Crockpot Apple Sauce - Tastes Like Apple Pie And A WINNER

I promised you this fantastically yummy applesauce,

but first I have to announce the lucky winner

of $200 in accessories from

Splenerosa.....

the winner is

MISS OREM

Congratulations!

Thanks for everyone who participated.  We love

giveaways at Purple Chocolat Home and hubby

even loves them too - I love that!!!

Even if you didn't win, you can be a winner

by ordering some fun and reasonably priced

jewelry and accessories for Christmas 

from Marsha.  

Remember this gorgeous bowl of apples I featured

on my table a week ago?  Well, a girl can only eat so

many fresh apples so I decided to try out a great recipe

I had seen on Pinterest.

 I had remembered it as applesauce but really the recipe was

for apple butter.

I saw it on Changing My Destiny

and she tweaked it from

Cake Student.

I decided to tweak it a little more and make

applesauce out of it. It turns out, Cake Student

made hers into applesauce a year later too!

This is so easy and if you have lots of apples

like I did this year, you will want to make some.

Applesauce or Apple Butter Recipe

10-12 medium apples or 6-7 large

apples - mine were huge Jonagold - 

a juicy, sweet/tart apple - enough to

fill a 5 quart crockpot

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. allspice

1/2 C. brown sugar

Wash and slice and core the apples, then rough chop them

and fill a 5 quart crockpot.  Toss the spices and sugar into

the apples.  Cover and cook on high for about 5 hours.

I didn't add any water and I had plenty of juice that 

cooked out of the apples.

Blend the cooked apples until smooth with an immersion blender

or in a food processor.  

If you want apple butter, just cook it longer until it forms

a paste.  My first batch I ate some and then cooked the

rest about 2 more hours and had a wonderful thick apple butter.

Changes I made:

I had already thrown mine in the crockpot with peels on (theirs were peeled)

and thrown in 1/2 C. sugar (they used 1/4 C.), then I

went and looked up the recipe to see what spices I needed.

I hadn't added water either.  By the time I got back to add the

spices there was plenty of liquid in the bottom and I loved

the flavor with double the sugar so I am sticking with my changes.

Printable Recipe

I started with a full crockpot.  They have begun to cook down here.

This is what mine looked like after 5 hours or so.  It is reduced

about in half.  I didn't peel my apples.  The peels blend right up in the sauce

and add extra nutrition and fiber.

We ate some hot with dinner, cooked some in my

Apple Pudding Pie

and then had some cooked down as apple butter.

It was so good I made a second batch a few days later.

My daughter tried the pie and loved it because it was so

smooth and didn't have chunks of apple in it.

Nothing could be easier.

One bite and I was swooning, now those of you that know me

would know I am not going to swoon over apples  - chocolate, 

lemon, raspberry, yes, but apples???

Well, let me tell you I was.  I love, love, love this recipe.

It tastes like a bite of apple pie without all the guilt from the

crust!

Give it a try.

Apple Pudding Pie And A Fabulous $200 Giveaway

Yes, the cold weather and snow on the ground and 

Thanksgiving around the corner is bringing out the

baker in me.

This apple pie is a 

cross between bread pudding

and a streusel apple pie.  

This is true comfort food!

Top it with caramel and a scoop of ice cream, start

a fire and you are ready for the cold weather.

I first had this warm, smooth pie when I was in college

(eons ago) when we went to visit a friend in California.

His mother, Mrs. Tavernier,  made this for us and it has been in 

my handwritten recipe book ever since.

I love having a history of friendship and love behind

recipes.

It all started with this batch of 

homemade crock pot applesauce 

that I whipped up.

(I am getting ahead of myself, but I will give that to you

in my next post!  Promise!!)

One taste of the applesauce and I was craving apple pie.  Now, that

is not a normal thing for me to crave - as you well know (think more

like chocolate craving...)

This applesauce is so great - it tastes like a pie filling.

But we will get back to that in a later post.....

I instantly remembered the Apple Pudding Pie recipe from

years ago as it is made with applesauce.  I dug it out

and soon was pulling some little pies hot out of the oven.

You don't even need fresh apples to make this pie

so you can use items right out of the pantry.

