This may seem like an odd time of year for applesauce, seeing as how apples are a Fall crop and the weather’s warming up nicely for Spring, but that’s actually the point of my little story here.   I got these golden delicious apples as a freebie at a farm stand (two giant boxes-full!) with grand plans of pies and apple butter.  Sure, I used a few, but mostly they sat and sat and sat until my two big beautiful boxes of apples were pretty wrinkly (not rotten, just dried out a bit).   Oh, the guilt!  I forged ahead and made a big batch of applesauce.  It was sort of a hail mary play, but honestly, this is the most delicious applesauce…very sweet and slightly syrupy since the apples were so dry to start with.  Even if you don’t want to let your apples sit, fresh apples make a sweet, fresh treat in no time.

To start I just quartered the apples and put them in a stockpot with a few tablespoons of water.  This was my first batch (I told you that there were a LOT of apples!).  I didn’t peel them or anything.

After 45 minutes or so over medium heat with on occasional stir they were very soft and mushed up.

I used the food grinder attachment for my mixer, or you can use a stand alone food mill (like my mother does).  The benefit here is that it strains out all the skin and seeds for you and gives you a smooth sauce.  Like this:

No sugar, no random other ingredients, although you might like to throw a bit of cinnamon for added deliciousness!