As the saying goes – when life gives you apples, make apple sauce. Or something. In this case, life gave us many different apples from several trees in our garden that weren’t perfect for just eating off the tree but made very yummy apple sauce and an apple pie. This comes from Simply Recipes and is just about the easiest thing we could think to do with some imperfect apples that we wanted to preserve.
For this you’ll need: about 4 lbs of apples (a variety if possible, peeled and cored; this is about 8-10 normal sized apple, more if your apples are small like our’s), 3 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 cup sugar (we used brown but any is fine), 1 cup water, 1/2 tsp salt.
Place the peeled and cored apples into a Dutch oven. They should cover the bottom in a single or just a bit more than a single layer. Add water, cinnamon, sugar, salt and lemon juice and bring the liquid to a boil. Reduce the heat so that it gently simmers and cover the pot. Cook, covered, until the apples are just beginning to break down and can be mashed with a potato masher – about 18-20 mins.
Turn off the heat and gently mash the apples with a potato masher – or, if you want a smoother sauce, use a hand mixer. Let cool slightly so you don’t burn yourself and then transfer to mason jars for storing or eat warm right away.
Dinner at Our Place 