When you like apples, you’ll like homemade applesauce. This basic recipe is almost as easy as boiling water, and it is a far cry from the more mundane store-bought version.
When you make you own applesauce, you can decide how smooth or chunky you want the applesauce to be and what flavors you would like to add. So let me show you how to make a basic applesauce and what you can do with it.
Key Ingredients in This Recipe
- Apples – Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, Gala, Jonagold, Fuji, McIntosh etc. All apples can become applesauce. Which one to choose? That depends on you, on the flavor you want, sweet or tart or a combination.
- Lemon rind – I used Honeycrisp apples and needed just a little bit of zest. But this is not a must.
How to Make Homemade Applesauce
Step 1 – Peel the apples and cut them in quarters. To a saucepan, add a tiny bit of water (basically wet the bottom) and add the apple pieces and the lemon rind (of you use this).
You want as little water as possible, so check every now and then. You don’t want the apples to burn, but you don’t want more water than necessary either.
Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until soft. The bigger you apple chunk the longer the cooking time.
Step 2a – Remove the pan from the heat, discard lemon peel and use a potato masher (if you prefer a chunky applesauce) to mash the apples until it has the consistency you like.
Step 2b – Instead of mashing the apples with a potato masher, transfer the apples to a food processor or use a immersion blender and blend it until smooth.
250 grams or about 2 medium sized apples, make 1 cups of apple sauce.
Enjoy warm or cold.
Variations on Basic Homemade Applesauce
There are various ways to give the applesauce your own favorite flavor or texture. And don’t forget that may vary depending on how you want to use the applesauce.
- Peel or not peel – A decision that’s totally up to you. Leaving the peel on the apple is not seriously impacting the flavor or texture of the applesauce, especially if you blend the applesauce smooth. The peel will add fiber and that’s a good thing. Additionally, the apple peel may alter the color of your applesauce just a bit.
- Add spices – Add a cinnamon stick when you cook the apples and/or add ground cinnamon to the apple sauce. Other spices you can add are: ginger, nutmeg, clove or pumpkin spice.
- Add sweetness in the form of sugar, honey or maple syrup. Depending on the type of apple(s) you use, you may want to add some sweetness to offset the tartness in the apples. If you use sugar, make sure it dissolves properly, or add it in during cooking.
- Add tartness – apple cider, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, apple juice of orange juice may balance out the sweetness in the apples. – Add a splash of these liquids instead of water to the pan before you start cooking the apples.
Uses for Homemade Applesauce
- The very first use is just to enjoy it the way you made it. Straight from the bowl, as a snack.
- With ice cream
- In your morning oatmeal, warm or cold
- With yogurt or cottage cheese
- In apple desserts, like apple pie, apple cake, apple crumble etc.
How to Store Applesauce
If you want to make a lot of applesauce and store it for later use:
- Keep the applesauce in the fridge for about a week.
- Portion the applesauce in handy quantities for your family and keep in the freezer for up to 4-6 months.
How to Make Homemade Applesauce
Ingredients
- 250 grams apples 2 medium sized
- 1 inch lemon rind optional
Instructions
- Peel the apples and cut them in quarters. (NOTE 1)
- To a saucepan, add a tiny bit of water (basically wet the bottom) and add the apple pieces and the lemon rind (of you use this). (NOTE 2)
- Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until soft. The bigger you apple chunk the longer the cooking time.
- Remove the pan from the heat and discard lemon peel.
- Use a potato masher (if you prefer a chunky applesauce) to mash the apples until it has the consistency you like.
- Use a food processor or an immersion blender and blend it until smooth.
- Add spices, sweetness or tartness to make the homemade applesauce exactly the way you like it. (NOTE 3, 4 and 5)
- Consume the applesauce warm or cold and store it in airtight containers. (NOTE 6)
Notes
- There is not really a reason to peel the apples. Leaving the peel on the apple is not seriously altering the flavor or texture of the applesauce, especially if you blend the applesauce smooth. The peel will add fiber and that’s a good thing. Additionally, the apple peel may change the color of your applesauce just a bit.
- Add a splash of apple cider, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, apple juice of orange juice instead of water to balance out the sweetness in the apples.
- Add spices – Add a cinnamon stick when you cook the apples and/or add ground cinnamon to the apple sauce. Other spices you can add are: ginger, nutmeg, clove or pumpkin spice.
- Add sweetness in the form of sugar, honey or maple syrup. Depending on the type of apple(s) you use, you may want to add some sweetness to offset the tartness in the apples. If you use sugar, make sure it dissolves properly, or add it in the beginning.
- Add tartness – apple cider, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, apple juice of orange juice may balance out the sweetness in the apples.
- How to keep the applesauce
- In the fridge for about a week.
- Portion the applesauce in handy quantities for your family and keep in the freezer for up to 4-6 months
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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