Sweetly-Tart Honey Crisp Applesauce

With school in full swing, the cool night air whisking in the Autumn season and apple trees bursting with fruit, this homemade applesauce recipe is an easy and satisfying project on a brisk Fall day.

Whether you choose to can the applesauce for long term storage in your pantry, make a small batch to eat fresh in your refrigerator or freeze in zip-top bags, homemade applesauce is a delicious way to celebrate the season.

Ingredients

Makes about 8 pint jars or 4 quart jars

12 lbs. Honey Crisp apples or any apple combination of your choosing *

2-4 Tablespoons apple juice or water*

4 Tablespoons  bottled lemon juice- absolutely, positively necessary for safe canning and will help prevent browning of the apples

Directions

1. Prep canner, jars and lids if canning for long storage. * see notes below

2. With an apple peeler or a paring knife peel, core and slice the apples, plop them in a large stock pot with just enough apple juice or water to create steam and to prevent the apples from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

3. Place the pot of apples over medium heat while stirring them intermittently for about 20 minutes until tender enough to puree.

4. With an immersion blender, puree the soft apples until smooth or to whatever chunky- applesauce-ness you enjoy. If you don’t have an immersion blender, use a regular blender and work in batches.

5. Add the lemon juice; bring the applesauce and lemon juice to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat, but keep the applesauce hot  while you ladle it into hot jars leaving ½ inch of headspace at the top of the jar. You can remove any air bubbles if necessary; run a butter knife along the inside edge of the jar. (At this point you may stop and store applesauce in appropriate containers for the fridge or freezer.*see notes below)

6. Wipe the rim of the jars with a clean cloth, center the flat lids on the jars, screw down the outer  ring until fingertip- tight; that means, don’t over exert yourself, but make sure the ring is snug. {It ‘s purpose is to keep the center rubber gasket lid in place until the vacuum seal is made; in fact, the latest from the USDA says that you should store your jars without the rings to better detect mold growth.}

7. Place the hot jars in a canner with hot water (just below a boil, about 180°F ) completely covered with water- at least an inch of water over the jars to be exact – ‘cause we love exactness when we’re canning. Bring to a full rolling boil, THEN start the processing time appropriate for your elevation {you can find this by contacting the state department of agriculture, health office or county Extension offices in your area}.

The vigorous boil should continue through the entire processing time. At sea level, these pint and quart jars will both be processed for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes is up, the canner lid is removed, the heat is turned off and the jars are allowed to cool down for 5 minutes more in the canner.

Very important, don’t skip this step; yes, you are almost done, but this allows the pressure in the jars to stabilize, resulting in less liquid loss of the final product and it’s part of the calculated processing time.

8. Carefully remove the jars and allow them to cool on your counter for 24 hrs. This is to allow time for the vacuum seal to take place and who are we kidding? It’s nice to step back and see all your beautiful hard work! Finally, something in the house that will not be undone five minutes later!

After 24 hrs. the lids should have sang you a chorus of popping sounds as they sealed. Before storing, check the flat lids to make sure they are all curved downward. Refrigerate and enjoy any that are not sealed or if you wish, they can be reprocessed again at this point.

Finally, how all good canning stories end: Label and store in a cool, dark place. Enjoy!

Extra Notes:

For short term refrigeration: follow steps 2-5 and store in glass jars or plastic food grade containers

For freezer storage: follow steps 2-5 and store in a freezer safe zip-top bag for convenient flat storage.

*This recipe comes from the well tested Ball company, “The Complete Book of Home Preserving”.  I omitted the optional sugar from the original recipe because fresh applesauce doesn’t need it!

* I added the apple juice option because it doesn’t affect the scientific outcome of the product and it seemed like a great way to add extra apple-y flavor.

*Honey Crisp, Gala or Pink Lady create a delicious sweet/tart flavor.  Get the same outcome with a combination of tart Grannies and sweet Golden Delicious .

*3 medium apples = about 1 lb.

Prep  for canner, jars and lids:

*Make sure all your jars and lids are washed in hot, soapy water; well rinsed and kept Hot.

I wash my jars then put them on a sheet pan in a 200° F oven until I am ready to use them one by one. You could also heat them up along with the water in your canner to 180°F, but it seems like more work and a drippy wet mess to me when you fill them with product later.

The flat portion of the lid needs to be kept hot until you are ready to use them. This could be done by heating them up in a pan of water to a gentle simmer, about 180°F.  The rings do not need to be heated.

*Finally, have fun – be creative with your apple choices, but follow the guidelines and keep everything clean and Hot. Your family will love this sweetly tart homemade applesauce!

If you want to know more about canning check the USDA website: http://nchfp.uga.edu/index.html

For even more delicious ideas to use up those apples, check out these fun ideas:

Edible Apple Cups

Homemade Baby Food

Apples Dipped In HEAVEN