Ah, fall. The season for sunglasses and scarves, soccer and homework, and apple picking and slow cookers. I have a hard time picking a favorite season, but like having to choose a favorite child, the one that is the most charming at the moment usually wins out. Fall has given me my beloved boots back, and while I romanticize the changing leaves and the crisp morning air, I am full-on in love with autumn.

For two years, the entire lifetime of Crock Pot Thursday, I’ve wanted to try Crock Pot applesauce. It took my sister-in-law Sarah to finally pull the trigger, and we have the apple tree in her new backyard to thank for it. Sarah has been like a dog on a bone with this applesauce kick, and she’s having a hard time keeping up with her over-producing tree. Her freezer will be overflowing soon.

My mother-in-law also has a freezer full of homemade applesauce, which my kids adore. It should have been no surprise to me that they polished off my entire batch of Crock Pot applesauce, but I was scrambling to save enough to photograph for this post, and will be making more today to surprise them after school. I really should have doubled, or tripled, the recipe.

I love this applesauce. With the exception of the apple coring and peeling, it’s a breeze. You can add sugar if you want, or cinnamon, or a touch of vanilla. I’ll bet a tiny bit of nutmeg would be tasty, and while the recipe calls for apple juice, most any kind of juice works, and water is fine, too.

After the apples are cooked, you’ll need to decide if you want chunky or smooth applesauce. Use a potato masher for chunky applesauce and a food processor or immersion blender for smooth applesauce. I prefer chunky, but I’m outvoted, so I used my food processor for this batch.

If you recently went a little too crazy at the apple orchard, or apples at the supermarket are a steal of a deal, whip up a batch of applesauce. Applesauce is great for breakfast, or in a school lunch, and can make a healthy dessert. It freezes well, and can be substituted in many baked goods to lower the calories and sugar quantities.

I have used both my 6.5-Quart Crock-Pot Programmable Touchscreen Slow Cooker and my 6 Quart Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget Programmable Slow Cooker to make this Easy Crock Pot Applesauce!

Easy Crock Pot Applesauce

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Crock Pot Thursday: Easy Crock Pot Applesauce

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Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 4 hours

Total Time 4 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 5-6 large apples or 9-10 medium sized apples (any kind, or a mixture of several varieties)
• 1/3 cup apple juice (apple cider or water works, and I actually used white grape juice)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. You can leave the peels on the apples if you have a good food processor or blender, or peel the apples if you wish. Quarter and core them, and toss into the Crock Pot.
2. Add the remaining ingredients, as well as any additional ingredients you'd like (nutmeg, a pat of butter, brown or white sugar, etc), and stir everything to coat the apples.
3. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours, or until apples are soft.
4. Mash with a potato masher for chunky applesauce, or use a food processor or immersion blender to make applesauce very smooth.
5. Applesauce freezes well, which is a great way to keep a healthy snack on hand!

Notes

I used white grape juice instead of apple juice and it worked great. I also used half MacIntosh apples and half Cortland apples, because that is what was on sale at the grocery store, with one random Gala apple thrown into the mix. My slow cooker was about half full, which worked well.

My sister-in-law, Sarah, used the apples from her own tree, which are pretty tart, so she added some sugar to hers, as her family prefers a sweeter applesauce.

Before you go, check out this Crock Pot Easy Beef Pot Roast that calls for applesauce in the recipe!

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