Baked Applesauce . . . .

We've adapted an Ina Garten recipe for a baked applesauce:

Pre-heat oven to 350

Ingredients:
18 Apples
1/4 Cup of Golden Raisins
1 Navel Orange
1 Lemon
1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
2 Tsp Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Allspice
1/2 Stick of Salted Butter

- Peel, core, cut 18 apples (9 Green + 9 Red) into chunks
- In a bowl, mix 1/2 cup light brown sugar + 2 teaspoons of cinnamon + 1/2 teaspoon allspice, using a fork
- In a saucer, zest 1 navel oranges + 1 lemon
- In a bowl, juice the zested citrus
- Layer the apple chunks with 1/4 cup Golden Raisins + sprinklings of the sugar mix + zest into a heavy, lidded Dutch oven
- Slice 1/2 a stick of salted butter & place pieces on top of the apple mixture.
- Bake covered for 1 hr 20 mins
- Remove cover and finish baking for an additional 10 mins @ 350.

Serve to good friends, warm.

**The apples can be processed the night before & juiced with the lemon.  This will prevent browning.  The juice can be poured over the mix when assembling it in the Dutch oven.

**** Last week, I did this recipe in a slow cooker overnight, thinking about how wonderful it would be to wake up to the aroma of cooked apples.  Though delicious, it lacked the chunky texture that I prefer & the house had no special scent wafting about.  It just cooked tooooo long, even with the slow cooker on low.  4 hours may have been enough time.
I decided to thinly sliced 1/2 inch pieces of peeled apple & stirred them into the crock pot & placed the lid back on, with the power off.
I'll give it another try with a watchful eye on time. ****