Every autumn I make a small set of preserves that carry me through the colder months: thick tomato sauce for soups and pizza, honey-sweetened pear chutney for quick lunches, and as much applesauce as I can manage. These jars make winter cooking easier and help me hold on to the tastes of warmer days when snow covers the ground.
Applesauce is often dismissed as a child’s food, but I reach for it constantly. I use it to add moisture to baked goods, stir it into oatmeal to bulk up breakfast and add fruit, enjoy it plain with cottage cheese for lunch, and bring jars to holiday gatherings—my cousins always ask for it to top latkes at Hanukkah.
There are many ways to make applesauce and none are wrong. You can peel and core apples, simmer them in cubes and mash them with a potato masher. You can core and roast apples in an oven-safe pan and purée them with their softened skins. Or you can roughly chop apples—peels, cores and all—cook them until soft, and push them through a food mill. The food-mill method produces a large yield with minimal effort and removes seeds, cores, and most peels, leaving a smooth sauce with a slight pink tint from the skins.
This recipe describes the food-mill approach, but the spice blend and canning directions work no matter how you cook the apples. Don’t skip the spices: I call this Pumpkin Pie Spiced Applesauce because it uses the warm, fragrant combination we associate with pumpkin pie—cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice. If you have a premixed pumpkin pie spice on hand, feel free to use about a rounded tablespoon, though measuring the individual spices gives you better control over the final flavor. Adding these spices elevates homemade applesauce far above most store-bought versions.
Unsweetened Pumpkin Pie Spiced Applesauce
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Ingredients
- 6 pounds apples
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- Juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
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Chop the apples into eighths and place them in a large non-reactive pot with the water. Cover the pot and bring it to a low simmer over medium-high heat. Cook for about 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples are soft enough to crush with the back of a wooden spoon.
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While the apples cook, prepare a boiling water bath canner and enough jars to hold about 10 cups of sauce. You can use a combination of pints and quarts or similar-sized jars.
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Set a food mill with a medium screen over a large mixing bowl and process the cooked apples through it until all of the sauce collects in the bowl and the solids left in the mill are mostly dry skins and seeds.
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Return the applesauce to the cooking pot and place it over medium-high heat. Stir in the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, cloves, and lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
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Ladle the hot applesauce into prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Use a nonmetallic utensil or chopstick to release any trapped air pockets, topping up jars if needed to maintain headspace. Wipe rims clean, apply lids and rings (or seals and clips for Weck jars), and process the jars in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes. If you live above 1,000 feet elevation, follow recommended processing time adjustments for your altitude.
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When processing time is complete, turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, and let the jars rest in the pot for ten minutes. Then remove the jars and place them on a folded kitchen towel to cool fully.
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Once jars are cool, check seals. Properly sealed jars keep in a cool, dark place for up to a year. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and consumed within two weeks.
Nutrition
Carbohydrates: 76g,
Protein: 1g,
Fat: 1g,
Sodium: 7mg,
Potassium: 582mg,
Fiber: 13g,
Sugar: 56g,
Vitamin A: 295IU,
Vitamin C: 25.1mg,
Calcium: 41mg,
Iron: 0.8mg
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