Vanilla Apple Sauce - More Apple Picking Spoils

After apple picking at Smolak Farms we knew we had enough apples for an apple and pear crisp as well as something else delicious.  After seeing Jen's vanilla spiced applesauce I knew I had to make it, especially since I still had some vanilla beans from the spice souk in Dubai!

Delicious Apples

The Necessities (recipe adapted from Beantown Baker)

• 6 Apples, roughly peeled and chopped
• 3 Vanilla Beans
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon all spice
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup water

After preparing the apples I put them in a large dutch oven and then turned my attention to the vanilla beans, which looked and smelled incredible.  There was no doubt that they were packed with so much flavor!  I sliced open the vanilla beans, and using my knife I scooped out the seeds inside and added them to the pot.  I then tossed in the beans themselves for a little extra flavor.

Vanilla Beans from Dubai!

I then added the remaining ingredients to the pot, gave it a big stir and brought the water to a boil.

All in the pot

All stirred up

Once the water reached a boil, I turned the heat down to medium low, covered the pot and let it cook for another 20 minutes.  Our apartment smelled amazing - ll of these spices were so fragrant even through the cast iron dutch oven!

After 20 minutes

Twenty minutes later, the apples were nice and soft.  I first removed the three vanilla bean pods and then stirred up and mushed the apples up a bit with a wooden spoon.  I then brought out the big guns and used the potato masher to make sure the consistency of the apple sauce was nice and smooth.

All mashed up

After letting it cool, we grabbed a bowl and dug in!  I will say, the left-overs - about 2 or 3 days later - were ever better.  I think that all the spices sitting together for sometime allowed the dish to come together amazingly well.  The vanilla was definitely the strongest flavor but was so delicious!  I think the vanilla flavor was even more prominent when the apple sauce was cold.

Final Product

This was my first time making applesauce and I was surprised by how easy it really is.  There are so many ways to dress up applesauce in general, so I cannot wait to play around with some new ingredients!

Have you ever made a dish that was easier than expected?