The 9×13 Life: Applesauce in the Oven

Fresh applesauce has no connection to the store-variety and there’s no need to use a pot. You can make your applesauce easily at home in the oven.

If you love anything with fresh, unadulterated fruit over Pesach, we know you’ve probably been a fan of this Pineapple-Sour Apple Compote and during the summertime, perhaps you’ve tried this refreshing Apricot Compote. 

Now we’re here to say that there’s no need to use a pot to make your fresh applesauce or compote!

We’re making a double recipe here. Each pan will hold about 10 apples. Use a variety! This is a combination of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp. If you like it more tart, use more green, if you like it more sweet, choose the apples that taste great to you. 

The only work will be peeling and chopping these apples.

There’s nothing like fresh.

You’ll need to rinse the peeled apples (you don’t need to dry, just add directly to the pan after rinsing). 

We recommend using a deep 9×13 pan or the applesauce may bubble over (if you don’t have one available, put a baking sheet under to catch any drips). 

There should be some space between the apples and the top of the pan.

The only thing we’re going to add is a teaspoon of cinnamon. That’s completely optional. We made one pan with cinnamon and one without. There’s no other ingredients! No sugar, nothing. You do not need to add any water, although there was a couple of spoons of water overall in the pan that was still left after rinsing all the apples.

1 ½ hours later…now the question…to blend or not to blend? Do you like it smooth or chunky style?

If you do choose to blend, it’s more efficient to transfer it to a deeper container.

Then use an immersion blender to blend until smooth.

Now it’s perfect.

Applesauce is not just for babies (but it’s also perfect for babies!). Enjoy it on matzah, with salmon, as dessert, or just as a healthy snack!

Serving Note: We blended the versions with just apples, but then made another version with plums that we left chunky. The plums adds some tanginess and is nice served with a scoop of ice cream.