This post was originally published last November. However, we’re heading into applesauce season again, so I’ve updated it to include an organized recipe and am re-posting it now, for all of you who didn’t see if the first time around.
To me, applesauce is the quintessential fall food. I have fond memories of wandering the antique apple orchard at the Bybee-Howell House on Sauvie Island (a mostly agricultural island outside of Portland), really bundled up in scarves and layers for the first time of season, picking up windfall apples* with my mom and sister. Often, we’d bring our dog with us, and she’d run between the trees, tossing apples up in the air with her nose and then chasing after them.
We’d come home with grocery bags full of bruised, but still edible fruit. My mom would cover counter tops with newspaper and we’d begin to peel. When the fruit was all de-skinned, cored and chopped, it would go into her biggest soup pot with a splash of orange juice, cinnamon and grated nutmeg until it had cooked down into a homey sauce.
These days, I still make a yearly batch of applesauce, but I do it a little differently than we used to. I’ve learned over the years to not spend a whole lot of time peeling or chopping my apples. Instead, I cut the apples into quarters and remove the core (of course, if you have windfall fruit, you do have to invest the time in cutting away the bruises and bad spots). The quarters go into the pot with half a cup of apple cider to simmer. As they cook down, the skins will separate from the flesh of the fruit and you can just use a pair of tongs to fish them out.
I like slightly chunky, unsweetened applesauce, seasoned with lots of cinnamon, nutmeg and a dash of cloves (depending on how I’m feeling, sometimes I’ll also add a bit of allspice or powdered ginger), so once the skins are removed and the apples are smashable with the back of a wooden spoon, I’m done. However, if you like a smoother product, feel free to puree or run through a food mill (at this point, you could also go in a different direction and cook it down further, for apple butter).
When it comes to adding sugar, fans of unsweetened applesauce can rejoice, as you are able to can applesauce without any additional sugar. If you want to increase the level of sweetness, you can add approximately 1/8 cup of sugar per quart. I sometimes add a bit of honey if I find the applesauce to be a little too tart. It’s important to taste your sauce before you can it, in order to balance out the sweet/tart flavors. If it’s too sweet, a bit of lemon juice will always brighten the flavors.
To process, bring your applesauce to a boil and pack into clean, hot jars, leaving a half inch of headspace. Remove the air bubbles, wipe the rims and apply lids. Process in a boiling water bath for 15 (pints) or 20 (quarts) minutes. Store in a cool, dark place and enjoy homemade applesauce all year long.
*The Bybee-Howell house used to be a historic site open to the public. They had a Wintering In event each fall that included hand pressed cider and so asked visitors to only pick the windfall apples, as they were saving the ones on the trees for the pressing. However, they lost their funding, the house is no longer open and the Wintering In event doesn’t happen anymore. So it may be that people are allowed to pick the apples. I don’t know for sure.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds apples
- ½ cup apple cider or water
- 2 pieces star anise
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- sugar
Instructions
- Quarter apples. Put them in a large, non-reactive pot. Add liquid and star anise (if using), put on lid and bring to a simmer. Let fruit cook for approximately 15-20 minutes, until the fruit has broken down. Use tongs to fish out apple skins.
- Remove star anise. Using a potato masher or immersion blender, break down the fruit until it has reached your desired consistency. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Taste and add sugar if you feel it is necessary.
- Pour applesauce into your prepared jars. Wipe rims, apply lids and screw on rings. Process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes for half pints and pints, 20 minutes for quarts.
- When time has elapsed, remove jars from canner and let them cool on a towel-lined countertop.
- To store, remove rings and keep in a cool, dark place. Applesauce will keep in storage up to one year.
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Marisa, and all who comment on this site, thank you! thank you! What a wonderful resource.
Today I put up a batch of apples sauce that yielded 7 quarts. However, once I put the quarts in the hot water bath for processing I heard a crack. When I pulled out the jars right a way to check them and as I lifted one the bottom fell off and all the sauce poured right into the water bath. After processing the other quarts and removing them I discovered the same thing happened to anther one of the quarts. I’ve never experienced this before. The quart jars came out of a new case and now I’m wondering if I should use the remaining 5 quart jars. I realize the lost of two jars and the sauce is no major financial loss but it still felt awful to see all that sauce just dissolve into the water bath. The jars and the sauce were both warm if not hot. Have you ever had the bottoms of jars just break off like that?
