Day 261 - Baked Applesauce

I wish we had access to apple picking as easily here in Arizona as we used to when we lived in Rhode Island.
It was something we did quite a bit and if we didn't do it as a family, most often the kids would have school field trips to an orchard.
Apple picking is a definite sign of fall.
Going to the grocery store to buy a bag of apples just doesn't do it for me.  And the cider bought in the store just doesn't taste like the stuff we used to buy.
I'm going through New England Fall withdrawal.
Can you tell?
I like how that sounds, too, New England Fall withdrawal.

I'm missing the change of seasons more than I thought I was, especially this time of year.
So, to bring a taste of New England to Arizona today I decided to make some applesauce.  I was originally going to cook it in the crock pot because I thought that would be the thing to do and then I was like,
"Duh, why couldn't it be baked?"
I had my daughter Google it on the internet, and...wouldn't you know it, somebody's done it.
Well, a lot of somebodies have done it.
But I went with this one from AllRecipes.

Baked Applesauce - serves 8...or 2 + me + me + ME
    (ok, I ate a lot of it.  It was just THAT good)
     Besides, who was the one who peeled and cut ALL those apples, hunh?  I worked for it.
     Everyone else sat there and expected it to be given to them just so they could rate it for me.  Sheesh.

8 large apples (I used 4 Granny Smith and 4 Macintosh)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Prepare a 2 1/2 quart baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.  Mix well.
Peel, core and cut apples into slices.
Place apples into a large bowl.
Pour sugar mixture over apples and toss to coat.

Pour apples into prepared baking dish and cover with tin foil.
Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until apples are tender.
Uncover and use a potato masher to crush the apples.

Serve warm.

I rate everything I bake on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best and this Baked Applesauce earned 3 1/2 rolling pins!
It was so good and SO EASY that the store bought stuff doesn't even come CLOSE!!
Sorry Mott's.
I'm really interested to try making it in the crockpot now and see how that tastes compared to the baked version.
It was just a tad bit too sweet which is the only thing holding it back from being a 4, so when I make it this way again, I'll cut out a few tablespoons of sugar and maybe add a touch more cinnamon.
It was truly delicious.
Now I really want to go get me some more apples.
I had taken it out of the oven after 45 minutes and while mashing, found that there were some apple slices that were resisting the break down, so put it back into the oven for another 10 minutes.
I didn't break all of it down, but I liked the fact that there were some apple chunks in there.

Making this brought me back to kindergarten when we made applesauce.  I loved kindergarten.  Life was so easy then - coloring, learning to read, learning to tie my shoes, running smack dab into a wooden plank on the playground which knocked me out.
Yikes!  I just remembered that!
I still have that vision of the board coming at me or rather, me running full force toward it while chasing a friend.  I hit it just above eye level and then came to with teachers and fellow students looking down at me.
Good grief.
Alright, what can I say?  I am an only child and do like to have ALL the attention focused on me.

Wasn't I talking about applesauce?  How the heck did I get off on this tangent?

Smile!
I give you BIG baking hugs and muffins!!