We were blessed with an abundance of apples this fall. Along with receiving a couple bushels from a family member, the kids also wanted to go out to pick apples.
Although apples have a fairly long refrigerator life, we still ended up with over a half bushel that didn’t get eaten before they were beyond eating.
Hating to waste good food, especially fresh fruit, we decided to turn the last of the fall apples into applesauce. I wanted to avoid adding sugar (or anything) if possible.
Here’s what we did (overripe, almost smushy apples work best):
- Peel and core the apples. Cut them into 1″ chunks.
- Place about 2 cups of chunks into a microwave-safe dish. Microwave for about 3 minutes or until soft and runny.
- Place cooked apples into a blender and add a dash of lemon juice.
- Puree the apples until smooth.
- Add small handfuls of raw apples until the mixture is “saturated” or won’t accept any more raw apples.
- Dump into a jar or airtight container for storage.
- Repeat until all apples are used.
- Store in refrigerator.