Crock Pot Applesauce

Are you scared of making your own applesauce?  I sure was.  Emphasis on the "was" part.  I found a recipe that was super easy and tastes good, too.  Because, you know I'm all about the easy recipes.

Ready for this... this recipe needs apples, water, and canning jars.  Woo hoo!  I peeled and cut enough apples to fill my 6 quart crock pot and added 1 cup of water.  I turned it on high and let it cook for a few hours until the apples were nice and soft.  I then threw the apples into my food processor and pulsed them until they were the consistency I wanted.  Actually, they could have been just mashed with a potato masher if I wanted them a little chunky.

I poured them immediately into 6 sterilized mason jars and sealed them.  You can see in my picture up there that I left a lot of room.  I probably could have put more applesauce in each one and I would have only gotten 5 pints of applesauce out of the 6 quart crock pot.  I immediately turned the jars upside down and let the heat from the hot applesauce seal the jars.  It only took a few minutes and the jars did seal themselves without a hot water bath.

Verdict: This applesauce is totally sugar free, preservatives and additives free, and completely paleo friendly.  I can't wait to serve this with dinner tomorrow night.  I tasted a little that I didn't jar and it was delicious, even sugar free.

**UPDATE: Once this cooled all 6 jars had sealed themselves just fine.  We opened the 1/2 pint jar to eat first and it is super tasty!  Everyone liked it, even without sugar added.

EASY CROCK POT APPLESAUCE

Makes 5 pints

INGREDIENTS:

Enough peeled and cut apples to fill a 6 quart crock pot

1 cup water

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place all apple slices in crock pot.

2. Add 1 cup of water.

3. Cook on high until apples are tender and mushy.

4. Mash with potato masher or pulse in food processor until applesauce is desired consistency.

5. Pour into sanitized pint sized mason jars.

6. Immediately seal and turn upside down while hot.

7. Keep upside down until jars have completely cooled.  Jars will seal themselves by the heat of the applesauce.  If any jars don’t seal, use those first.  All of mine sealed just fine.