Spiced Applesauce

Happy First Day of Fall!!!  Today is very exciting as it is the start of all good things; sweaters, blankets, crunchy leaves, crisp air, hot cocoa, and everything apples!  I went apple picking with my fiance yesterday and came home with dozens of apples.  Macoun, empire, suncrisp, honeycrisp, and red delicious, to name a few.  I'm feeling there might be an Apple Week in the mist.

Today I decided to make a delicious Spiced Applesauce which filled my home with the smell of autumn.  It is a cinch to make and tastes incredibly better than store bought applesauce.  You can use whichever apple variety you'd like, though I think the sweeter apples work better.  Apple varieties can also be blended to make the sauce extra special.  I used two red delicious, two macouns, one empire, and one suncrisp.  This recipe can easily be doubled.

Ingredients:
5-6 apples
2 tbs white sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3 tbs water (or apple juice)

Peel the skins and quarter the whole apple.  Then with a pairing knife cut out the cores of the apples.  This gives you the most amount of fruit, rather than slicing straight down around the core.

Dump the apple chunks into your Crockpot.  Mix in the sugar and pumpkin pie spice to evenly coat the apples.

Add in the water and stir to mix again.  Put the timer on Low for 6 hours or High for 3 hours.  Check an hour before it's done to test for consistency.  I like my applesauce with a few chunks of apple in it, so i mashed it with the back of a wooden spoon.  You can use a potato masher, press it through a sieve, or puree it, depending on the texture that you like.

Grab a blanket and sit outside to eat it while it's still warm.