I love apple sauce for a quick treat, but I am not crazy about commercial apple sauce. Somehow I picked up way too many apples and decided to just go ahead and make applesauce.

Used Sarah’s recipe from Allrecipes.com, with a few tweaks like using less water and less sugar since Galas are pretty sweet. I’d wait and add a little more sugar at the end if you use really tart apples.

The original recipe called for peeling all the apples, but if you’re going to buzz them once they’re cooked, I don’t think you need to. The peels are where most of the nutrients are and are fine to eat as long as you buy organic, or at least wash the apples really thoroughly.

INGREDIENTS

8 medium apples, cored and thickly sliced, any apple
1/4 cup sugar (brown sugar is fine, too)
1 tsp Cinnamon
pinch of pumpkin pie spice mix (recipe here)
3/4 cup water or apple cider

Add all ingredients into a saucepan and stir. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to very low and simmer covered for a couple of hours. Check for water – if it’s looking too dry you can add a couple of tablespoons.

Once the apples are getting mushy, remove from heat and buzz with an immersion blender just until all the peels are blended.

Taste for sweetness and cinnamon flavor. I added a tablespoon more sugar, another pinch of pumpkin pie spice, and another small shake of cinnamon and stirred it well.

Let cool and refrigerate. Makes about 4-5 cups.