Living on Less – Making Apple Butter and Applesauce

A couple of weeks ago I purchased some slightly bruised apples at a reduced price at Fareway.  I was able to get 4 bags of apples over a period of a week for $1.99 per bag and the bags weighed as much as 8 lbs. each.  After picking out a few that were good for eating, I sorted the rest out to make apple butter and applesauce.

The one thing that I have learned about living on less is that you have to try your hand at doing some new things.  I have been making my own laundry soap and baking my own bread to save some money.  Until last year, I had never canned a thing.  Since then I have learned to can a few things such as jams and jellies and apple butter and applesauce.  You just can’t beat home canned anything as far as I am concerned and I love homemade apple butter and applesauce.  So this weekend I took those apples that I had stored in my fridge and made a total of 21 half pints of apple butter and 9 pints of chunky applesauce.  I want to make more applesauce and I will keep my eyes out for any reduced in price apples.  Besides using apple butter and applesauce for my family, I love to give apple butter away for gifts at Christmas time.

As for what I am going to do with the rest of the apple butter and applesauce – well, we love apple butter on toast and biscuits, but it is good for so many more uses.  Apple butter is good spread on yeast dough as a filling for cinnamon-apple rolls.  Also, I use it as a filling for coffee cake and I stir it into quick bread batter for an apple cinnamon bread.  It is equally good in a plain muffin recipe where you fill the muffin cups half full, dollop in the center some apple butter and top with more batter.  It is very versatile as is the chunky applesauce.

My recipe for Apple Butter

My original recipe called for 10 to 12 apples, peeled, cored and chopped, but instead of counting out apples I simply cut up a bunch of apples, enough to fill my 4 1/2 quart cooking pot

2 cups sugar

2 to 3 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 to 1/4 tsp ground cloves

Place everything in your cooking pot and let it come to a boil and then reduce the heat.  Be careful not to let the mixture boil over.  Then just cook it down.  When the apples are soft but still hold their shape I take a stick blender and start to puree the mixture.  Keep cooking it down and puree it until it is nice and thick.

In the meantime, have your canning jars washed and in an oven (250 degrees) so as they remain hot.  Put the lids and rings in a saucepan and add water and keep at a simmer so that they remain hot.  Take a canner and fill with water (make sure there is at least 2 inches of water that will cover your canning jars) and set it on the stove to boil.  I do all of this prior to cooking the apples as I know the jars will be hot along with the lids and rings when I am ready to fill them and the canner water will be boiling when I need it.

When the apple butter is at the thickness you desire, fill the jars one at a time, wipe the rims and top with the lids and rings.  Be sure the rings are tight.  Then place the jars in the canner of boiling water and process 10 minutes for half pint jars and 20 minutes for pint jars.  I usually start the timer when the water in the canner has returned to a boil.  Remove the jars from the canner and allow to cool on the counter. Make sure the lids have sealed.  I love the sound that the lids make when they seal.

My Chunky Applesauce Recipe

Apples that have been peeled, cored and chopped (Usually I just cut up a bunch of apples to fill my 4 1/2 quart cooking pot)

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup brown sugar, more or less, if desired

1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon  (add a small amount first and then cook the sauce and add more if desired)

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (same as with the cinnamon, taste first and add more if desired)

Cook the apples down until they are soft, mash down with a potato masher leaving small chunks and then continue to cook until the entire mixture is soft and at the desire consistency.  You can puree the entire mixture if you don’t like chunky applesauce.  Process as for the apple butter.

I love a chunky applesauce versus the pureed version.  Yes, I add quite a bit of cinnamon and some nutmeg to my applesauce along with a little brown sugar to taste.  Besides serving the applesauce alone as a side dish/dessert, I use it as a filling in coffee cakes and in tarts.  For the tarts I take leftover pie crust and roll it into a large circle. I spread a thick amount of applesauce in the center of the tart and then I take the edges and pull them over the top of the tart.  I bake the tart until it is bubbly and brown and drizzle a little powdered sugar glaze on top.  This makes a super easy dessert as I always have homemade pie crust in the freezer.

My family loves dessert pizza.  I take my pizza dough and I press the dough onto the greased pizza sheet and let it rise for 15 minutes.  I spread the chunky applesauce on top and then I sprinkle with a streusel mixture.  The streusel mixture is made of some butter, some flour, brown sugar, quick oats and cinnamon that I mix together with my fingers to form a crumbly streusel mixture.  Sprinkle over the top of the applesauce and bake the dessert pizza at 375 degrees til brown and bubbly.  When it comes out of the oven drizzle with a powdered sugar glaze and serve.

Watch for canning jars, lids and rings to go on sale during the summer timer.  This past summer Ball Canning Supplies had several coupons for $1.00 off canning jars and lids and rings.  Also, if you don’t have a canner and don’t want to buy one, put the word out to your friends and see if you can borrow one.

It just wouldn’t be fall without a steaming batch of apple butter or applesauce on the stove cooking.  Makes the entire house smell wonderful and this winter we will enjoy these delectable homemade treats.  Also, I now have several jars of homemade apple butter to give away as gifts at Christmas and best of all it didn’t cost a lot of money to make these gifts.