Applesauce is a handy ingredient to have on hand for several cooking adventures such as baked goods, pork dishes, ice cream toppings, or even just fresh eating.

In this recipe I explain the ingredients and measurements I used to make my 29 pounds of apples into 21-pint jars of delicious, spiced applesauce (without peeling skins!).

It is a Ball Canning recipe, that uses whole ingredients and has a very simple method.

Here I list apples to use, tools you need, ingredients, and instructions to water bath can applesauce so you can stock your pantry full of this delicious homemade applesauce.

Canning Spiced Applesauce | Water bath Canning

The recipe I describe below follows the recipe used in the video linked, if you wish to have visual of the recipe.

Apples to Use:

You can use whatever apples you want.

Thin skinned apples (like the ones I had) even give you the chance to skip peeling the apples, which is a huge time saver!

If you are wishing to get a large number of apples, I would suggest going to an apple farm and looking for bushels of ‘second’ grade apples.

They are typically the ugly ones but are perfect and affordable for applesauce.

You can also see if you have family or a friend that has an apple tree that they don’t want to bother with.

Tools you need:

Water Bath Canner
Mason jars, lids, bands
Jar lifter, funnel, ladle
Large Stock pot
Large spoon or spatula to stir.
Blender, food processor, or immersion blender.

Ingredients:

29-30 pounds of apples
6 cups water
4.5 cups non-GMO sugar (honey could work too)
4 tablespoons Cinnamon (to taste!)
4 tablespoons mixed spices: nutmeg, allspice, cloves or pumpkin spice mix (to taste!)
3-4 teaspoon of ground ginger (to taste!)

Instructions:

I did 21-pint jars. This is the same as 10–11-quart jars.

Wash apples, get rid of any rotten ones.
Rough Chop apples, getting as much core off as possible. If you have thick skinned apples, consider peeling the skins at this time too.
Place your chopped apples in a large stock pot (I had a 20 quart stock pot, it’s huge)
Pour the 6 cups of water into the stock pot.
Turn apples on medium heat. Cook for 2-3 hours, stirring frequently, until apples are soft enough to blend.
Once soft, use blender, food processor, or immersion blender to blend applesauce until desired smoothness. Chunky applesauce: reserve some apples to smash with a Potato masher. Blend all the rest and mix chunky applesauce with the smooth.
Once blended, place applesauce back into large stock pot.
Add sugar and spices. All to taste! What I’ve written above is a slightly sweetened yet flavorful applesauce. Feel free to adjust to your liking because your apples will affect final flavorings too.
Get your water bath canner filled and on the stove. Jars soaking in hot vinegar water.
Once flavored, bring applesauce to a boil. Original recipe states 212 degrees F. This is very hot! Stir constantly to avoid burning. Please be careful during this process, splatters hurt!
Once you get your applesauce hot, place stock pot on a hot pad to avoid burning at the bottom.
Quickly (being careful of course), pull your jars out and fill the jars with the hot applesauce using your funnel, ladle.
Create a 1/2 inch headspace.
Debubble, wipe rims, place lids and bands on finger tight.
Load into water bath canner, per canner’s instructions.
Water bath can both pint and quart jars for 20 minutes, per canner’s instructions.
Unloaded canner per instructions, allow to cool on countertop for 24 hours.
Check seals, wash jars in lukewarm soapy water, store on shelf.
Enjoy a winter full of wonderful applesauce recipes!

Notes:

You can also make unsweetened or plain sweetened applesauce (without spices) following the same instructions.

In the video, you will see how I had trouble reaching that 212 degrees F without my applesauce burning.

I added an extra 5 minutes to my own canning time to ensure that the jars had a full 20 minutes in the canner at boiling point.

This is just a suggestion; I don’t want to confuse people into thinking they need to can it for more time.

Video the recipe is referring too:

That’s It!

This did take me all day to accomplish, but the end result was so delicious I already want to crack open the jars and start baking and making pork chops with it.

Plus, you have the chance to make sure all the ingredients are organic and non gmo by doing it yourself!

Enjoy!

-Chelsea, The Cottage Vegetable