Cheddar Apple Soup

Melt butter in a stockpot over medium heat; saute onion until tender about 10 minutes. Sprinkle flour and mustard powder over onion and stir to coat. Cook and stir onion mixture until flour and mustard have dissolved 1 to 2 more minutes.

Stir chicken stock into onion mixture until well-blended; add 3/4 the apples. Cover the stockpot with a lid reduce heat to low and simmer until soup is thickened and apple is tender about 10 minutes.

Stir Cheddar cheese into soup stirring constantly until cheese is melted and soup is a silky texture 3 to 5 minutes.

Blend soup using a hand blender or transfer soup to a blender working in batches until soup is smooth. Stir hot sauce and black pepper into soup. Ladle soup into serving bowls and garnish with remaining 1/4 chopped apple.