Freezing Apples Whole - Believe it or not It works!

Before I went to Virginia, I had purchased a 1/2 bushel of apples (I think its the right measurement, anyways it was a lot of apples).  Being busy with my projects as I always am, they sat in the fridge for quite awhile and then I realized that I needed to do something with them before my trip.  I didn't have time to peel and cut them up so after a little Google research I decided to freeze them whole. I washed them and then placed them on a cookie sheet and set them in the freezer overnight.  Once they were frozen I moved them to gallon freezer bags and but them back in the freezer.

I decided Monday night that I wanted applesauce and I figured it would be a good test run for the frozen apples b/c if they came out mushy it wouldn't really matter.  I filled the sink with hot water and took the apples out of the bag and floated them individually for about a minute.  Just enough to soften up the skin.  Then I peeled them which worked wonderfully and only requires your fingers, the skin peels right off leaving all of the apple behind.  The only small struggle was cutting and de-coring the apple b/c the middle was still a little frozen.  I would say all in all it balanced out b/c they took half the time to peel but a little longer to cut up.  I used my favorite Betty Crocker Applesauce recipe, very simple just add some brown sugar a little cinnamon and some nutmeg.   It was just as good as using fresh apples.  The apples stayed a little chunky and weren't just mush.  I will totally use them to make pies, crisp and cake, as well as anything else that requires apples.  At least this way you don't have to worry about the apples turning brown while freezing!

Check back tomorrow, I will be making, hopefully tonight or tomorrow morning, Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Cheesecake for Thanksgiving!