Apple Sauce: A Versatile Ingredient
Apple sauce is commonly known as baby food because of its smooth texture and sweet flavor.
In vegan baking, you can use apple puree as a substitute for eggs. Just use ¼ cup of apple puree for each egg you want to replace. It can also replace vegetable oil in your recipes if you want to avoid using oil.
Apple sauce is also helpful in gluten-free baking. When you swap some of the liquid or oil with fruit puree, it makes the bread fluffier. You can use almost any fruit if you don’t have apples on hand. You can make puree from bananas, plums, and many other fruits. I use it in both sourdough and yeast bread, which makes them more tender and moist.
Making apple sauce at home is easy and cost-effective. You can use any apples, even if they’re not perfect. In the fall, when apples are in season, I prepare apple puree and freeze it for later use.
To make that important baking ingredient, chop the apples, remove the cores, and cook them in a covered pot over low heat until they are very soft. Then blend them into a smooth sauce. Store it in a jar in the fridge or freeze it. You can eat this sauce by itself or use it in baking.
Sometimes, I add plums or bananas to the apple sauce if they are getting overripe or are on sale. This makes the sauce sweeter and lets me cut back on sugar in recipes. It also gives extra nutrients to the yeast, helping the bread rise better.
This tasty apple sauce is great for baking and other dishes.
