20-Minute Homemade Spiced Unsweetened Applesauce

Blue kids plate and bowl with homemade applesauce and a scattering of apples, cinnamon and vanilla next to it.

Get the recipe: 20-Minute Homemade Spiced Unsweetened Applesauce

5 stars (1 rating)

This Homemade Unsweetened Applesauce is the perfect snack for kids. Made with a drizzle of vanilla extract, a pinch of cinnamon, and no added sugar! Easy to make on the stovetop and freezes well!

Yield: 3 cups

Prep: 5

Cook: 15

Total: 20

Author: Michele Olivier

Course: Side Dish

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Ingredients

6 large apples
1/2 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

Peel apples. This step is optional. Peeling apples will give the applesauce a crisper taste, while not peeling them will give the applesauce an earthier taste and texture. Both are great.
Core, and roughly chop the apples.
Place the apples, cinnamon, vanilla, and water into a medium or large saucepan. Cover. Heat over medium-low heat for 15 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.
Transfer all ingredients into a blender.
Pulse for a chunky applesauce or blend for 15-30 seconds for a smoother applesauce. You can also use an immersion blender for this step.
Serve and enjoy!

Notes

Age: 6+ months

Storage: Unsweetened Applesauce will keep for 1 week in the fridge (if it lasts that long!) or for 3 months in the freezer.

Apples: Make sure to use apples that are ripe and sweet, such as Fuji, Gala, Honeycrisp, McIntosh, Pink Lady or Golden Delicious.

Cooking with Kids

Kids love helping in the kitchen and this applesauce recipe is a great way to get them involved.

Toddlers

They can help pick out and measure the ingredients.
Toddlers can help chop the apples into small chunks, with a child-safe knife.
With assistance, they can add cinnamon and vanilla to the cooking apples.

Kids

They can gather and measure all of the ingredients.
Kids can help peel and chop the apples with a child-safe knife.
They can help spoon the cooled sauce into a container.

Add-Ins: The great thing about homemade applesauce is that it offers a solid base to get creative with many other kinds of fruit. You can even include a combination of a couple of fruits in your fridge or freezer that need to be used up, like these: