This homemade applesauce was dubbed “apple velvet” in our house after first trying the recipe. Oh my gosh, you have never tasted such sweet and smooth applesauce. It literally melts in your mouth, if applesauce can do that. The combination of fruit here is perfectly sweet and tart, and the warm spices give it that quintessential fall flavor. Bonus: no added sugar! Just fruit and spices.
I know, I know…homemade applesauce can seem daunting. This slow cooker recipe, though? Couldn’t be easier. And trust me, it’s totally worth it. Peeling the fruit is most of the work, and it’s even okay to leave some of the skin on! What you do leave on will just melt right into the rest of the applesauce and provides a little extra fiber to boot.
I really like the addition of pears, so I adapted the original recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, to fit our taste. You could always use two additional apples, like Mel does, if you don’t have or don’t like pears.
For those mamas and daddies with itty-bitties, your little ones will LOVE this stuff. Em loved this applesauce starting around 6-7 months of age. These days, I use it to fill up a few reusable squeeze pouches and take it with us when we’re out and about for a quick snack for her. She still loves it and I feel good about giving her something that’s convenient, but also fresh and healthy.
And for a delicious twist on dessert, try warming the applesauce and serving it over vanilla ice cream. It’s like apple crisp in sauce form. Seriously good stuff.
Little Hands Can…
- Wash the apples and pears
- Squeeze the lemon juice into a cup, or right over the cut apples
- Measure and sprinkle in the cinnamon and nutmeg
- Play with peels!
- 2 pears (I usually buy Bartlett pears - the green ones)
- 2 Honeycrisp apples
- 5 Golden Delicious apples
- 5 Gala apples
- juice from about 1 large lemon
- 2 tsp cinnamon (you can add less if you prefer)
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
- Wash the apples and pears well and remove the stems.
- Cut the apples and pears into quarters and slice out the core.
- Peel the apples and pears with a paring knife. It's okay to leave some of the skin on.
- Place all of the fruit pieces in a large slow cooker.
- Toss with the lemon juice and spices.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours.
- When finished, let it cool slightly and then blend until desired consistency using an immersion blender (easiest!), a food processor or blender. Just be sure to leave some room at the top if you're using a blender and be careful as the applesauce is hot. If you prefer a chunkier applesauce, you could also just mash the cooked apple mixture with a potato masher.
Recipe slightly adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
On the Side
This recipe is just calling for an introduction to basic fractions.
As you’re washing your apples, talk about how each one is a WHOLE apple. As you begin to cut your apples, demonstrate that when you cut an apple into two equal parts, each part is called one half. As you cut each half in half, ask your child to count the total number of parts. Since there are now four equal parts, each of these parts is called one fourth, or one quarter (¼).
Encourage your child to play around with the fractional parts and ask her questions as she explores. What happens when you put two fourths back together? How many fourths are the same as one half? How many fourths do you need to make one WHOLE apple? If you have a small white board or chalkboard in your house, use it in your kitchen to show them how these fractions are written using numbers (1, ½, ¼, etc.). If you can, try eighths! Are there other things you can think of that are fractional parts? (Some ideas include: pizza slices, cutting a sandwich in ½, the natural segments of a banana are thirds, etc.)
Bonus: You’ll have a lot of peels after peeling the skin off of 14 apples and pears. Let’s do some “peel play!” You’re only limited by your imagination with this activity. Kids can make letters, spell out words, or make a silly face. Make it a friendly competition: the most elaborate (creative, funny, etc.) gets first bite of the finished applesauce!
Disclaimer: As with all of our recipes, my suggestions for how kids can help with a particular recipe are based on what has worked in our kitchen. Your child may be able to help more or less based on their age and/or ability. As always, make sure you are properly supervising kids in the kitchen.
Sandy says
October 11, 2015 at 9:22 PMAbsolutely love the math and other learning you include in this recipe (and others)! I am a huge fan of apple sauce so I’m looking forward to trying this! Good work Sally! Love ya!
Sally says
October 14, 2015 at 2:15 PMThank you, Sandy! It’s SO good…a must try. And I bet Maggie and Brady will love helping you. Love you too! (P.S. I’m so sorry for my delayed response, some of my comments ended up in my spam folder!)
Samantha says
October 12, 2015 at 6:09 AMWe are going apple picking next weekend so I can’t wait to make this! Where can you get reusable squeeze packs? That sounds perfect for my applesauce-loving crew!
Sally says
October 14, 2015 at 2:14 PMSo fun!! I have a brand of reusable squeeze pouches called “Squish Delish” that I bought on Amazon (4-pack). They’re dishwasher and freezer safe too. Love them! (P.S. I’m so sorry for my delayed response, some of my comments ended up in my spam folder!)
Danielle F says
October 12, 2015 at 7:40 AMwhat a great and easy recipe. I love the fun intro to fractions!
Sally says
October 12, 2015 at 9:21 PMThanks, Danielle! It is extremely easy to make and SO delicious. Let me know if you give it a try!
Carol says
October 12, 2015 at 8:35 AMLooks like a fabulous recipe! Can’t wait to try it!
Sally says
October 14, 2015 at 2:12 PMThank you, Carol! The grandkids will love it…and it’s delicious over ice cream too 🙂
Mary says
October 12, 2015 at 10:15 AMI just made applesauce in the crock pot this weekend. I am going to add pears next time. The photos you took are gorgeous! I love your idea about playing with the apple peelings… What a fun open ended activity for little ones. I love what you have presented so far.
Sally says
October 14, 2015 at 2:12 PMThank you, Mary! I LOVE applesauce in the crockpot. It somehow turns out extra smooth. Thank you for the nice compliments!
Kristy says
October 14, 2015 at 10:02 AMA blog after my own heart! I love incorporating kids in the kitchen. This is a beautiful recipe for fall and handy after an apple orchard visit. Lovely photos. Looking forward to your kitchen adventures.
Sally says
October 14, 2015 at 2:28 PMThank you, Kristy! I am heading over to check out your site this afternoon as well. Thank you for the nice compliments and for following along!
Brooke Nojima says
October 19, 2015 at 4:24 PMMade this last night and it was so easy! I was too lazy to peel the apples, so I had to blend it a little more. Kids loved it on their oatmeal this morning, I had a little after-lunch dessert with it today, and I think it would be great on top of Greek yogurt tomorrow morning!
Sally says
October 19, 2015 at 7:30 PMYes!! I love that you tried it without peeling and it still worked out well. That’s great feedback and really, probably even healthier because of all that extra fiber in the skin. Awesome! Thanks for letting me know! I’d like to try it on Greek yogurt, too…great idea! I’m thinking I might include it in a turkey burger recipe soon 🙂
Brooke Nojima says
October 21, 2015 at 1:11 PMThe kids accepted it as dessert over greek yogurt last night! Both had 2 bowls!
Sally says
October 21, 2015 at 9:34 PMThat’s amazing!!