This is a lovely recipe, I used some sort of macitosh apple(small and red all the way through some times) and made 4 liters of the most wonderful sauce. If you use a strainer and save the juice it makes a great hard cider! All in all, a great way to make apple sauce!

I agree -- homemade applesauce is one of those deceptively simple luxuries. But, sugar? Who needs it? I make a wonderful sauce using unpeeled, cored & quartered Cortlands and a bit of apple cider to get them started. Then I put it through my Foley food mill...the results are a lovely pink sauce that's sweet and tangy. Freezes beautifully and is a favorite among neighbors and friends and family when I bring a quart along to picnics or holiday dinners.

I used to make a sweetened, cinnamon'd sauce, but when I discovered these local Cortlands cooked up so deliciously, it just wasn't worth bothering with the extras.

I made the applesauce with 4 lbs.of Granny apples and it was delicious.

Elise, I really enjoy Simply Recipes. Keep up the good work.

Cathy
Little Rock, Ar.

This was a really easy recipe and tasted yummy. I even canned some for later :)

This recipe is very tasty - we used jonnagold with no sugar and it was fabulous - a very buttery flavor. I also tried with Gala, but the lemon made it a little too acidic for my taste.

I highly recommend trying with no sugar.

Note from Elise: If you don't add sugar, then you don't need the juice of a whole lemon, perhaps just a teaspoon or two to taste.

I tried this for the first time after apple picking in September, making it every month since! My 2 year olds love it, and I also made it to bring to my parents' for Thanksgiving this year, and everyone loved it!

Elise, I made your applesauce the other night, and it was fantastic. Made a few changes to fit what was on hand. Thanks.

Excellent recipe, and so easy to make! I made this recipe with a bag of McIntosh apples, and used 1/4 cup of cinnamon, and it came out perfect! Thanks for posting it!!

Great recipe! I had some apples that were going to go to waste. I found a blender based recipe elsewhere that didn't work, so I had to scramble. Switched to this one mid-cooking and oh! warm applesauce is awesome!

I am a divorced Dad & I had a request for apple sauce the way I use to make it when my children were young..this one hit the nail on the head ..thanks..it`s great just the way it is.

A neighbor gave this recipe to me and I made it with fuji apples but 3 lbs. wasn't enough. I would need about 10 lbs. to be able to freeze any. Very good recipe. Will try strawberries or blueberries next time. I know cinnamon would be good too.

I followed this recipe exactly, with only one minor change - instead of lemon juice I used pineapple juice as I didn't have lemons on hand; and the combination of sweet pineapple and apple turned out amazingly :)

A deceptively simple recipe for great taste. I added a little star anise to give it some Asian inspiration, plus it complements cinnamon well. The lemon peel smells amazing when it's simmering.

I can't believe I even looked elsewhere for an applesauce recipe! I always check your site first! What a dunce. This looks fantastic. I recently bought a pressure canner to can meats and fruits for a home storage project and, with apples being so cheap and delicious right now, I really wanted to can some of the good stuff. Thanks so much for your recipes and your time in putting them up for the rest of us.

Elise, I've been visiting your site since 1996, when it was just a little heart icon and some photos. Anyway, you've done a great job with the site... worthy of the name "Elise". ;)

So far I've made this applesauce recipe and your banana bread recipe. Both were delish! And your instructions couldn't have been easier. Looking forward to many more yummy meals!

Note from Elise: Oh you remember the heart? It's still here: http://www.elise.com/graphics/heartanm.gif. Thanks for saying hello and I'm so glad you like the applesauce and banana bread, 2 of our favorite recipes.

This was simply delicious. received RAVE reviews. I used three sort of apples: 1/2 granny smith, 1/4 golden delicious, 1/4 some other sort and believe that the mix really makes the difference. You could taste the apple goodness. taster loved the rougher texture too.

Thanks for this recipe, a real winner.

I have a very delicious and simple applsauce recipe:

8-9 Apples of your choice
1 Cinnamon stick
Slow Cooker or Crockpot

Peel, core, slice your apples. Place in a crockpot or slow cooker. Place 1 (no more) cinnamon stick in the middle. Turn on low and cook for 6-8 hours or what I do, is cook it overnight. Stir and apple slices will give away to delicious applesauce.

You can add sugar to your liking, but I never do. It's so simple and yummy!

When the world gives you lemons, make lemonade.
When the world gives you apples, make applesauce!

I'm a teacher and as many teachers I get apples from time to time. However, when one of my students arrives, she brings 10-pound bags of apples. I might be exaggerating a bit, but there are at least 30 apples in each bag.

I can't eat that many apples. Twice now, however, I have used your recipe to make applesauce. I eat it chilled and it's delicious. It's a sweet alternative to processed sugary sweets that most of us eat too much of.

Thanks Elise for the great recipe. Whenever you're in Hollywood, California, stop by, you can some of my applesauce at my Hollywood Apartment Farm.

Zach (Zachary means sugar in Greek)

Our applesauce came out great.