It’s in my crockpot right now, and in a few minutes your house could smell amazing, too. This is the easiest way to make applesauce, with just a few ingredients and some peeling and chopping while you sip on tea. I love cooking year-round, but particularly when rain taps at the house, skies are moody and candles are lit throughout the house.

Anyone, and I mean anyone, can make amazing applesauce with a slow-cooker. You can delegate this entirely to a fairly responsible kid, if you’d like.

Slow-Cooker Applesauce
10 cups apples, diced large (7 – 9 apples)
2/3 cup water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon organic cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

My personal rule with any apple baking is to mix varieties. In this batch, Honeycrisp, Gala, Cortland and Golden Supreme cook down together, but you could use almost any juicy, flavorful variety. (I must admit to a bias against Red Delicious.) Use whatever you have on hand, 2 – 5 different kinds if possible.

Peel and core all apples, then dice into large chunks. You should have about 10 cups of diced apples. Add them to your slow-cooker and pour water on top. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar, add lemon juice, then give everything a good stir.

Set slow-cooker to high, stirring every 30 minutes or so. At about two hours, your apples should be soft enough that stirring turns them into mush. Lower heat to warm (or your lowest setting) and stir until you have chunky applesauce.

You can leave as is, or use an immersion blender (or regular blender in batches) to make it smooth. This applesauce is delicious warm, cold, on top of pancakes, ice cream, or any other fall-appropriate way you want to serve it up!

Welcoming October with joy in these parts, and wishing you a month of good food with those you hold dear.