SLOW COOKED APPLES

Last fall one of my neighbours gave me a bag of apples from their backyard tree. I knew these apples were for cooking as they were softer apples. They came with a few spots as they were not sprayed which is great. These apples can be used in a variety of ways.

In talking to a friend, she suggested cooking these apples in a slow cooker and to cook them so that they are still in chunks and not pureed like apple sauce. She provided me with a recipe that she was going to use that she got from a friend. I tweaked the recipe and was able to cook the 20 apples. I used Splenda and not sugar in the recipe. The nice thing about this recipe is that you leave the skins on the apples so there is less work to prep them. The caramel syrup is the kind you use when making flavoured coffee drinks. I stirred the apples once they finished cooking to make them more like sauce than chunks. 

I froze some of these cooked apples in one or two cup portions and kept a container in the fridge to enjoy for the week. 

Apples placed in the slow cooker.

After the first hour of cooking.

After three hours of cooking.

Stirred it more to create a bit more puree than chunks. 

INGREDIENTS:

20 apples or enough to fill the crock of a slow cooker
1 to 2 tbsp cinnamon (I used 1 tbsp)
1 tsp nutmeg
dash of cardamom (optional)
2 tbsp sugar or Splenda
2 tbsp regular or sugar free caramel flavour syrup
3/4 cup of water

DIRECTIONS:

Core and cut into quarters or eights each apple. Place into the slow cooker. After all the apples have been placed into the crock, add the cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, sugar and syrup. Mix well. Add the water and stir. Set the slow cooker to high and cook for two hours. Reduce the heat to low for the third hour. Every half hour or so, stir the apples while they are cooking. If the apples require more cooking, keep cooking until you have the desired consistency.