Circle B Kitchen
Makes about 3 cups
3 lbs (8-9) baking apples (golden delicious, macintosh, gravenstein, etc.)
Brown sugar to taste (about 1/4 cup)
Pinch of salt
¼ tsp ground cinnamon (or to taste)
2 to 3 tablespoons water, if needed
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Spray 2 shallow baking pans with cooking spray.
Cut apples in half vertically and core them. (I use a melon-baller). Place the halves, cut side down on the baking sheets, cover tightly with aluminum foil.
Bake apples until tender, about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the kind of apples you're using. Golden delicious are done at 30 minutes, other apple varieties will take longer. When cool enough to handle, slip fruits from their skins back into pan, scraping any pulp from peels. Discard skins.
While still warm, mash apples with a fork (or leave chunky), stirring in some brown sugar, a pinch of salt, ground cinnamon and a bit of water (if needed) to help scrape up any brown bits in the pan and to lighten the texture of the applesauce. (Note: I've made this dozens of times and have never needed to add water).
Serve warm, room temperature, or cold.