Homemade Applesauce

I am finally back at school which means I am in my own kitchen and in my own routine.  As much as I love being home with the family, it is nice being back in my apartment.  After a regrettably long absence, I am finally getting back into the blogging world with this really cool and surprisingly easy recipe my friend Stryker taught me last night.  It is honestly the most incredible applesauce I've ever tasted, and it made the whole house smell awesome (it almost covered up the burnt toast smell I got from accidentally forgetting I was broiling a sandwich earlier that night).  Trust me, this recipe is definitely worth a try.

Meet Stryker!

Ostafew Family Homemade Applesauce Recipe

Ingredients:

• A bag of apples (I googled "best apples for applesauce" while I was in the grocery store and found this site with a chart of best types of apples for different things.  Stryker said his mom usually used Cortland apples because that is what is available around where he grew up, but the Fuji apples we used smelled really good and really sweet, and a big bag was like $6.. I wish I had gotten more than one!)
• Cinnamon
• Vanilla Extract
• Sugar
• Water

Directions:

Peel and chop the apples. It is ok if they aren't super fresh, ours had a few dark brown marks, but we just cut those parts out.

Rinse the apple chunks off and place them in a big pot. Add enough water to cover the bottom of the pot, maybe 1/4 inch deep. 

Stryker kind of eye-balled the ingredients, so I don't have exact measurements, but according to him, "worst case scenario, if you over-season it, it just ends up tasting like apple pie..... which really isn't that bad of a scenario"

Add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar, 1 to 2 tablespoons cinnamon, and 2 to 3 tablespoons vanilla extract 

You can always add more seasoning as the apples begin to boil down.

Place the pot on medium to medium-low heat and cover with a lid. Let simmer for an hour or two, stirring occasionally. When the apples start getting soft you can take the lid off and let everything keep cooking. Keep stirring and checking on it every once in a while.  It will seem like there is a lot of water in the pot, but everything will cook down and turn into applesauce (I was pretty impressed by the process)

Stryker left halfway through the process, but I was able to finish on my own. I just let the apples keep cooking down until the sauce was the consistency I wanted it.  The whole process took about three hours. I personally enjoy it a little chunkier, but he recommended smooshing up the apples, or even putting everything into the blender if you want it a little more smooth.

It was pretty irresistible when it was done.  The only thing that kept me from eating the whole batch at once was Stryker's assurance that even though it was so good warm, it was even better once it cooled down....... well..... that and I got a stomach ache after my second helping.

He stores his in mason jars and stores it in the fridge.  I had to make due with tupperware, but overall I was pretty impressed with the process (cough ** myself ** cough)