Description
The simplest and the best way to make applesauce. Homemade applesauce is a true treat, and it couldn’t be simpler to make.
Ingredients
- Apples, any amount, any variety except extremely sour types like Granny Smith
- Apple pie spice: optional, to taste; you can also use pumpkin pie spice or chai spice blend
Instructions
- Prep your apples: Wash all the apples. Cut away any bad spots, but don’t bother peeling them. Cut them into quarters and toss them into a stock pot.
- Steam: place a small amount of water into the bottom of the stock pot. 1 cup in a large pot is good. Bring the pot to the boil, then reduce down to low. Stir the apples every 20 minutes or so until the apples are tender and the skins are starting to break down. A small batch may take only 20 minutes, and a full pot might take an hour or more.
- The apples are ready to strain when you can easily stick a knife through them. You will see the skins starting to shrink down and you may see particulates of applesauce towards the bottom of the pot.
- Set up a food mill over a large bowl. Fit it with a disc just smaller than the apple seeds.
- Scoop the apples into the food mill. Turn the crank letting the apple puree fall into the bowl. Scrape down the bottom side of the mill occasionally as it can get clogged. As you get down to the bottom of the batch of apples in the mill, be sure to turn the mill both clockwise and counterclockwise. This will help push the rest of the apples through the bottom more easily. Scrape down the sides of the mill frequently and move chunks of apples to the space under the blade. This will force more of the apples through the holes more quickly.
- Keep repeating milling the apples until you’ve pureed the whole batch. Toss the apple waste into the compost.
- After you’ve milled all the apples, check the consistency of your applesauce. If it seems too thin, place the strained applesauce back into the pot (clean it first) and cook it for a few minutes, stirring frequently to evaporate any excess water.
- When the applesauce is at the consistency that you like, add apple pie spice to taste. For the gallon of applesauce I made, I added about 1 teaspoon.
- Place applesauce in sterilized jars or in Ziploc bags. You can process the applesauce for canning if you like, following directions in a book like the Ball canning book, or simply freeze your applesauce.
- Homemade applesauce is best eaten within a year.
Notes
- I don’t have a food mill: If you don’t have one, that’s okay (but put one on your wish list because it’s such a cool tool!). Simply peel and core your apples before you make your applesauce. Do not leave the peels on as apple peels get tough during cooking, leaving you to have to overcook the sauce for them to break down at all. If you’re really opposed to peeling the apples, you can process your sauce in a blender or food processor, but the texture will not be the same.
- Chunky applesauce: If you’d rather have chunky applesauce, you can do one of two things: 1)Core the apples and use a food mill: this will let you use the coarse disc on the mill. This will strain out the skins, but give you a coarser texture. Alternatively 2): Peel and core the apples. Once they start breaking down, mash them with a potato masher roughly until they cook down to the consistency you like.
- More cinnamon, please: I tend to use applesauce as an ingredient rather than eat it plainly. If you prefer more of a true cinnamon applesauce to enjoy it on its own, keep tasting as you add cinnamon. Stop when there’s enough spice to your liking.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes for cutting and straining the sauce
- Cook Time: 20 minutes-1 hour
- Category: Baking building blocks
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American