Naturally sweetened, rustic homemade applesauce that cooks in under twenty minutes. This chunky applesauce tastes just like apple pie filling—serve it on oatmeal or pancakes for breakfast, as a sweet snack (try adding yogurt and granola), or dessert (with ice cream, perhaps?). I like mine with creamy steel-cut oats and a swirl of homemade pecan butter.
Scale
Ingredients
3 Gala apples (or another variety of sweet red apple)
3 Granny Smith or pippin apples
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons real maple syrup*
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (or more to taste)
dash of sea salt
Instructions
Peel, core and chop the apples into 2-inch chunks. In a heavy, nonreactive Dutch oven or saucepan over medium heat, combine the apple chunks, maple syrup, cinnamon and lemon juice. Cover and simmer for about 12 minutes, or until the apples have softened up a bit.
Uncover the pot and continue cooking, stirring occasionally to break up the larger chunks, until the apples are soft but still have some texture (5 to 10 minutes). Remove from heat and, if necessary, add more maple syrup, cinnamon or lemon juice, to taste. Serve warm or chilled; let it cool to room temperature before storing it in the fridge.
Although I haven’t tried these substitutions, Diane suggests that you could use Asian pears instead of Gala apples, or honey or agave syrup instead of the maple syrup.
*If you’d like to reduce the amount of sugar in this recipe, you can use water in place of the maple syrup, or in place of part of it. The applesauce is still pretty sweet without it!
If you want a fine applesauce, purée the final product with an immersion blender.
Diane says this applesauce will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.
▸ Nutrition Information
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