Four Fabulous Ideas for Using Homemade Applesauce

Homemade applesauce is a delicious, healthy, and versatile food that can be eaten alone or used to boost the flavor and health content of other foods and recipes. Apples are a rich source of flavonoids which are thought to reduce the risk of certain types of cancer, promote heart health, and even protect against vision related problems such as cataracts. Apples are also high in pectin which helps to lower cholesterol and promote weight loss by giving a feeling of satiety.

With so many wonderful health benefits, it’s obvious that apples and homemade applesauce should be a part of your diet. Although you can buy canned applesauce at your grocery store, it’s worth the extra effort to make your own apple sauce as the taste difference between homemade and store bought versions is remarkable. Plus, you don’t have to worry about added sugar and preservatives when you make it yourself. You can find a variety of recipes for homemade applesauce on the internet.

Once you’ve made your homemade applesauce, you’ll soon discover a variety of tasty ways to add it to your meals. Here are some suggestions:

Use homemade applesauce as a sugar substitute

Instead of adding table sugar, use fresh, homemade applesauce as a natural sweetener whenever you can. Add applesauce to smoothies, a carton of plain yogurt, or sprinkle it on oatmeal or breakfast cereal for sweetness as well as a new dimension in taste. You can even stir applesauce into a cup of coffee or hot tea for extra flavor. This is a much healthier option than using table sugar.

Use homemade applesauce as a fat substitute

When baking brownies, you can replace up to half of the oil in a recipe with an equal amount of applesauce to cut both calories and fat. Your brownies will still be moist, tasty, and delicious. Experiment with replacing oils, fats, and butters with homemade applesauce in a variety of recipes. In most cases, you’ll get excellent results with a considerable savings in calories.

Use homemade applesauce in place of syrup

Instead of flooding your pancakes or waffles with high calorie, sticky pancake syrup, cover them with a layer of fresh, homemade applesauce. Not only will they taste delicious, but you’ll be adding additional flavonoids and pectins to your breakfast.

Use homemade applesauce as a tasty dessert

Place a layer of fresh applesauce on top of vanilla ice cream and then sprinkle with cinnamon and nuts. Make frozen applesauce popsicles by adding applesauce to a popsicle mold. Make applesauce cookies and cakes that are both healthy and delicious. This is a great way to give your kids a healthy dessert they’ll enjoy.

Don’t forget that homemade applesauce also makes an excellent, preservative free baby food. You’ll never run out of ideas for using freshly made applesauce in your kitchen and once you taste the results, you won’t want to.

If possible, make your homemade applesauce using organic apples since apples may harbor pesticide residues. If you can’t find organic apples at your local grocery store, check your farmer’s market or a natural food market.