Basic Pancakes & Homemade Applesauce

 Source: How it All Vegan

I woke up this morning with a hankerin' for pancakes, but was crushed when I realized my favorite pancake recipe card is MIA. After recovering from my devastation, I sifted through cookbooks before finding a simple recipe in HiAV. They came together pretty quickly, but as the ingredient list is quite sparse, I was anticipating kind of boring pancakes. I was right. The batter was pretty bland - it actually kind of reminded me of pretzels. They also cooked kind of strange looking. Because "plain pancakes" is synonymous with "maple syrup" in my mind, the blandness of the pancakes alone sort of became a moot point. Not the best pancakes (for that, I'd suggest One World Cafe), but they served their ultimate purpose: filling my tummy.

Apples are one of my favorite fruits because they're so versatile, and delicious in just about every form. By themselves raw or baked, in pies or muffins, as juice, jam, or cider - I'll eat it all. A friend shared this simple apple sauce recipe with me years ago, and because I'm kind of a snob who won't eat slightly past-their-prime apples, this one gets a bit of use. This is kind of a general outline, as it depends on a variety of factors, but it's just about fool-proof.

You'll need:

- 5 or 6 apples
- 1 C water
- sweetener and cinnamon to taste (I use agave nectar)

1. Cut and core apples into bite-size chunk. I leave the peel on, but I suppose you could also remove it.
2. Put apples in medium or large pan (depending on how many and how big the apples) over medium-low heat, and add water. Allow apples to cook down 15 - 20 minutes. Do not drain water!
3. Once the apples have cooked down, use a potato masher or fork to mash apples. How smooth or chunky you like your apple sauce will determine how much mashing you do.
4. Season apples to taste with sweetener and cinnamon. Enjoy!

These are equally yummy hot or cold, too!