So many people look at me in surprise when they hear that I make applesauce instead of buying it at the store. It has simply never occurred to them to wonder how to make applesauce, they’re so used to buying it at the supermarket. I’m here to tell you that this applesauce recipe is easy and well worth it.
I grew up on an apple farm. When one grows up on an apple farm, one gets a bit picky about applesauce. It should be nice and chunky, with lots of cinnamon, and it must be made from Gravenstein apples. Of course, that last rule is entirely flexible depending upon your preferences, but I assure you that Gravenstein apples are the best. My applesauce recipe doesn’t require any measuring. How simple is that?
Homemade applesauce recipe
1. Peel, core, and cut apples into roughly 1″ chunks. Use enough apples to fill your chosen pot. Use a saucepan for a small batch or a stock pot for a large batch.
2. Pour apple juice into your pot to a depth of about 1″ for a small batch, 2″ for a large batch.
3. Cover your pot and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally until apples become tender. Use a potato masher to break them up until your sauce reaches desired consistency. Alternatively, you can do this in your slow cooker. Same drill: Fill the slow cooker with apple chunks, put about an inch of apple juice in the bottom, and cook on low all day.
4. Stir in plenty of cinnamon. (like this)
5. Serve warm or chilled, or proceed with canning steps below. If you’ve got more than you can use but don’t want to go through the canning process, you can freeze it, too.
Home canning your applesauce
Ladle hot applesauce into sterilized jars, leaving 1/2-inch head space. Wipe rims with a damp cloth (to assure a good seal), screw sterilized lids on, and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. (Click through for a complete tutorial on water bath canning if you’ve never done it before.)
Be sure to set aside enough apples to make Grandma’s apple pie, too!
Hi! I see you say to add apple juice. Right now I only have apple cider from our local farm. Is that ok to use? Thanks!
But then weʻd have to get into a whole conversation about the difference between juice and cider! (Cider is generally the term for fermented apple juice, but a lot of people use the term interchangeably, calling fresh squeezed apple juice “cider.” I sounds more old fashioned, doesnʻt it?) Short answer, yes. 😉
Juice vs cider is actually the extraction process. Cider is cold press, juice is heat processed.
So how many pounds do you do on average? Any any apple juice?
In past years – living in apple country – I’d do about 120-150 pounds each year. My dad has a cider press, so we let him do the making of apple juice. 😉
We have had such a bumper apple crop the past few years at our place, we have had to get a bit creative with how we preserve our apples. We have tried sauce, cider, juice, but the most effective for our family was making a bunch of stewed apple slices, like we did here: http://bit.ly/1Cc276Y. Great share 🙂