The easiest way to make apple sauce - in the slow cooker! Make a big batch and freeze it in portions, ready to pull out whenever you need it!
I've gotta tell you, Josh & I are one of those annoying couples that do everything together. Not on purpose, we just like a lot of the same stuff and have a lot of mutual friends. And we just like hanging out. Probably a good thing seeing as we are getting hitched in 120 sleeps!
We are taking our love of hanging out and doing stuff together to a whole new level today. We are both having our wisdom teeth taken out. Ouch. We just figured, we both had to have it done, why not be miserable and have chipmunk faces and hang out at home together? I think this may be one of those things that seemed like a really good idea at the time...we will see!
Lucky for us we have Josh's mum next door who will be taking care of us, but to be a bit prepared I've spent all weekend essentially making baby food. Mashed potato, kumara, smoothie popsicles, ice-cream, soup and apple sauce. All the things you are allowed to eat when you've had teeth pulled and apparently will not feel like eating and can't chew. I'm so excited...not!
I've made apple sauce a million times. I always have a stash of it in the freezer that I can pull out if I need to make muesli or to have with roast pork...my fav!! But this time I wanted to make a huge batch that we could just snack on it all week as I have no idea what we will feel like eating, or be able to eat! My big stock pot is currently being used to cook pig scraps on the outside gas burner so I went to my next biggest and probably most under-used...my slow cooker!
Well, let me tell you. I will probably NEVER make apple sauce on the stove ever again. No watching the pot, stirring, making sure the element isn't too hot/cold.
Apples peeled, cored and cut into quarters, thrown into the slow cooker with some water, turned on high and cooked for 4 hours. Done!
Drain of some of the water once the apples are soft, then make the sauce. I usually use a potato masher so that my apple sauce is still a little chunky but as we are going to be drinking all our food for the next few days, I used an immersion blender so that it is super smooth and saucy.
Apple sauce freezes really well, keeps in the fridge for about a week and goes perfectly with yoghurt, on cereal or ice-cream, with roast pork or as a meal when you can't eat! If you've got babies just getting started on solids, this would be a perfect way to make a big batch for them rather than buying the little tins. Go super mum!
As much as I'm dreading having my teeth out, I feel a bit better knowing I have lots of delicious food to keep us going!
Wish us luck!
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Slow Cooker Apple Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 kilograms apples
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- Peel, core and cut up apples into pieces - the smaller the pieces, the faster they will cook.
- Add apple pieces to a slow cooker with 2 cups of water.
- Cook on high for about 4 hours, or until the apples are soft.
- Drain off about ½ of the water, and using a potato masher or immersion blender mash/puree the apples until they are the consistency you like.
- Store in the fridge for a week or freeze.
Fiona says
Hey Laura, Can I ask what you use apple sauce for except for with pork and museli? It's not something I grew up with or have really ever used. Thanks 🙂
Laura says
Hi Fiona - those are the things I use it mostly for but my kids also love eating it plain or stirred through yoghurt or custard. It can also be used in many baking recipes!
Linda says
Hi,
Love your website.
When I make my apple sauce in the crock pot I don’t add any water. It creates enough moisture itself. Also nice with a squeeze of fresh orange juice. And a couple of dates if using not so sweet apples.
Leah @ Grain Changer says
I haven't made homemade apple sauce since I was a little girl, but that it going to have to change - especially with this awesome recipe for the slow cooker! Woohoo! Hope the wisdom teeth thing went well. SO not fun to only eat soft food for days and days....
Laura says
Thanks Leah! I had forgotten how much I love applesauce until last week! Although I have to say I'd be happy if I didn't eat anymore for a while...I'm a bit sick of soft food!
Kim @ Land of Zonkt says
Such a clever idea to do it on the stove.
Good luck with your wisdom teeth. It's not great but not the worst thing you can go through. You'll be craving something with texture pretty quickly too. So have some soft but firmer things to eat so you don't have to go out when you not feeling great.
Thank you for linking up to this weeks FFF Party. xx
Laura says
Thanks Kim. You're absolutely right, it wasn't fun at all, but there is always someone worse of - I did think that a lot! Thanks for hosting...your e-book sounds like it's going to be great!
Lisa @ Chocolate Meets Strawberry says
I hope it went well, Laura! I just had my bottom two taken out about two weeks ago and it went really well! Everybody traumatised me about it beforehand but I was just fine afterwards. I bet this apple sauce was a huge saviour for you two!
Laura says
Thanks Lisa! We were exactly the same...so many horror stories but it wasn't as bad I as was expecting...phew! On the mend now...the applesauce is all gone! 🙂
Malinda @mybrownpaperpackages says
Having your wisdom teeth out sucks - I've been there and wouldn't wish it on anyone. I was so sick of mushy food by the end of it that I just had to eat something real. Hang in there.
Laura says
Thanks Malinda! Tell me about it..we had mac and cheese last night just for something slightly more real!