Crock Pot Applesauce

My Husband loves apple sauce.  Almost every day he takes one of those Motts single-serve cups to work in his lunch bag.  Now, while I’m happy that he’s eating fruit I figure there has to be a better (read: more cost effective and slightly healthier) option.  So, after searching for a crock pot applesauce recipe I combined a few and came up with this.

Christopher loved it!  I’m so happy!  Now, I can make a big batch and have it last twice as long as the single-serve cups!

INGREDIENTS
4lbs. Apples (I used Macintosh because that’s what the local farm had ready in 1/2 peck containers – no time to pick my own)
1/4C. Sugar (I used Splenda)
1/2t. Cinnamon
3/4C. Water
1T. Lemon juice

DIRECTIONS
Wash, core and slice apples and add to crock pot.  Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and stir.

Pour water and lemon juice over apples, stir again.

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Husband Rating – 4.5 out of 5 – “So good!  I love it warm.”

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Apple Crisp

I have a confession – I’ve never made an apple crisp without the assistance of those pre-measured packets in the produce section of the grocery store.  I know…it’s a shame.  But, now I can finally say that I have made an apple crisp from scratch.  Yay!

It’s so easy!  I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner!

Thanks to Betty Crocker for the recipe.

INGREDIENTS
4 Medium Tart Cooking Apples, sliced (4 cups)
3/4C. Packed Brown Sugar
1/2C. All-Purpose Flour
1/2C. Quick-Cooking or Old-Fashioned Oats
1/3C. Butter or Margarine, softened
3/4t. Ground Cinnamon
3/4t. Ground Nutmeg

DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 375ºF.  Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan with shortening.

Spread apples in pan.  In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients except cream until well mixed; sprinkle over apples.

Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork.  Serve warm.

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Husband Rating – 4.5 out of 5 – “So good!”

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Our First Apple Pie

Fall is, without a doubt, my favorite season.  Every year I look forward to the cooler weather, baseball playoffs and of course fall food!

Apple pie is one of our favorites but we’ve never tried making one until today.  I’m not sure what we were waiting for.  The crust was so flaky and the filling was just sweet enough (and not overly sugary like most store bought pies).  Christopher made the crust all by himself while I did the filling.  It might not be the prettiest pie you’ve ever seen, but we’re pretty proud of it!

The pie crust recipe is from my Grandmother and I found the filling recipe on AllRecipes.com.

At the suggestion of my Grandmother, I substituted the flour in the filling recipe for cornstarch.  Worked beautifully!

INGREDIENTS
Crust
2C. + 2T. All-purpose flour
1t. Salt
1/3C. Crisco
1/4C. Vegetable oil
1/4C. Ice cold water
Extra flour for rolling

Filling
5 Apples – I used 2 Braeburn and 3 Granny Smith
1C. Sugar
2T. Flour (or cornstarch)
1/2t. Cinnamon
1/4t. Salt
1T. Lemon juice
1T. Water
2T. Butter (cut into 4 small slices)

DIRECTIONS
To prepare crust
Combine flour and salt.  Cut in Crisco with a pastry blender.  Add vegetable oil and mix with a fork until just combined.

Mix in cold water and incorporate with hands.  If the dough isn’t moist enough, just add more water a little at a time.

Divide into 2 balls.  Roll on floured board or between 2 pieces of wax paper.

For the filling
Peel, core and slice the apples.  Add to a large bowl with lemon juice.

Add the rest of the ingredients, except butter, and stir to combine.

Add to the pie pan (after the first layer of dough is down) and top with butter before putting on the second layer of dough. Crimp edges and perforate to allow steam to escape.

Cut long strips of tin foil and place them around the edge of the pie.

Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.  Remove foil and return to the oven for an additional 15 minutes.

Allow to cool at least 1 hour before serving.

Enjoy!

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Husband Rating – 4.5 out of 5 – “Near perfection, I made the crust!”

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