I love apple sauce in any weather. The thought of turning on the oven to make some right now? Or lighting up the stove? In this heat? Not a good one. What to do? Make raw apple sauce. It’s tart, tangy, refreshing and delicious. On top of that, “uncooking” cuts back on energy consumption. It also keeps the house nice and cool –as cool as it can be on these 90 plus degree days.
It seems as though the heat got to my older son this afternoon. He was out for a good part of the day at rock climbing camp and arrived home slightly fatigued and tired looking.
I pondered the possibility of mild dehydration and gave him a tall glass of water and more after that, however by dinner time he said he had a pretty bad headache. I put him in a tepid bath with Epsom salts and that didn’t quite do the trick. Next I added sea salt to his water to get him to retain some extra fluid and catch up on hydration. Then came the magnesium which sometimes works for me in a pinch; all of this to no avail.
Finally he came up with a solution — green tea. I gave him a small cup of it and in less than 15 minutes he was back to his usual self –bouncing off the walls. Well, not quite, by 7:30 pm he was begging for me to tuck him into bed. And of course I obliged. The good news? His headache was long gone and he quickly drifted off to sleep. He even managed to eat some of this apple sauce before bedtime and commented on how much he liked its tangy flavor.
Raw Apple Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in food processor
- Process for 2-3 minutes, stopping as necessary to scrape sauce down the sides
- Serve
Equipment
As you can imagine, this smooth, soothing sauce is a comforting summer dish; I especially like that the cinnamon and lemon provide warming elements to balance out the coolness of the raw apples.
This gluten free raw apple sauce is delicious plain or as a condiment –we ate it straight up this evening, though I think I might try it over pancakes. If you made this raw apple sauce, would you eat it plain or serve it with something?
~M says
Hi Elana,
What made you peel the apples? Do you think this would work with unpeeled apples?
Thanks,
~M
elana says
~M -I prefer braeburn apples for this recipe though am going to try it with Granny Smith too as I like the tart flavor of those.
Wendy -I would stick with what Chrissy says in her comment (below yours).
Simply -Thanks so much and welcome!
Pat -Great recipe! Thanks for sharing it with us, I will definitely be making that for my children (and myself too).
Katrina -I would go with what Chrissy says in her comment.
Chrissy -THANK YOU for weighing in. I used braeburn. I am checking out all of the ripening apples in my neighborhood –preparing to make some good (local) apple pies this fall.
DelSnell -You are welcome. Happy to help and glad that you found us over here.
Ya’ara -That sounds amazing!
Charlie says
Elana, can you freeze these in ice cube trays? If so how long in the freezer? How long in the fridge once made?
thanks
Yaara says
It looks very refreshing!
I’m thinking of freezing it in tiny ice cube plates and adding to my gazpacho:
http://www.bishulog.co.il/blog/2008/06/22/gazpacho/
How about that?
DelSnell says
I am impressed with your recipe. Since I am a 44-year-old, obese, jewish (we have a propensity for diabetes) woman, I need all the help I can get.
Thank you for your recipe.
Delirium (from Locust Valley)
Chrissy says
Just my .02 for those wondering if this can be substituted for cooked apple sauce…
In my experience, using the raw in place of the cooked would water down the recipe. For instance, if you were using applesauce in place of fats in say, brownies, the raw applesauce when heated (as the cellular structure of the fruit would burst) would give off liquids making the recipe not work right as it was written. If the recipe was not going to be heated (baked, roasted, etc), I would say it would substitute just fine and dandy!
Elana… what type of apples did you use? I can not stand granny smith or red delicious, but I am having a hard time finding anything in season in the stores right now. I saw a guy down the street with an apple tree… I may ask what variety he has planted to see what would grow well in this area!
Katrina says
This sounds so yummy and so easy. Love the idea that it’s not cooked. Would also like to know if in its raw form it can be used in recipes that call for applesauce? Thanks! Love your blog.
Pat says
Thanks Elana! Another variation I discovered by accident looking for a cool sweet taste. Choose 1 apple of your favorite variety, choose 1 navel orange of approximate same size. Peal orange, process 1/2 orange and 1/2 (no seeds, leave the peal on)apple in a small food processer. Leave as chunky or as smooth as you like. The orange prevents the apple from browning…the blend of the 2 is easy to eat and sweet enough to be dessert. Repeat with remaining fruit, keep in the frig for later!
Simply...Gluten-free says
This is my first time to your blog, I love it! I will be back!
Wendy says
I live in Brazil where you can not purchase a lot of ready made things including applesauce. My question is could I subsititue your rare applesauce for cooked applesauce in recipes. Making applesauce is a task and this would be so easy.
~M says
Hey Elana!
I was wondering what type of apples you used? Because that could affect the tartness factor :)
~M