That happened to me last night too, but luckily I was just sanitizing the jar so it was empty. I’m not sure what makes them crack or break. My jar was brand new.
My brother had that happen last month while trying to make apple jelly, but only one jar out of the set was affected. I think every now and then there’s simply a small flaw somewhere in the glass that gives way with the temperature change.
[...] at Food in Jars (a blog I recently subscribed to) tells how she preserved her applesauce and has a nice apple butter recipe I would like to [...]
What size jars–approx how much does this recipe make?
I’m contemplating making another batch of this right now – SO delicious! I think the last time I had applesauce was as a kid and I didn’t like it at all (then again, it was some packaged, sad applesauce.) I decided I would finally try making applesauce and man, is this recipe where it’s at! I used a mix of cortland and haralson apples so I added a bit of sugar, about a cup, and then blended a little bit with the immersion blender and left it a little chunky. Oh, and I added allspice in addition to the other spices, really really nice. Thanks for the recipe!!
Heh – it must be fall again, as I’m back looking at this page for the first time since last year. Marisa, can you give or point me to any guidance about types of apples to use? I made several kinds last year and some came out creamy/buttery while others stayed sort of firm and grainy (the apples were definitely cooked, but it just didn’t melt into sauce; I had to use a food mill and even then it had a different texture). I’m about to buy a LOT for sauce from our local co-op, and I’d like to be sure that I get a good result.
I knew I’d be likely to find the answer to my question here. I put some jars of applesauce into a water bath yesterday and the water looked very applely when they were finished. This morning, two jars are not sealed but ALL of the other had applesauce around the inside of the rings. They’re sealed though so I’ve cleaned them off and based on what I’ve read above, they should be okay.
Will check the seals again a few times over the next few weeks as I just checked the jars I did last week and one that I thought was sealed (had done the lift by the lid test) is completely open (with the attendant mould) – I think that was the jar I knocked against just after taking it out of the pot though and it had seemed to pop down the lid very quickly after that so I think it was a bit of a false seal.
Thanks for the tip on not peeling the apples. I love that! I’ve been doing it for years the hard way and every year I debate whether I have the space for a crank apple peeler. This is really helpful!
[...] with a knife. I also replaced the sweetener with home-canned apple sauce to make it baby-friendly (see how to make your own apple sauce). I find it sweet enough as is, but if you want your own portion to be sweeter, consider a slather [...]
I am so inspired to make applesauce after reading the recipe and all comments. I will report back on how it all goes.
Since the jars are processed for more then 10 minutes would it be safe to keep the jars warm in the oven before filling and processing?
Yes. That’s a fairly common practice.
I just finished my first batch of the season! Its mostly for my two year old to eat because she loves apple sause, but also sore for baking, I like to used apple sauce in place of oil.
Hi, I have canned since I was about 15 yrs old with my stepmother who taught me how to can, I am now 70 and for the first time I decided to try apple sauce. I have shared some with a friend who loves them. I have noticed though that as the year slowly moved on– the top third of my apple sause has become browner and browner. Is this normal and is there a way to avoid this from happening? We usually dry our apples.
thanks for any feed back. Judy
Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge so consistently on this blog!This will be our third year making/canning apple sauce for a family (we do it in the crock pot, boil half the peels, then puree them in the food processor to add extra nutrition). A few years ago we stumbled upon a revelation: salt. Cook’s Illustrated had done an apple sauce taste test, and one soared above the rest. They checked the ingredients: apples, salt. They added a touch of salt to the other competitors, and now there was very little difference between the top contenders. Now that we’ve started adding salt, I cannot believe how good it is compared to store-bought stuff.
(I’m probably breaking a “good-blogger” rule by posting this here before I post it on my site, but whatever, you’re the canning diva [in the very best sense of the word] so maybe you can try it out and spread the word.)
PS Sorry to hear about your job. Between my husband and I we have had 3 lay-offs in the past 18 months. Sounds like you have a great attitude about it. Wishing you all the best!
[...] in Jars - Canning 101 Round Up, Homemade Applesauce, [...]
[...] Applesauce from food in jars My go-to source for anything canning related. I made one batch plain, another with lots of spice. I preserved some in large jars, some in small jars, to be enjoyed over the winter, on top of pork chops and mixed into yogourt and oatmeal. [...]
This year will be my first time making applesauce. I’m anxious to try this recipe. I don’t see indication of how many jars it makes. Does anyone know how many pints or quarts I can expect from 4lbs of apples?
