Crock Pot Applesauce

The air is crisp. The leaves are just starting to turn. Apples and pumpkins are in season. Cider and donuts never sounded so good. Happy first day of fall! The autumnal equinox has begun. 

I made a batch of crock pot applesauce last weekend to jump start the changing seasons. It smelled delicious while cooking and tasted even better. It was so easy too! 

Ingredients: 

8-10 medium apples. Variety makes it even better - I used Macintosh (of course), Pink Lady, Golden Delicious and Gala.
3 inch cinnamon stick
5 teaspoons (unpacked) light brown sugar
*optional* 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice and a small strip of lemon peel (I tasted too much lemon, so I would use less next time or omit completely) 

Directions:

1. Peel, core and chop the apples and add to crock pot. Be sure to get EVERY single sliver of peel off. There's nothing I hate more than peels in my applesauce!

2. Add brown sugar and cinnamon stick (and lemon juice and peel if using). 

3. Set crock pot on LOW and cook for 5-6 hours.  

4. Stir apples occasionally, about every 1/2 hour or hour. The apples will eventually start to cook down and become soft. 

5. Around 5 hours, remove cinnamon stick and mash apples to desired consistency. I used a potato masher until they were relatively smooth. 

6. Can and process or refrigerate up to 3 weeks.

After I enjoyed a fresh bowl (or two) of warm applesauce, I was left with one full large mason jar. This recipe is so easy and perfect for all those apples you may have lying around.

Do you have any applesauce recipes? I would love to try some others or see if there's anything I could do differently next time. Original recipe found here.

Enjoy!