Simplest Applesauce Ever

Happy Chanukah everyone!

There are eight lovely days of Chanukah during which to give presents, eat latkas, and play dreidel.  In the spirit of the holiday (in the spirit of all the holidays, in fact), I’m doing a little more than my usual amount of cooking.  It also helps that I’m on a break between semesters and actually have time to do things other than study chemistry.

Obviously, I will be posting a latka recipe (yes, it’s pronounced latka, not latke).  But do you know what you need to have with your latkas?  Applesauce.  No, really, latkas are eaten with applesauce.  And yes, you can totally buy some Motts or whatever your favorite brand is from the store, but it’s also really easy to make.  Really easy.  And if you make it yourself, you don’t have to deal with added sugars or preservatives.  You can also dress it up with things like berries, or persimmons, or anything you can think of!  This recipe is also a great way to get rid of those apples that might have been hanging around in your fruit drawer a bit too long (you know they’re in there).

Anyway, enjoy this recipe for simple, chunky applesauce.  I know I’ll be using it to top off my latkas (recipe coming soon).  Happy holidays!

Super Simple Applesauce

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

4-5 Apples

1 cinnamon stick

1/4 cup water

Directions:

1.  Wash and peel the apples (and totally eat the peels as a snack).  Remove the apple cores and cut the apples into chunks.

2.  Put the apples into a saucepan along with the cinnamon stick and the water.  Heat the mixture over medium heat and cover tightly.  Now walk away.

3.  About every 10 minutes, give the apples a stir.  You need to keep an eye on the pot to make sure nothing burns (although, if it does burn a bit, it’s just tastes like you added some caramel or maple syrup to the batch).  You might need to add more water as you go, but in general you can just wait for the whole mix to just melt down into beautiful applesauce.  It should take about an hour total (less time if you want it chunkier, more time if you want it smoother).

4.  When the applesauce has reached your desired chunky-smooth ratio, take it off the heat and let it cool.  Serve warm, room temperature, or cold.  It will keep in your refrigerator for a few days.

Enjoy!