Apple Pudding Pie Recipe

1 recipe pie dough for 9 inch pan

1 C. applesauce

3 eggs

1/2 C. vanilla yogurt (I used Greek)

1/2 C. sugar

1/2 C. brown sugar

1/ 3 C. oatmeal

1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. allspice

3 C. bread cubes

1 apple, minced 

(or substitute 1/4 C. applesauce)

Streusel Topping

1/4 C. sugar

1/4 C. flour

1/4 C. oatmeal

3 T. butter

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Place pie dough in 9 inch pie shell or 4 small

ramekins.  

Mix the applesauce, eggs, yogurt, sugars, oatmeal, and cinnamon

until well mixed.  Stir in the bread cubes and minced apple.

Set aside and mix the topping together until crumbly.

Spoon the applesauce mix into shells until  almost

full.  It will rise a little.  Top with streusel.  

Bake in a preheated oven at 450 for 10 minutes,

then turn the oven down to 375.  Bake ramekins

for an additional 25-30 minutes and a full pie

for an additional 40-50 minutes or until a knife

inserted in center comes out clean and crust is golden.

Top with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream if desired.

The pie filling is so smooth and comforting.  It is great 

warm or cold. 

This would be a nice addition to your Thanksgiving table.

Wouldn't it be fun to have a selection of mini pies for

Thanksgiving?  I love that idea.

Individual pies like this are perfect for us.  We

shared one and then will eat another one later.

Lest we forget,

 Purple Chocolat Home and Splenderosa have

cooked up a wonderful 

pre - Christmas present for you

direct from Mrs. Claus.

A $200 Giveaway from 

Splenderosa's

fabulous collection of accessories, ranging from

traditional to contemporary all at reasonable prices.

If your name is chosen, you get to pick a whole selection

of fun items to fill your Christmas bag for you or for gifts.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER.

Giveaway ends at midnight, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012.

I am taking this pie to

Foodie Friday

Seasonal Sunday

On The Menu Monday

Harvest Apple Salsa and Cinnamon Tortilla Chips

                     Sweet, crispy, juicy apples

in all their glory.

Here's a wonderful and unique treat to enjoy while

apples are at their peak.

We have lots of apples this year and we need

lots of recipes for them.

Some of you may have read a trick I read on-line

to keep the birds from eating all of your apples.

You hang CDs in the tree and the constant

moving and reflection will scare the birds

off. 

Well, it worked and in almost 20 years, this

is the first year we have had an abundance

of apples! 

Hannah is one of the Young Women in our church and

for our activity one night she had us over to our home

and taught the girls 16-18 years of age how to make a

Sunday Dinner.  Hannah decided on this activity by

herself and decided on the menu she wanted to teach.

Hannah started by chopping apples for the salsa.

Apple Salsa Recipe

2 apples, preferably 1 red and 1 green,

cored, sliced and roughly chopped

(She used 1 Granny Smith and 1 Fuji)

Mix in a bowl:

1 tsp. lemon zest

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/4 C craisins

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 C. caramel ice cream topping

Toss the sauce with the apples and serve

with Cinnamon Tortilla Chips.

Then she showed us how to make homemade cinnamon

tortilla chips to have with the salsa.  We even did a taste

test on commercially made cinnamon tortilla chips.

They didn't stack up to the homemade.

Cinnamon Tortilla Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Flour Tortillas

Butter

Cinnamon Sugar

Butter your tortillas, then sprinkle generously

with cinnamon sugar.  Cut into 8 wedges.  Place

on a cookie sheet.  Bake in 350 degree oven for

7-9 minutes until lightly browned.  Let cool.

(She says she has found the commercial ones

at Target if you want to use those.)

These were seriously amazing.  Your family

will love this and it is so unusual!

Hannah continued with the rest of the meal, showing

us how quick it was to put together.

She included steamed rice pilaf with steamed vegetables,

crock pot roast beef with gravy and finished with

a German Chocolate Cake.

The cake by itself would have been a great activity.

But that wasn't all, she also set the table beautifully in a color

to match the apples.

Love the green and yellow polka dots.

What a cute napkin fold too.

These young girls have so much talent and are so

fun to be with. 

What an amazing instruction and meal.  Everyone loved it.

Thanks Hannah.  You can teach us anytime!!!

(Her mom said she did it all by herself

 except the gravy because of time constraints!)

I will be posting this with

Made By You Monday

Market Yourself Monday

Tasty Tuesday.