Homemade Applesauce
When I found out we were going apple picking last week, I started making preparations for canning applesauce. I ordered my canning lids, secured a recipe, and got excited. The price was a little too much at the apple orchard, so I decided to wait. Then I found apples…almost on their last leg, but perfect for canning…at the local fruit stand. The price? Only 49 cents per pound! I picked 15 apples and decided to test the recipe before going gung-ho.
My recipe came from my friend Alethea. Mom had mentioned that Alethea just made applesauce in the crockpot, so I asked for the recipe. It is definitely a keeper, so I want to share it with you!
- Apples – peeled, cored, and quartered. (I bought 15 apples – they were large, but I had to cut out some bad spots.)
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla
- 1/8 cup lemon juice
- I added 2 cinnamon sticks.
It didn’t take me too long to prepare the apples, but I did have a helper!
Add all ingredients to crock pot. Cook on high for 4 hours, or until apples are soft enough to mash.
Mash with potato masher. If you want a puree, you can process the apples through a blender or food processor. I wanted chunky applesauce.
I canned my applesauce, so I placed it into warm jars with lids, and water-bathed for 20 minutes to seal the lids. I got 6 pints.
I have done canning before, but never without a dishwasher to prep my jars. I was glad that Mom suggested steaming them over the waterbath canner. After I washed them in hot, soapy water, I placed them upside down over the steam. It worked like a charm!
I removed a jar, filled it with applesauce, added the lid, and replaced it in the same spot (right side up, of course!)
Things were a little tight on my tiny stove, but we got it all worked out! Even Ben approved, and he doesn’t usually like anything chunky!
You can’t really tell from this picture, but the tea kettle was practically falling off the edge because the waterbath is so big!
Andrea, I just love reading your blog. You are so precise with your instructions, I love that about you. Thank you for sharing this recipe, it sounds wonderful. Let me ask you, if I just wanted to make a bit of applesauce, could I use this recipe and not use the canning method? Couldn't it just go into a plastic container?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure who left the previous comment, but yes you can use the same recipe and just not can it. In fact, I wasn't sure how full I should fill my crockpot, so I did three of the apples in a mini crock pot and just cut back on the other ingredients. When I realized that it would do just fine all together, I combined things into one pot.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna try your recipe with my apples! Apple orchard today!!! Woohoo!
ReplyDeleteI've been doing the same, Andrea! Only I cook my apples down in a pot, just because it's faster. I love making apple butter in the crockpot though. So far I have about 20 jars of applesauce canned and more to come- I am hoping to make enough to last all year till the next apple season.
ReplyDeleteCanning is so easy and very inexpensive- I am getting more into it this year than I ever have before.