Delicious Applesauce Ideas

Are you bored with applesauce? Applesauce is a delicious fruit treat, although sometimes it gets a little boring eating it the same old way. Whether it's homemade, bought in a can or a jar, applesauce is tasty alone--but it can do so much more. It's a food wonder. Here are 5 ways you can eat applesauce--other than cooked mashed apples in a bowl.

Go Raw

Believe it or not, you can eat applesauce raw--no cooking. Leave the apple peel on or take it off, core the apple, chop it into bite-sized chunks, and put it into the blender. Drizzle a bit of lemon juice and a liquid sweetener on top of the chunks. This helps with the blending, color retention, and flavor. Grind the apple chunks into fresh applesauce. You get to eat the natural benefit of raw fruit, but you get it sauced.

Top It

You can doctor-up your applesauce fairly easily. Sprinkle a dash or two of cinnamon on top of the applesauce in your bowl. Your applesauce will be flavorful just that way, or consider this. Sprinkle a touch of nutmeg along with the cinnamon. It makes your applesauce taste like apple pie.

Go Spicy Red

If you like sweetened applesauce and you like spicy foods, you'll like this one. Melt a quarter-cup of red-hot cinnamon candies into a cup of heated applesauce. It will take a little encouraging, but eventually the red-hot candies will melt, turning your applesauce a beautiful hot-pinkish-red. The applesauce tastes a little like spiced crabapple. You can use this festive applesauce in a holiday menu or any day you want a little pizzazz in your fruit bowl.

Kick out Fat

Applesauce can save you a lot of fat calories and help you avoid hydrogenated fat. Simply substitute applesauce for oil in your recipe. It can do a straight across substitution in many baked goods, or it can help cut the amount of fat needed for a baked product. For more on fat substitution, see resource.

Top Toast

Have you ever tried applesauce in place jam on your morning toast? Applesauce adds sweetness without sugar and is less caloric too. Try it on a rice cake instead. You get the crunch and a sweet topping this way.

Dry It

Did you know you could make apple fruit leather with applesauce? If you have a dehydrator, or you know how to adjust your oven for making fruit leather, spread a few cups of applesauce on a tray and dehydrate for 4-8 hours at 135 degrees.

Add a few apple pie spices and dehydrate until the leather is no longer sticky to the touch. When the leather is still warm, roll it into rollups and store in plastic wrap. It's a delicious take-along treat that's nutritious and great for snacks.

Next time you reach for a can or jar of applesauce and wish you knew something more exciting to do it, remember these applesauce ideas. Your applesauce can take on a whole lot more possibilities.