Note (Oct 17, 2013): The recipe below was developed almost 4 years ago. It’s a little confusing to read but I’ve decided to leave it as such. While it’s perfectly safe and the story may be interesting, I prefer to make applesauce with far less sugar than I used to – and I think the results are better. Click here for my latest applesauce recipe. This is about as easy as it gets – set aside a few hours and you`ll be off to the races. This applesauce will be as good as it gets – it took me 5 or 6 hours to turn 75 pounds of apples into 9 liters of sauce (36-1 cup bottles) but you could easily do six cups of peeled and cored apples at a time in an hour or two (including canning – the basics of which are covered here).
You`ll need apples (different types, all sweet preferably), some sugar (I prefer brown), bottled lemon juice and cinnamon. 3 pounds of apples (about 6 cups peeled and cored), 1/2 cup of water, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, a cinnamon stick and 12 to 34 cup of sugar – the instructions of what do do follow:Peel your apples – this fancy gadget failed me fast (read the review here). The Zenga Star Peeler came to the rescueThe carnage left from a day in the trenches.
We mash it further than this – but it gives you the idea. The cinnamon adds a great taste and wonderful color – remove sticks at the end before bottling.
Sterilize your jars and make sure they are still hot before filling!
Of course you can make this in small batches and store in the fridge for several days – we now have enough applesauce for a year plus trades!