Slow Cooker Apple Sauce

There's something magical about the slow cooker. You throw some food in it, turn it on and don't have to think about it for hours. Your house fills with the wonderful cooking smells with very little effort and then you're left with a delicious meal with very little clean up required. Now that’s my kind of meal. The slow cooker can make it all! Desserts, snacks, side dishes, soups, even whole meals!

I first came up with this recipe last year after realizing that our apple tree had a record amount of apples on it. Not wanting them to go bad before using them I quickly researched how to cook many different things with them to ensure I wouldn’t get bored eating apples nonstop.

Pies, cookies, jam. You name it and I stuck and apple in it. But my favourite by far was this applesauce. It is so easy to make and has no added sugar, just the natural sweetness from the apples. Healthy and delicious which is important for my health and fitness goals. Heck even if you aren’t looking to start a health and fitness journey this applesauce is delicious and I could eat it all day.

Using different kinds of apples will give this applesauce a slightly different flavour so pick a kind of apple that you prefer. If you are feeling bold you can even mix different kinds of apples.

Let’s talk about the benefits of cinnamon for a moment. Cinnamon is high in antioxidants, can low blood sugar (great for diabetics!), has anti-inflammatory properties, reduces risk of heart disease and can fight fungual infections. It’s packs a powerful punch to any recipe and goes great in this applesauce. Not to mention that the smell of cinnamon is heavenly. There’s nothing I enjoy more than a house filled with the smells of cooking and cinnamon definitely is at the top of that list. Plus it tastes amazing! I add cinnamon to a lot of my recipes. Check out my Honey Cinnamon Carrots here for a delicious cinnamon recipe https://vocal.media/feast/instant-pot-cinnamon-honey-carrots

This applesauce keeps very well in the fridge and can even be frozen. Which is great if you’re going to make a big vat of it to keep for the future or are into meal prepping for the week. Meal prepping has been a huge time and money saver for me.

This recipe is incredibly simple, which makes it all that more great. I remember making applesauce with my father as a child. I also remember making it in school as a gift for Mother’s Day. It was fun as a class to make a big vat of applesauce, of course that recipe was a bit different from this one as it was a bulk recipe for the whole class to make together. So grab your kid and get cooking together. There’s no better bonding time and it’s a great reward to enjoy the applesauce together afterwards.

Ingredients

8 medium sized apples

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1/2 cup of water

2 tablespoons of cinnamon

Directions

1. Peel and core the apples

2. Dice the coreless apples

3. Place them in the slow cooker

4. Add the lemon juice to slow cooker

5. Add water to slow cooker

6. Sprinkle the cinnamon over the apples

7. Stir mixture so the apples are evenly coated

8. Close the slow cooker

9. Put on high for 4 hours

10. When time is up mash the apples into a sauce, it can be a chunky or as smooth as you want. I prefer slightly chunky

11. Enjoy!