not add any extra sugar. It didn’t really need it, as apples are quite sweet on their own.

I am not a huge fan of eating apples. Maybe it is because I used to always take them in my lunch when I was a kid and I just got bored with them? I never walk down the apple aisle in the grocery store, but that all changed this weekend and I have to say, I was amazed by the varieties of apples out there.

All I can remember are McIntosh, Red Delicious and Granny Smith as my apple options. But now, Oh My, there are tons of apples to choose from:

• Gala
• Courtland
• Empire
• Pink Lady
• Fuji
• Honeycrisp

The list goes on and on….

I settled on using Fuji apples, not because of my vast knowledge of apples and their taste or sweetness levels, but because the recipe I found used them. I figured that I wouldn’t mess with the original recipe since my apple awareness is so low.

Once I gathered up my ingredients, I started peeling the apples. This is the most labour intensive part of the apple sauce making process, so in all honesty, making apple sauce is pretty easy. Peel and chop your apples, toss them in a pot with a bit of water, lemon and cinnamon stick, and stir occasionally. I cooked my apples for about 40 minutes. Once they were cooked through, I discarded the cinnamon stick and the lemon, mashed with a potato masher and added in some more cinnamon.

This was delicious (even though I used Fuji apples*). Jamie and I ate almost all of it with a few hours; we just kept going back for one more taste.

*that was a really bad pun – I apologize 😉

Apples aren’t in season in this part of the country, so making this apple sauce was a bit expensive. However, I think that in the fall, I might try it again when it doesn’t cost a dollar an apple. It was definitely tastier than the store bought variety, and I knew exactly what went into it. Now I can cross making apple sauce off my bucket list!

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Courtesy of:
The Paleo Professional – Paleo Applesauce

Ingredients:

• 6 large Fuji apples (peeled, cored and cut into chunks)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 pieces of lemon rind
• 1/2 a lemon, juiced
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Peel, core and chop apples.
2. Add apples to large pot and add in cinnamon stick, water, lemon juice and lemon rind.
3. Bring apple mixture to a boil over medium head and let simmer for about 40 minutes.
4. Stir occasionally; the apples are done when they begin breaking up as you stir them.
5. Remove your pot from the heat.
6. Remove the cinnamon stick and lemon rind.
7. Mash the apple, stir in cinnamon.
8. Yummy!!!!