Recipe: Homemade Apple Sauce

Everyone has a friend who doesn't like a certain fruit - for some it's bananas, for others mangoes or even strawberries and for me it's apples. Since I was little, I never enjoyed eating raw apples and if I ate any apples at all, it always came down to a few slices and then I was fed up. My dad always shakes his head at me, saying that I have to like apples because I'm such a fruits and vegetables junkie in general but I just... don't? 

However, I do like apples when they're "processed" (by which I don't mean that they need to be loaded with unnecessary sugars and oils by the way) and especially when they're warm! I find it very funny that I really don't enjoy eating apples raw, but you know what I looove? Apple sauce! My dad makes the best apple sauce ever and I always end up scraping the rest of it out of the pot, so I decided to make some myself today and share the recipe with you! It can obviously be eaten when hot or cold (hint: it's so much better when hot though) and if you're a cinnamon lover like me, don't be shy with adding it into the sauce!

This recipe makes about 3-4 servings of apple sauce, but the amount of apple sauce you get out of varies depending on how big your apples are.

Ingredients:

• 4 big apples
• agave nectar 
• 1-2 cinnamon sticks (or ground cinnamon if you don't have sticks)
• 1 vanilla bean (or vanilla extract)
• 2 cloves
• water

Instructions:

1. Peel and chop apples. The smaller you chop them, the faster the cooking process will be.
2. Add chopped apples, cinnamon sticks, vanilla pod (sliced in two but don't scrape out the insides just yet), agave nectar (to taste - be careful with how much you use, otherwise it might come out as too sweet) and the cloves to a big pot and add some water.
3. Let everything cook (cover the pot) until the apples start softening, then take out the vanilla bean, scrape out the insides of it and add the vanilla to the apples. Mix everything every now and then.
4. When the apples are soft enough to be mashed with a wooden spoon, turn off the heat and take out the cinnamon sticks and cloves. It's important that you get everything out you put in at this point!
5. If you like your apple sauce chunky, eat it straight away or let it cool down first. I wanted to have a smooth apple sauce, so I blended it with a hand blender until everything was nice and smooth. Enjoy!