[...] Adapted from Food in Jars [...]
I took a jam class in SF and they recommend your site. I have to say even though I cook for a living I still did not grow up canning and jamming. I suppose I’m a tiny bit apprehensive about failure. My first attempt to can was today with your applesauce recipe. Very nice. I added some fresh ginger and a mix of whatever apples I could find here in SF at the Civic Center Farmers Market, which is for those of us on a budget.
Nice way to begin, I did add way less of the spices because my apples did not seem to yield that much. Which is fine since I really like the idea of “small batches” it’s the only way I can fathom doing more cooking outside work.
This is really a great site I plan on returning to often. Please let me know when you come to San Francisco!
[...] Homemade Spiced Applesauce from Food in Jars [...]
[...] moments of helping mom bake pies, make applesauce or prepare dinner are memories I’ll cherish forever. While my mother probably would tell you [...]
A friend left a huge bagfull of apples of my doorstep, thanks so much for sharing, I can’t wait to eat it and I haven’t even finished chopping the apples yet!
[...] sale at the market yesterday and I have been dying for some…so this is the recipe I used from Food in Jars. Homecanned Spiced [...]
Made this last night!!
http://adventuresweseek.com/2012/07/30/cooking-on-a-sunday-night/
[...] from a phone conversation with my Mother, Food in Jars, and Make the Bread, Buy the [...]
I am making apple sauce again this year but am reluctant to can them as I did last year. How do you know if all the bubbles are out of the jar before sealing and processing. Last year I lost many many jars to false seals and fermentation. I am leaning towards freezing the sauce…any advise?
[...] Pork Chops in the Crock Pot Baby Baked Potatoes Spiced Applesauce Asparagus Garden [...]
I also am wondering freezing applesauce over canning, I’ve canned one batch so far and thought I would freeze this batch. Any advice?? How long will they keep and so on;;; any advice will be appreciated and by the way , Love your website!!! I made your tomato jam and rhubarb rosemary jelly, yum ,yum!!! Also peach jam.
Donna, I find that I like the texture of canned applesauce over frozen applesauce. They keep equally well.
[...] Unsweetened applesauce gives this cake from Hungry Girl por Vida its moist and lightly sweet flavour. Spiced with cinnamon and allspice, and topped with a brown butter-cream cheese frosting, it makes the perfect fall snack cake. To kick it up a notch, make your own unsweetened applesauce. [...]
[...] adapted this recipe from the canning blog Food in Jars by leaving out the sugar and sweetening the apple sauce with a [...]
I hope this is the right place to ask this. I made my first batch of anything canned yesterday. I made applesauce and the first recipe i found said to process for 10 minutes. Now stuff i read says 15. I made 6 pints and one 1/2 pint. Now I’m paranoid. Do i have to throw it all out?
[...] I used almost half on tarte tatin and apple butter. I used the rest for this unbelievably simple applesauce recipe from Food in Jars. You don’t even need to peel the apples, the skins just fall right off. I [...]
Hello!! Thanks for the recipe, as usual. I did a “batch” (it was 20 lbs of fabulous Jonagolds). I tasted all the varieties at one of the local farm stands. Jonagolds won. They are totally a non-fave for eating but perfect for cooking – really soft and flavorful. I did half unpeeled and the other half peeled. Honestly, while you can pick out the skins, with a child who is slightly fussy, it was worth it to just peel them first. I did a spice bag for the first half and just re-used for the second round. They cooked fast enough that it wasn’t even worth it to dirty another huge pot. Combined both batches before canning… added a tiny bit of salt as was mentioned somewhere here I think. AWESOME. Other spices were star anise and cloves in the spice bag (a large fill-yourself tea bag) and nutmeg and cinnamon in the mix. No honey or cider, I used water for the necessary liquid, although I didn’t measure anything (um, yeah, I’m that person).
20# apples = 14 pints of sauce.
This is super fast if you peel and cut smaller. Especially if they are not firm apples. I had to wait for the dishwasher to finish with my jars. Usually it’s the water boil I wait for – new gas range has solved that though.
I’ll stop now.
I’m combining 3 bags of gala with 1/2 bag granny smith along with 12 pears. I add sugar, cinnamon, cloves & nutmeg. Can them in quart jars & pints. Some are given away to friends & family while I’ll keep the majority which I’ll use for the year…love this recipe & have made it chunky style for years. (prefer chunky over regular applesauce texture) Everyone just loves it & will ask for more!