Crockpot Cinnamon Applesauce
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Homemade applesauce has never been easier. With a few simple ingredients and your crockpot, you can easily make cinnamon applesauce in your home. Follow our easy instructions below!
Apple Butter Weekend has been a tradition in our family for decades. It’s one of my favorite fall activities. On the rare years that I can’t make the event, I make my own apple butter in the crockpot.
Oftentimes, there are leftover apples that didn’t get used in the apple butter recipe. Since the apples are already peeled and cut (thanks to this handy apple peeler) it would be a shame to not use them up in some way!
When my mom suggested I cook them in the slow cooker to make applesauce, I had a lightbulb moment: making homemade applesauce is SO easy!
What You Need to Make Cinnamon Applesauce
As mentioned above, the ingredients are SO simple. Here is what you need:
- Apples (McIntosh, Golden Delicious, Gala, Jonathans are recommended)
- Brown Sugar
- Cinnamon (This can be adjusted depending on how much cinnamon flavor you want!)
How to Make Cinnamon Applesauce
Step 1: Peel and Cut the Apples
To get that smooth applesauce consistency, you’ll want to peel them. I know, it’s a pain. And honestly, if you plan to puree the apples when you’re done, you could probably cheat and leave some peel on. If you do plan to make recipes like this or apple butter frequently, I’d for sure buy an apple peeler.
In my picture below, the apples are cut up into small pieces. While this will help them cook faster, this isn’t really necessary. You can toss them in as normal slices and come out with the same result.
Step 2: Season the apples
Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon over the apples and toss until coated. Go ahead, sneak a few bites of them before they are cooked. They are yummy! I usually add 1/2 cup of water or apple cider just to have a little moisture in there. The apples will release a lot of moisture while cooking so you shouldn’t need more than that!
Step 3: Cook Your Applesauce
This is the easy part. Cook the apples on low for about 6 hours and enjoy the delicious scent coming from your kitchen. When the apples are done, you can mash them into the consistency that you prefer. Sometimes I like to make them kind of chunky and serve them as an apple side dish.
But if making a smooth applesauce, you’ll want to use a blender to purée the apple or an immersion blender.
Can I Freeze Applesauce?
As you might know by now, we are big fans of freezer cooking around here. With two cookbooks, 1 Hour Freezer Prep Sessions, and a huge freezer meal recipe index, you can probably guess that we really love the time-saving, energy-saving, and money-saving benefits of freezer meals.
So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we are here to say, YES! You can freeze applesauce!
In fact, applesauce freezes really well. It might become a touch more liquidy after freezing and thawing but the taste of it won’t be affected. Simple place in an airtight freezer container (here are some of our favorite freezer containers by the way.)
For this batch, I am just using a good ol’ freezer bag.
What Goes Well with Cinnamon Applesauce?
Cinnamon applesauce is a kid-friendly side dish that will play nice with all sorts of recipes. Here are some ideas to get you started!
- Pan Seared Pork Chops
- 20 Minute Pumpkin Chili
- Autumn Chowder
- Roasted Chicken with Root Vegetables
- Autumn Chopped Salad (add some diced or shredded rotisserie chicken to make it a main dish)
Did you make this? Snap a photo and tag us on Instagram at @thrivinghome so we can see your creations and cheer you on!
Cinnamon Applesauce
This simple crockpot cinnamon applesauce will make your entire home smell delicious!
Ingredients
- 8–10 apples (any variety), peeled* and cut into 1/2 – 1 inch pieces
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (optional)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup water (or apple cider)
*Alternately, leave the peel on and then use an immersion blender at the end.
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Instructions
Make It Now:
- Stir together the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and water together in a crock pot.
- Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.
Freeze For Later: Let the apple sauce cool completely. Place applesauce into freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months.
Prepare From Frozen: Thaw the apples overnight in the fridge. You can also thaw them in a bowl of water if you’re in a hurry.
Soooo easy and so tasty! We make this a few times every fall. We added a 1/2 cup or so of pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices to jazz it up too. Made it a fun and heartier way to change it up!
★★★★★
Yum! Those additions sound amazing. Thank you for letting others know what has worked for you!
We made this yesterday and now I am wishing I had doubled the recipe. It was amazing!
★★★★★
Yeah!! Love to hear of recipe success!
How long will this stay fresh stored in the fridge?
I didn’t add enough apples so mine was a little watery, but I used the immersion blender and loaded up some empty baby food jars to freeze for the baby. I wanted to keep some jars in the fridge as individual snacks for the older ones.
Great idea, Lauren! I bet it’ll be fine for several days, but you might want to freeze it after that.