Apple Sauce
This fall was the first time I utilized my mother-in-law’s apple tree. –I know…. how did I wait so long to pick fresh apples from her trees? Honestly I don’t really have much of an excuse as to why. But I didn’t waste a second this year, the second they were ripe, we drove over there in our sun faded side by side and picked a bushel of apples! Nothing better than freshly picked apples!
They boys had so much fun, we just may have to do a yearly tradition of grandma’s apple tree. They were amazed at every apple, especially the ones with bugs all over them! (If you saw my Instagram, the boys studied a bee filled apple tree for a long time. Their little curious crouching was so cute!)
I had two plans.. apple pie filling, and apple sauce. Today I’m going to break down apple sauce!
It’s incredibly easy, and to be honest this was my first time canning it! I was blown away at how flexible this recipe can be and how easily its canned! I PROMISE you’ll be able to do this at home.
Pick and wash your apples, you’ll want some sort of apple peeler for applesauce. I used this one here and it made the process way easier. I don’t recommend this tool for apple pie filling but I do recommend it for apple sauce it makes the process go way faster. As you can see with the picture below, we had the boys helping so the mess was bigger than necessary.
You’ll throw your peeled, cored, and cut apples into a pot with about 1-2 inches of water, (just enough to prevent it from sticking.)
Cook your apples until they soften and then take a potato masher or a hand held kitchen aid blender like this one, and puree your apples in the pan.
From here you can add a little sugar or cinnamon all to taste. Just remember that apples tend to get sweeter as they cook. I specifically did about a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon for this batch. My kiddos devoured what didn’t get canned.
You’ll fill your jars, leaving about a half inch of space at the top. Using the funnel you get with your canning supplies makes a huge difference.
Once your water bath is boiling you place your jars in the canner making sure they are under the water by 1-2 inches. I did pint jars so these cook for 15 minutes. Quarts are for 20 minutes.
Place on a towel and let them seal leaving them untouched for about 12 hours. Label, date, and store!
Could you get any more simple than that?