Homemade Applesauce

Can you say "yummmmmmmmay?"

I often find myself saying that when I make this stuff!

I originally found a recipe on Allrecipes for some tasty applesauce, but I've switched things around so much I think I'll be safe calling this my own creation.

Its perfect for fall.

And leaves your house smelling divine.

The key to this applesauce, is the oven. Most recipes tell you to boil your apples over the stove, dump a pound of sugar in, then boil over the stove some more.

 (Though if anybody has a good sauce recipe over the stove, I'd love to try it.)

But this recipe, this applesauce is done in the oven. And as many of you know, ovens tend to lock in flavor.

Its a pretty simple recipe, so give it a try.

You can easily cut it in half, but I just end up doing the full recipe because we go through it quick.

Supplies Needed: apples, white and brown sugar, ground cinnamon, vanilla extract, an oven, baking dishes, and a potato masher.

Homemade Applesauce:

20 apples (I normally use Gala)

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees, baking time will be about an hour*

1- Peel, slice, and place all apples in two baking dishes. Two 9"x13" dishes would be great, but because all of my stuff is packed up at the moment (we're moving shortly), I just used what I had and it still turned out great.

2- Combine both sugars, cinnamon, and vanilla in mixing bowl and mix well together.

3- Divide sugar mix in two parts and sprinkle each half of the mix on top of the apples in baking dishes.

4-  Cover dishes with Aluminum Foil and place in heated oven for about one hour. (You'll know the apples are done when your house smells fabulous and apples are easy to pierce with a fork.)

5- Take apples out of the oven, remove foil, and start mashing them up with your potato masher until desired consistency. You could even blend them in your blender, but I like them with a bit of texture so I just leave the work to my hand mashing skills.

And be sure to stop every now and then to smell the apple and cinnamon...yummmmmay.

You may notice a bit of liquid hanging around by your apples. Leave it, do not strain, those are all of your spices and they'll mix right in once your apples are mashed.

6- Combine both baking dishes into one, and store in an air tight container in the fridge. We used jars. I've never actually canned applesauce, we go through it too quick to even bother.

Eat eat eat away! This stuff is great warm or cold with ice cream, or by itself. I think I'll add a crumbly topping for a yummy dessert. :)