Homemade Applesauce

So, not to toot my own horn or anything…but, I made the MOST delicious applesauce ever earlier this week!

You must know that applesauce is one of my favorite foods to eat – I love how versatile it is! It’s great for any meal, as a snack on it’s own, or even as a scrumptious dessert. Really, it’s great for any occasion! Since I love it so much, I don’t know why I don’t make it more often. I guess it’s because it’s the easiest thing in the world to run to the store and pick up a jar of applesauce…plus, it’s incredibly affordable.

If you find yourself asking: “Then why would you bother making it yourself?” You probably have never had a piping-hot taste of fresh applesauce from the pot, or a spoonful of crisp cool refrigerated-overnight applesauce…have you? It is one of the best foods known to man I’d say.

After all of this hype, I suppose I should share my recipe with you. Then you can run to the store and make some of your own applesauce only to enjoy the praises of your friends & family later this evening {it will happen – trust}.

I must warn you ahead of time that my applesauce instructions are more of a guideline than an actual recipe.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Apples
Sugar
Water
Cinnamon

Let’s talk apples for a moment shall we? You’ll want to choose apples that are naturally sweet…even if you prefer eating the sour kind. The natural sugars are what really punch up the flavor. You might also want to think about using a variety of apples. The flavor is always incredible and many times you won’t need to add any sugar at all! The following is a list of the best apple varieties to use when making applesauce:

Best: Gala, Fuji
Better: Jonathan, Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, Jonalicious, Jonagold, Melrose
Good: Lodi, McIntosh, Red Delicious, Stayman Winesap, Pink Lady

*If you’re going to an orchard, ask for the bruised apples…they’re almost always half off and perfect for making applesauce.

You’ll need to start by washing, peeling, and coring your apples. I purchased five LARGE honeycrisp apples for this batch – totaling approximately 4 pounds!
*Side-note: I am obsessed with my apple peeler/corer and would highly recommend you get one for your kitchen.

But, I will warn you…when you get HUGE apples like I did it might not work so well… I thought I was good starting out. Until the apples got too big for the peeler/corer and I had to do a few by hand. There’s nothing wrong with the old-fashioned way of doing things, but once you’ve had a luxury like this it’s really hard to go back!

Chop up all of your apples and dump them in a big pot.
*Tip: the smaller the pieces the less time it will take to boil.

I always add 1 cup of sugar to the apples before boiling them. If you think you have sweet enough apples, skip this step. Since I used all honeycrisp apples, I probably could have left out the sugar…it ended up being SUPER sweet {I’m not complaining, but you might not enjoy it…}

Cover up your apples and sugar with water. Place on the stove over medium to medium-high heat until they start to boil. Simmer for approximately 20 minutes, or until the sugar is melted and the apples are soft.
*Note: Honeycrisp apples make extremely watery applesauce, so add less water if you’re using them in your mixture.

By the 20 minute mark my apples were basically mashed already. I still took out my potato masher to see if I could make the sauce any smoother, but they were already broken down into perfect applesauce!

Now is the time we’ve all been waiting for…you can taste your applesauce! Check to see if it needs more sugar, and you can decide if you want to add cinnamon {though I’m not sure I can be friends with you if you don’t…}. If you added more sugar, heat the applesauce until it’s melted.

The BEST way to eat warm-from-the-pot applesauce is to spoon it over some homemade vanilla ice cream. The ice cream will melt making a soup-like hot & cold delicacy. SO delicious!

To store your applesauce simply let it cool, put it in a tupperware or canning jars and refrigerate. I can’t tell you exactly how long it will last you because it’s never in our fridge for more than a few days!

Enjoy this yummy taste of Fall!

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