After Apple Picking: Four Easy Apple Recipes Kids Can Make

After a day of apple picking, these four recipes turn a bag of apples into something kids can make themselves: chunky stovetop applesauce, apple "nachos", an oat-topped apple crisp and apple ring sandwiches. Each one has jobs for every age, from toddlers who wash and stir to older kids who peel and slice, and each says which steps need a grown-up for the knife, stove or oven.

Kid-friendly: all four. Toddlers can wash, sprinkle and stir; 4 to 7s can measure and assemble; 8 and up can peel and slice with supervision. Allergens: see each recipe. All four can be made nut-free.

First, look after your apples

Apples keep much longer in the fridge than in a bowl on the counter. Sort through the bag when you get home: bruised or split apples go into today's applesauce or crisp, and the perfect ones go into the fridge crisper drawer for snacking. Any apple with mould or a soft, rotting patch goes in the compost.

Before you start: kitchen jobs by age

• Toddlers (2 to 3): wash apples in a bowl of water, tip pre-measured ingredients into a bowl, sprinkle toppings, stir cool mixtures.
• Ages 4 to 7: measure with cups and spoons, mix crisp topping with their fingers, assemble nachos and sandwiches, mash cooked apples with a potato masher once they have cooled a little.
• Ages 8 to 12: peel with a Y-shaped peeler, core and slice with a small sharp knife and an adult beside them, stir a pot on the stove with an adult in charge.
• Teens: most of each recipe on their own, with an adult nearby for the oven.
• Grown-ups: coring whole apples with a sharp knife or corer for younger kids, anything on the stovetop for under-8s, and putting things in and taking them out of the oven.

Wash hands before you start. If your child is just learning to use a knife, our fruit salad with kids shows a safe first-knife-skills routine by age, including how to cut a round apple so it does not roll.

1. Chunky stovetop applesauce

Makes: about 3 cups (720 ml) · Prep: 15 minutes · Cook: 20 to 25 minutes Allergens: none of the major allergens.

• 6 medium apples (about 2 lb / 900 g), a mix of sweet and tart if you have them
• ½ cup (120 ml) water
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 to 2 tablespoons (12 to 25 g) brown sugar, optional

1. Kids wash the apples. An adult or older child peels, cores and cuts them into 1 inch (2.5 cm) chunks.
2. Put the apples, water, lemon juice and cinnamon in a medium saucepan. Kids can tip everything in before the pan goes on the heat.
3. Adult: bring to a simmer over medium heat, cover, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the apples are very soft. Older kids can stir, with an adult watching.
4. Take off the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes. Then kids mash it with a potato masher, as chunky or smooth as they like. Taste, and add sugar only if it needs it.

Keep it in a covered container in the fridge and use it within 3 to 4 days, like other cooked leftovers, or freeze it in small portions. Mashed well, it is soft enough for toddlers.

2. Apple nachos

Serves: 2 to 3 · Prep: 10 minutes · Cook: none Allergens: dairy (yogurt); granola may contain nuts, gluten or sesame. Swaps below.

• 2 apples (about 12 oz / 340 g), cored and sliced into thin rounds or wedges
• ⅓ cup (80 g) plain or vanilla yogurt
• 2 tablespoons (15 g) nut-free granola
• 1 tablespoon (10 g) raisins or mini chocolate chips
• A pinch of cinnamon

1. An adult or older child slices the apples. Spread the slices on a plate, overlapping like nacho chips.
2. Kids spoon or drizzle the yogurt over the top, then sprinkle the granola, raisins and cinnamon.
3. Eat straight away, before the yogurt slides off.

Swaps: use a dairy-free yogurt; check that granola is made without nuts for school or nut-allergic friends. For under-4s, slice the apple very thinly and leave off the raisins and granola clusters, or use soft cooked apple instead.

3. Easy apple crisp

Serves: 6 · Prep: 20 minutes · Cook: 35 to 40 minutes Allergens: gluten (flour, oats unless certified gluten-free), dairy (butter).

For the filling:

• 5 medium apples (about 1¾ lb / 800 g), peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons (25 g) brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon (8 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the topping:

• ¾ cup (70 g) rolled oats
• ½ cup (65 g) all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup (65 g) packed brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons (85 g) butter, softened

1. Adult: heat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. Kids toss the sliced apples with the lemon juice, sugar, flour and cinnamon in an 8 inch (20 cm) square baking dish.
3. In a bowl, kids mix the oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt, then rub in the soft butter with their fingertips until it looks like clumpy crumbs. This is the best job in the recipe for 4 to 7s.
4. Kids scatter the topping evenly over the apples.
5. Adult: bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is golden and the juices bubble at the edges. Let it cool for at least 15 minutes; the fruit is very hot straight from the oven.

Swaps: certified gluten-free oats and a gluten-free flour blend; dairy-free butter or coconut oil. Leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge.

4. Apple ring sandwiches

Makes: 4 sandwiches · Prep: 10 minutes · Cook: none Allergens: depends on the spread; nut-free with sunflower seed butter.

• 2 large apples (about 1 lb / 450 g)
• 4 tablespoons (64 g) sunflower seed butter or cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons (15 g) nut-free granola, raisins or mini chocolate chips

1. An adult cores each apple with an apple corer, then slices it crosswise into rounds about ¼ inch (6 mm) thick, so each round has a hole in the middle.
2. Kids spread one round with sunflower seed butter, sprinkle on granola or raisins and top with another round.

Swaps: cream cheese makes these dairy-based instead; check sunflower seed butter is made in a nut-free facility if that matters at school. For under-4s, thick crisp apple rings and sticky spreads are a choking risk: use thin, soft cooked apple slices and a thin layer of spread instead.

Why do the slices turn brown?

Cut apples go brown within minutes, and it makes a good kitchen experiment while the crisp bakes. Our apple browning test shows what slows it down, and the reason it happens at all.