Applesauce has a variety of uses besides just enjoying it as is. We can use applesauce to replace eggs and oil in baked goods for a healthy alternative. It gives that added something to cakes, cookie bars, oatmeal, and waffles. With a little creativity, it even works great as an after-school snack for the kiddos!
In testing our own applesauce recipes, we found these ideas for creating wonderful new flavors of applesauce.
Start with the Basics
Why not start with a preservative-free, homemade recipe? We recommend cooking your apples with the skin. Boil the apples (cored) with water, a cinnamon stick, and a little vanilla until the apples are mushy. Use a food mill afterward to remove the skins. Red-toned apples will add flavor and a pink color to the applesauce.
Give it Some Spice
Ready to jazz it up a bit? Try adding spice to the applesauce: cayenne pepper and grated ginger go nicely with cinnamon and nutmeg. Chili flakes will also elevate the applesauce with a sensational taste. Another fun grownups-only idea is to add a splash of whiskey to warm it up.
Make it a Sweet Treat
It is common to use sweeteners to offset the tartness of some apple varieties. Experimenting with different forms of sugar creates fun in the kitchen. Agave, maple syrup or sauce, brown sugar, or a touch of molasses will make a tasty applesauce. Why not try one of these with each batch of applesauce until you pick a favorite? We also love to play with unique local honey like buckwheat or wildflower to prepare an applesauce with more flavor depth.
Add Your Favorite Crunch
Some might consider applesauce a mushy baby food. Adding items like dried cranberries, cherries, or golden raisins make applesauce a grown-up snack. Pepitas or toasted nuts are excellent add-ins. Adding a spice-filled purée of pears also adds wonderful flavors to applesauce.
Think Outside the Box
Consider adding the magic of browned butter that has a nutty, rich aroma created by toasting its milk solids. Hands down, this provides a much better flavor than just regular butter. You can also use browned butter in baked goods, sautéed veggies, sauces, and so on—but it works especially well in applesauce because it creates a new, deeply rich dimension that it otherwise wouldn’t have. Add a dash of salt and whisk into the applesauce.
Your One-Stop Apple Shop
Robinette’s Orchards grows a variety of fruit, including apricots, cherries, peaches, nectarines, and 35 varieties of apples. Just imagine experimenting with different kinds of apples to create wonderful-tasting applesauce! We hope to see you soon!