Warm Applesauce with Homemade Granola

I had a bag of Macintosh apples sitting on the counter. I bought them to use for baking. I'm not a huge fan of them raw. Picked off the tree they are close to being the perfect apple, but as soon as they separate from the branch and end up at the store they've become too mealy for my liking. They are, for me, the perfect cooking apple, however.

I decided to make some applesauce yesterday. I had just whipped up a batch of our all time favorite granola and thought that the granola might taste quite nice sprinkled over some warm apple sauce. I was envisioning a healthier version of an apple crisp -- one of my all time favorite desserts next to apple pie.

So I cut my macs in half. I do not have an apple corer. I have always meant to get one but never have. Instead I used my melon baller. And it worked wonderfully! I just scooped out the seeds and the stems came right off.

I love to cook the apples with their skins on. I love the color the skins turn the apple sauce. And also, I am pretty darned lazy! Once the apples have cooked and cooled the skins peel right off -- no vegetable peeler or knife needed!

I just added some water to my large pot. About 2 cups.

Then I added my apples (use 10 -12) to the boiling water

I placed 2 Tbs of ground cinnamon* into the water and let cook about 20 minutes.

If there is too much water left over do not worry, just place the apples in a colander and let the water drain. On the other hand, if you see your pot needing more water add about a cup to the apples.

The apples, when done, should mash like a mashed potato.

Remove the apples from the pot and place in a colander to drain.

Let cool.

Add about 2 Tbs. of brown sugar -- taste while you add as this should not be overly sweet.

Remove skins prior to or after mashing.

Depending on how you like your texture you may want to use a ricer, a potato masher or simply a fork.

*If the applesauce appears too brown you may want to wait and add your cinnamon after the apples have cooked. I just like the extra flavor you get from the cooked cinnamon.