Hey, you. Yeah, you. You like applesauce, don't you? I mean, who doesn't? But did you ever realize how easy it is to make your own applesauce? There's hardly any preparation time, and you can be enjoying applesauce that is 10 times, nay, I daresay 100 times better than anything you could ever buy off the shelf in a supermarket.

So what are you waiting for?

Here's what you need:

  • 5 large apples, 8 medium apples, or 12 small apples
  • the juice from 1 lemon
  • 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
  • 1/4 stick butter (omit or replace with margarine if vegan)
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup of water (if cooking on the stove)
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • raisins to taste (if you like raisins)

Here's what you do:

First, decide how you are going to cook it. There are two decent ways to cook - microwave or stove. I pretty much hate to ever use a microwave for anything, and the stove is a bit faster, so I use the stove, but in my experience the taste does not actually suffer any if you use the microwave.

Peel and core the apples and cut them into chunks (a good rule of thumb is eighths for large apples, quarters for medium, and halves for small). Put the apples into a microwave-safe bowl if you're microwaving or a large pot if you are using the stove. Now just go ahead and throw all the other ingredients in on top, with the exception that if you are microwaving, you don't need to add any water.

On the stove, bring the water to a boil and then cover, turn the heat down and simmer for about 12-15 minutes, or until the apples are soft enough to mash easily with a fork. If microwaving, cook for about 15 minutes or until the apples are soft enough to mash with fork. Mash the apples with a fork. You're done!

This is honestly the tastiest applesauce you can ever taste. It also keeps well in the fridge for several days and can even be frozen without losing too much. Also, if you are vegan, you can skip the butter entirely or replace it with vegetable-based margarine if you'd like, and it'll still be delicious!

As a final note, you should be aware that different types of apples cook *very* differently, so you should experiment widely and find out which ones you like. You are also highly encouraged to try different combinations of two or three different types of apple, to experience the full range of flavors you can produce. If you need some advice on where to start, I would say that golden delicious, granny smith, fuji, and McIntosh apples are all great for applesauce, whereas regular delicious apples are not as flavorful. Also, avoid gala apples at all cost, as they take forever to cook.

Okay, the applesauce I was just waiting for to finish cooking as I wrote this writeup is done! My kitchen smells like heaven and I'd better go run and eat it while it's still warm!