Crockpot No Sugar Applesauce: No Additives. Just Good Tasting

I have lived up north for most of my life and never, ever gone apple picking.  Ms. Gardner has never picked an apple?  Say, it ain’t so, Anna.   My baby apple trees should have produced apples this year except for those darn deer who nipped at their buds.  But for every gray cloud, there is a silver lining.  I coaxed my family into going apple picking for my birthday.  How could they refuse?  (Check out what dwarf apple trees look like in my video.)

We picked four large bags worth!  So, I decided to become Martha for the day and make canned apple sauce. (Um, for a few days.)

Again, another first.

I  even threw caution to the wind and didn’t peel my apples.  I know.

Anna, you are getting a little feisty there.  

Crockpot No Sugar Applesauce Recipe

Adapted from Skinnytaste.com. (Note, Gina has some great recipes so check out her website.)

Ingredients:

11 medium apples.  I used sweet tasting ones like Honey Crisp.  (I used about 5 lbs.)

1 strip of lemon.  (I store my used lemons in a freezer bag in the freezer. Then used a 1/2 of the lemon peel.)

2 Teaspoon of fresh lemon juice

3 inch strip of cinnamon

No sugar.  ( recipe calls for 5 teaspoons of light brown sugar or agave.  Um, ex-nayed on the sugar.)

Watch my video tomorrow  on how I made the apple sauce. (I know.  You can’t wait to see it! I love your enthusiasm.)  Guess what you will see?   My favorite apple coring device!   Does the work of giants.  Seriously.

Instructions:

1. Like I mentioned above, I didn’t skin the apples.  If your family doesn’t like that type of texture, then go ahead and peel.  I actually took off the skins when the apple sauce was done.  It is really easy but a little messy.  Kind of like playing in the mud.

2.  Core the apples.  Don’t include the seeds.

3.  Throw everything in the crockpot and let it cook over night.

In the morning you will smell the apple sauce.    There may be water in the sauce.  You can either cook it down by taking off the lid of the crockpot or drain it and use it as apple juice concentrate.

Note, my crockpot can hold more than 5 lbs worth of apples.  You just don’t want to fill the crockpot more than 2/3rd full.

What did the applesauce taste like?   A little tart but I like my “sauce” that way.  You can always add sugar.  Um, and it was brown not yellow like store bought apple sauce.  I did put lemon on the apples right away but I think the cooking makes them brown.

By the way, brown applesauce is fine by me.

Canning the Applesauce.

5 lbs of apples in a crockpot does not make much applesauce.  If I recall, I canned 3 pint size jars of apple sauce!  In fact apple butter makes less since you cook it down.  (Recipe to follow.)

I used a Presto 23-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker since it only takes about 8 minutes once it gets up to pressure.  (Note, mine is big enough to pressure and water bath can.)  The canner is not stainless so I won’t be using it to cook. The stainless ones were rather expensive.

You can water bath too but I like the pressure canner.  (More on canning later.  Just to wet your appetite.  I am in love with canning.)

Join the Conversation:

• How do you make homemade applesauce?  Be sure to link articles and recipes in the comments below.
• Do you make crockpot applesauce?
• Do you skin your apples first?  Yay or Nay and explain why.
• Do you can your applesauce?  Give us the details.  Each and every slice.

 

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