Healthy Crockpot Apple Sauce

I love my crock pot! It seems like I use it the most in the fall. It’s quick, easy, reliable, AND whatever you are cooking in it lingers in the house all day long. My latest creation was a homemade apple sauce. Simple, delicious, healthy loved by all in my family!

With apples in abundance right now, they are easy to find. We have apple trees on our family farm and some years they yield bushels and other years just a few. This year, I purchased some apples from a fellow farmers market vendor and also paid a visit to a local organic orchard for a fun day of picking. The memories are just as great as the apples! There are endless ways to use apples and this sauce recipe is just one. You can use whatever type of apple you would like for sauce. I suggest just picking a variety that you like to eat. I love a tart apple!

For this crock pot recipe you will need to peel your apples. I picked a beautiful fall day to make this recipe and its always hard to me to be indoors when its nice out so I decided to keep my clean up to a minimum by taking my apples out and sitting in the yard and peeling them. I knew I would immediately have over fifty friends, surrounding me to help with the cleanup! Yep, that’s right! Our flock of chickens. I could get side tracked and turn this recipe into all chicken talk! I just love our girls! Spending time with our flock is one of my greatest joys! Yes, I am a crazy chicken lady! BUT, it sure made peeling a bunch of apples fun! And I got to enjoy the outdoors as well!

Ingredients

• 20 to 25 medium size apples of your choice, peeled and cored
• 1 and 1/4 cups apple juice or water. I used our own homemade steamed cider from last fall.
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup honey-adjust to taste depending on how sweet you like your sauce
• 1/2 to 1 tablespoon lemon juice only if you are using sweet apples
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon or more to taste

Directions

Peel, core and slice your apples. Include your chickens in on this for optimum fun!

Toss your apple slices in the crockpot and pour apple juice, cider or water over them. Sprinkle with sea salt and put the lid on your crockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours. After 6 hours transfer your apples to a large bowl. Add in your honey, vanilla, lemon juice and cinnamon. Stir. Your apples will mostly be cooked down but for a really smooth sauce use a hand mixer and blend til smooth or smooth it out in a food processor.

This is such a delicious sauce. It will turn our with a different flavor depending on your apple variety! Ours turned out tasting sinfully amazing like a pie filling! I stored approximately  half the batch in a quart jar and put it right in the refrigerator be used soon and I stored the other half in a full quart freezer bag to be stored away for the winter.

I hope you love this recipe!!! We do! Be well!