• My kids do not always make the best decisions about food. If they had their way they would eat pizza, macaroni and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every meal.

    They might occasionally spring for some Lucky Charms, or chicken nuggets. Healthy eaters, they are not. At least when left to their own choices. Luckily, all three of my kids, and my husband to boot like apple sauce.

    For me, applesauce is one of those things that I cannot stand buying. Sure, it’s convenient, especially for school lunches, but for eating here at home it’s homemade all the way. It is so unbelievably easy. I got my recipe and adapted it from Alton Brown. His recipe is pretty perfect as is, but I don’t always have the same type of apples on hand. And quite frequently, I don’t have the booze he calls for either. Either way it is good.

    You will need

    Six apples (I used three Granny Smith, and three Fuji). I have made this several times, with lots of different apples. They have all been good.
    1 cup apple juice
    2 tablespoons butter
    3 tablespoons honey (I have also subbed in brown sugar with good results)
    1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

    Peel and core all of your apples. Chop them into big chunks.

    Put all of your ingredients into a microwave safe bowl. Cover, but leave one corner open to allow for steam. The first time I forgot to do this and nearly had a heart attack when the lid blew off of the container. Whoops.

    Microwave for 10 minutes.

    Carefully remove from the microwave, this stuff is hot, and there is lots of steam.

    Using a fork (or a potato masher, or a food processor depending on your desired results) mash everything together until you like it’s consistency. I prefer the apple sauce just this side of chunky. So I use a fork. But if you like it smooth, use your processor to get the job done.

    I serve this warm, usually with pork or turkey. Then I refrigerate the remainder and enjoy it the rest of the week. The best part about this recipe is that it is totally easy to double or triple. My friends are always impressed when I whip out the homemade apple sauce!