Amazing Applesauce

Last Friday the students became chefs! It was the first of our monthly Snazzy Snacks and we cooperated to make a crock pot full of delicious fall applesauce.

Snazzy Snacks are simple cooking or baking activities that are layered with rich learning opportunities. Children follow directions, count, measure, and cooperate. Once the snack is made and devoured, we write out the recipe together. Writing out the recipe encourages sequencing, makes connections to various phonic and spelling skills, and presents an authentic opportunity to print.


Fall is the season when our apple trees are full of ripe apples, so applesauce was the perfect recipe for us to tackle. Mrs. Montgomery was kind enough to share fresh apples from her parents' trees. Thank you so much! Many thanks to our Kindergarten class, who opened up their room to us for the day so we could have access to a sink and extra space to cook.

Here are our applesauce ingredients:

We washed our hands very well before cooking. 

First, the chefs worked in pairs to chop the peeled apple slices.

We filled the crock pot to the top with the apples we chopped!

Next, we added some cinnamon, a few spoonfulls of sugar, and a bit of water.

Then, the crock pot was turned to "high". We waited and we worked, and we worked and we waited. What a delicious smell!

Finally, as the apples softened, we carefully mashed them.

(As a side note, I apparently need to splurge on a new potato masher. The one I own is the world's wimpiest plastic gadget that didn't mash much of anything. Rats.)

The wait was worth it! The applesauce was warm and sweet, albeit a little chunky, but many agreed it was a lot like apple pie. Yummy!

It sure didn't last long! Congratulations, chefs! Job well done!

Today we recorded the recipe together and placed it in our cookbooks.

I can hardly wait for the spooky snacks we will concoct in October!

Thanks to Mrs. Bainbridge who inspired our monthly Snazzy Snack cooking and to Mrs. Bumgardner for the recipe.