A Fast and Creamy Applesauce Recipe for Home Canning

When it comes to home canning, I’m a big fan of (safe) time saving tips! I also believe that if I’m going to put time and effort into preserving food, the results had better be good. When I discovered a fast and creamy applesauce recipe met my criteria in every way, I was delighted!

 

A Fast and Creamy Applesauce Recipe

This recipe is very simple, and I particularly like the fact that you don’t have to peel a single apple in the process! When you serve this smooth and creamy sauce to your dinner guests, they’ll be asking just how you made it! When this happens, feel free to pass my tutorial along!

Here’s how you make it.

 

Choose Your Apples

Whenever you make applesauce, choose apples with a bold, robust flavor. This technique works best with thin-skinned apples, but if you don’t have any, don’t despair! Any type will work. Thicker skinned apples will just take a bit longer to process.

Because you’ll be leaving peels intact, apples with red peels will yield a deeply colored sauce, whereas green colored apples will give you less color, but still quality flavor.

 

How Much Apple?

To make 7 quarts/litres of applesauce, you’ll need (roughly) 21 lbs of fruit. Wanna know a secret? I never weigh my fruit! Because we harvest boxes and boxes of apples every fall, I simply start making and canning sauce, until I have all I need for a year’s supply!

 

Rinse and Core

Give your apples a good rinse to remove dust, bugs and dirt. Chop the fruit in half (or even quarter it) and be sure to remove every bit of the core, stem and blossom ends. If left in the apple, these bit will give someone an unpleasant surprise at the dinner table!

There’s no need to peel the fruit. Toss the prepared apples into a stockpot as you go.

 

Fill and Prepare Your Stockpot

Because apples burn easily, your stockpot should have a thick, double or triple-walled bottom. In my kitchen, I use a 12 quart pot for making sauce.

Add fruit until your stockpot is about 2/3 full. Add 1C of water, infused liquid or apple juice. Cover the pot with a lid and then, it’s time to cook things down!

 

Cook Your Apples

Bring the water in your pot to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Set your timer for 20-25 minutes and simmer the apples until they fall apart. Stir the fruit occasionally to avoid burning it. Every stove and stockpot is going to be different, so in the beginning, I highly recommend checking your apples every 5-7 minutes until you get a feel for your equipment!

 

Puree the Cooked Apples

Once the apples are cooked, it’s time to puree them! You need a strong blender for this process. I use a Bosch in my kitchen, but a Vitamix would be even better!

Fill your blender 1/2 to 2/3 full and pop the lid in place.

Important note! Always hold the lid in place with one hand while pureeing hot foodstuff in your blender. The heat of the apples will cause the bottom portion of your blender to expand, loosening off the lid. Scalding hot applesauce is no joke. Neither is the mess it makes.

When you hold down the lid, I recommend covering it with a potholder or tea towel. This helps protect the hand from the high heat and ensure you don’t let go of the lid!

Puree the fruit for 30 seconds or until you no longer see fruit peels or chunks whirling through. It always amazes me how everything seems to melt into a smooth, creamy sauce!

And if your peels won’t disappear? It usually means you need to cook your fruit longer!

 

Keep the Puree Hot

For safe canning, you must keep your applesauce piping hot! There are two ways you can do this.

On the Stovetop: pour your pureed applesauce into a second, large pot. Turn the burner to medium-low, being sure to stir the sauce from time to time. This method works well, but you must remember to stir the sauce often to avoid burning. Wear an over mitt to protect your hand from hot, applesauce splatters!

In the Oven: this is the method I prefer! Preheat the oven to 350-400F. Pour the pureed applesauce into a large, oven-safe dish. I use my stainless steel turkey roaster for this purpose! No lid is necessary and you can add applesauce as you go.

Continue pureeing apples, until you have approximately 28C of piping hot applesauce. When you do, it’s time to prepare the canning equipment!

 

Warm Your Canning Jars

Always preheat canning jars before filing them with hot applesauce. Gently place each one in your kitchen sink, then add several inches of hot tap water to each one. Empty just before filling with sauce.

 

Fill and Process

With the aid of a funnel, ladle the smooth and creamy applesauce into hot jars. Always leave a full inch of headspace. Wipe the glass rims clean, then add a hot canning lid each jar. Fasten down the metal bands and gently submerge your sauce in a canner of hot water.

Once all the jars on in the canner, cover it with a lid. Turn the heat to high. After the water has reached a boil, start your timer!

If you’re under 1,000 ft in elevation, quart/litre jars of applesauce need to be processed for 20 minutes. Because I fall in the 1,001-3,000 elevation range, I have to set my timer for 25 minutes.

You can go over the recommended safety procedures here.

When the timer goes, place your hot jars on a cooling rack or a folded towel as you pull them out of the canner. Wait 12 hrs before testing for a seal. Those that take are now shelf stable. And those that don’t, need to be refrigerated and used in a few week’s time!

 

You’re Going to Love It!

You and your family are going to love this fast and creamy applesauce recipe! I’ve watched children consume it by the jar, and if you aren’t careful, you might just join the activity!