Homemade Applesauce

When my daughter was little she loved applesauce, who am I kidding, she still loves applesauce. After learning that the recipe was basically water, apples and sugar I decided to give it a try. At that time I was still struggling with my Jell-O "skills" but I figured the applesauce would be easy enough. It turned out decent, but in my daughter's eyes I was amazing! She couldn't get enough!

I know that my first attempt at applesauce fell short, so I thought I would give it another try...

I used apples from Beak & Skiff Apple Farm which is about 20 minutes from home. I used three different varieties of apples: Gala, Cortland & JonaMac. They are semi-sweet with just a touch of tartness. Perfect!

INGREDIENTS:

4 pounds of (hand-picked) apples

1 cup water

1/2 cup Splenda sugar blend

Orange* zest

Juice from an orange*

2 Tablespoons of cinnamon

* I used the zest and juice from a Minneola tangelo. I like the tangelo's unique flavor. I feel they are a little bit sweeter than an orange, which I found useful so I wouldn't have to add more sugar.

• Peel, core, and dice the apples, set aside.
• In a large pot add water and sugar. I cooked it on medium, until the sugar dissolved.




• Add apples, and gently fold into the water.



• Add orange zest and cinnamon on top of the apples and gently stir.
  
  
  
• Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice into the pot, and stir.



• Cover and let it cook until desired consistency. I turned the burner down to low.




• Take the pot off the burner and let it cool. Then put the applesauce into your container of choice.

You can also use this recipe if you like applesauce with your pork chops, or I suggest it with breaded chicken. If you decide to do this I also suggest to add some clove to the recipe in addition to the cinnamon and orange zest. 1/4 tsp should be enough to enhance the taste. I would also leave it as a more dense consistency.



Ultimately, the choice is yours.

Enjoy!