But in the last couple years, I can’t get enough of them. Bananas and Fuji apples are among the few things I grab at the store every single week. I like to have an apple for my mid-morning snack or sometimes in the afternoon if I am in need of that natural sugar pick-me-up. I don’t think I ever realized how sweet apples are until I stopped eating so much of the artificial sugar substitutes. Kind of makes you wonder, right?
Well since it’s kind of a big deal, let’s take a quick minute to talk artificial sweeteners, shall we?
Did you know that artificial sugars are actually hundreds to thousands of times sweeter than natural sugars? What’s interesting is when our bodies are continuously exposed to artificial sweeteners, it can actually increase our sugar cravings. The theory is that our bodies sense the sweetness of the food and expect the calories. When you consume the artificial sweetener without the calories, your body continues to crave the calories so you end up eating more later on – or, you consciously choose to eat more because you had a “calorie-free drink, so it’s ok to have more”. [1] Your body can also create an addiction to it just like with caffeine.
Think of how your taste buds get used to new flavors when you make changes in your diet. When people cut back on their intake of salt or fat, after several weeks, there will be a preference for lower levels of these in their diets. Anyone who gets used to skim milk will tell you that whole milk tastes too strong for them. The same is true for salty foods. But the difference with these and attempting to cut back on sugar is that artificial sweeteners are just put in place of sugar so your body never gets the chance to get used to consuming less of that taste (think “sugar-free” items).
So instead of replacing sugar, why not try consuming it in its natural form to see if, just like with salt, healthy fats, etc., your cravings can be satisfied? And in turn, your desire for it, reduce.
Can you tell I’m already learning so much from my nutrition program? But actually, this is something I’ve been interested in learning about for a long time! Let’s just say I’m not a fan of the word “artificial”..
Luckily, there are some pretty delicious forms of natural sugar. Honey and pure maple syrup are just a couple that I included in our Healthy Substitutions 101 post a couple weeks ago. And of course, fruit!
Today, I wanted to bring you an amazing way to enjoy the overabundance of apples we see this time of year. Homemade Apple Butter, with no sugar added – yet sweet enough to be incredibly delicious on its own!
Ingredients
9-10 apples –> 3 Granny Smith; 3-4 of 2 sweet varieties, I used Fuji & Honeycrisp
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbs. lemon juice
1/4 c. water
1 tsp. vanilla
Directions
Use an apple corer & divider to remove the core from each apple. There is no need to peel the apples, as they will be pureed in the end.
Place apples in a crock pot and add all remaining ingredients, except for vanilla.
Add lid and cook on high for 3-4 hours, until apples can easily be mashed. You may need to stir occasionally to prevent the apples from sticking.
Turn crock pot off, add vanilla, and mash apples with a potato masher to create apple sauce.
Add sauce to a food processor or blender to thoroughly puree into apple butter. Or, if you have an immersion blender, you can just use that right in the crock pot.
If apple butter doesn’t seem thick enough, return to crock pot to cook down for another 30-45 minutes on high; or cook down on the stove in a large pot.
Place apple butter in glass jars to keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, or freezer for extended shelf life.
Directions
- Use an apple corer & divider to remove the core from each apple. There is no need to peel the apples, as they will be pureed in the end.
- Place apples in a crock pot and add all remaining ingredients, except for vanilla.
- Add lid and cook on high for 3-4 hours, until apples can easily be mashed. You may need to stir occasionally to prevent the apples from sticking.
- Turn crock pot off, add vanilla, and mash apples with a potato masher to create apple sauce.
- Add sauce to a food processor or blender to thoroughly puree into apple butter. Or, if you have an immersion blender, you can just use that right in the crock pot.
- If apple butter doesn’t seem thick enough, return to crock pot to cook down for another 30-45 minutes on high; or cook down on the stove in a large pot.
- Place apple butter in glass jars to keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, or freezer for extended shelf life.
