Who doesn’t love applesauce? It’s a tasty treat by itself and a sweet side dish to everything from pork chops to poultry. An apple a day will keep the doctor away, but a batch of applesauce has been known to draw hungry crowds. After the jump,here’s a recipe to turn ordinary apples into extraordinary applesauce

Ingredients:
3 lb bag of granny smith or golden delicious apples
2 lbs of strawberries, mangoes, blueberries or peaches (optional)
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1 cup of water
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar (organic brown sugar, granulated or turbinado)

Equipment:
Apple corer and fruit peeler
large wooden or plastic spoon
a medium saucepan

Rinse, core and peel apples.  It’s okay to leave the pieces as wedges since they’ll break down as they’re cooking.  If you’re adding another fruit, make sure there are more apples than the fruit you’re adding.  A 3 parts apple, 1 part added fruit combination works best.

Combine lemon juice and water in medium saucepan and add fruit as it’s cleaned and peeled.

Mix in cinnamon and sugar.  If you’re making applesauce in combination with another fruit, you can leave out or reduce the amount of cinnamon.

Cover and boil on a medium setting for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently

Once boiling, reduce heat, cover and let simmer.  Continue stirring as fruit breaks down. For a chunkier applesauce, drain excess juice.

You can continue to let simmer until apples are the desired consistency.  Remove from heat and let cool before refrigerating

Enjoy!