In the fall my family loves to go apple picking. We live in Virginia so we have to travel to the mountains to find a good orchard. We live on the coast and there are no apple orchards near us. It’s about a two hour drive from our home to a beautiful apple orchard. They also sell hot apple cider and apple cider donuts! Yum!
When we go apple picking we don’t buy a ton. We get enough to make a batch of homemade applesauce as well as one apple pie (per my husband’s request). We do a little study about apples ahead of time so my boys know how apples grow and such. We have a lot of fun with it.
Below I will share my applesauce recipe. It is SUPER easy. But, you will need one essential tool: an electric pressure cooker. You can get them most anywhere. You can use it for tons of things. It is my favorite kitchen appliance. The instructions below are for a specific brand (Instant Pot) so check your manual before following these instructions because the buttons could be a little different.
Homemade Applesauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 6-8 large apples (any kind is fine but I like to use a mix of Granny Smith and Gala)
- 1 cup water
- 1-2 tsp. Cinnamon
Instructions
- Core apples and cut into 2-inch chunks. Discard core, stem, and seeds.
- Place in electric pressure cooker liner along with 1 cup of water.
- Close the cooker lid and set steam vent to the seal position. Set to manual high pressure for 8 minutes.
- Once the timer goes off after cooking, let it naturally release (or just sit) for 2-3 minutes.
- Perform a quick release (moving the steam vent to quickly release the pressure). Once the pressure pin has dropped, open the lid.
- Remove access water and put apples into a blender. Mix until it’s as smooth as you like it.
- Add the cinnamon (you can add more or less depending on your personal preference).
- Let cool in fridge before placing in mason jars to store.
Notes
This keeps in the fridge for a few weeks. Of course, it doesn’t last very long around here.
I found a ton of apple books and games (as well as an apple slicer and corer) on Rainbow Resource Center’s website. Check it out. I love books with a specific theme. I keep them in small bin so we have access to them when we need to.
Happy Apple Picking!
