Homemade Applesauce and Apple Butter

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With summer ending and the cooler months starting it could only mean one thing… Apple season! Okay, I guess it can mean a lot of things but apples are the first sign of Fall to me. Last week we cleaned up all the windfalls from under our big apple tree and we ended up with six 5 gallon buckets worth. We turned all of it into applesauce and apple butter and now we have a TON to enjoy throughout the next year.

I keep thinking to myself “What in the world will we do with the rest of those apples on the tree?!” But then I remember we have a couple juice drinkers in our house that can take care of the rest. Last year we canned about 100 quarts of juice and we still ended up running out so I’m sure we’ll be canning up more this year. Won’t let a single apple be wasted!

ANYWAYS, let’s get back to the applesauce and apple butter. Juice will be another day… On this particular day I used one 5 gallon bucket worth for applesauce and then another 5 gallon bucket for the apple butter. I use a squeezo strainer to remove the skins, seeds, and stems so all I have to trim off is any of the wormy areas.

The first day I did this I split each 5 gallon bucket between two canners but later in the week I realized it’s not necessary. You can fill it all the way up to the top and the apples will cook up just fine. Our canner fit one 5 gallon bucket worth of apples in it and I added 2 quarts of water to a full canner of apples. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Simmer until all of apples are tender, about 20 minutes.

While the apples are still hot, add them to the top of the squeezo and crank ’em through!

I am so thankful to have this gadget. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to make so much applesauce each year. We were given this one for Christmas one year and we’ve used it every year since.

Now is the time to sweeten if you’d like to. I did a little bit (actually A LOT) of both sweetened and unsweetened. Since these were windfalls they were a little less sweet so the applesauce I sweetened I used 1 cup of honey for each 5 gallon buckets worth of apples. Just add honey and/or sugar until you like the taste.

Then add hot applesauce to clean mason jars. Wipe the rims down and place a lid and ring on each jar. Place in a canning rack and process for 20 minutes in a water bath canner.

After we finished up all the applesauce we started on the apple butter. Now this is the first year we tried this method and it seemed to work out well so we will continue doing it this way in the years to come.

We just started out the same way as the applesauce. We trimmed off any bad parts and then simmered the apples until they were tender. We only used 1 quart of water for a full canner of apples for the apple butter. We then put them through the squeezo to make applesauce and then poured it into a canner to simmer for a looooong time.

I added cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and sea salt to the applesauce and simmered over low heat for about 10 hours with the lid off and stirring occasionally.

It got a little more golden but it was about bedtime so I placed a lid on the pot and turned the burner down as low as it would go and left it overnight. It was probably about 6 hours and then I woke up and checked on it and it had stuck just the tiniest bit but I was able to stir it and it wasn’t burnt or anything. I had planned to wake up after a few hours but I totally turned my alarm off and went back to sleep… Now that I was awake I turned it back up just a little bit and took the lid off. I added in about a cup of honey and stirred it occasionally until it became a medium brown color and it was nice and thick.

Then I added it to clean jars, wiped the rims off and added the lids and rings. Place the jars in a canning rack and process for 20 minutes in a water bath canner.

Something to note is that you want to leave plenty of headspace. Most recipes call for a half inch but I have too many jars not seal with that so I went for about 1 inch of headspace per jar.

We absolutely love canning so this is just another way we get to do this hobby. Plus the house smells amazing while working on all these apple goodies. 🙂 Yay for Fall!

5 from 2 votes

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Homemade Applesauce

Author Haley

Ingredients

• 15 lbs apples ~ a 5 gallon buckets worth
• sweetener (honey, sugar) optional

Instructions

1. Cut apples into quarters and trim any bad spots out. Add all of the cut apples to a large pot with 2 quarts of water.
   

2. Simmer on medium/low for about 20 minutes or until all of the apple are tender.
   

3. Scoop the cooked apples out and place in the top of your food mill. Crank the handle, adding more apples as needed, until you are finished running all of the apples through.
   

4. Add in sweetener to taste if using.
   

5. Using a funnel, pour the applesauce into clean, hot jars leaving 1 inch headspace. Wipe off the rims of the jars and place lids and rings on the jars.
   

6. Place the jars into a canning rack and put into a water bath canner making sure the jars are completely submerged in the water. Bring to a boil and process for 20 minutes.
   

7. After processing remove the jars of applesauce to a towel on a flat surface. Once the jars are cool enough to touch check the seals. If any of the lids pop when you press them down place them in the fridge and use within a week.
   

5 from 2 votes

Print

Homemade Apple Butter

Author Haley

Ingredients

• 15 lbs apples ~ a 5 gallon buckets worth
• 2 T cinnamon
• 1 T cloves
• 1 t ginger
• 1/2 t nutmeg
• 1 t sea salt
• 1 c honey

Instructions

1. Cut apples into quarters and trim any bad spots out. Add all of the cut apples to a large pot with 1 quart of water.

2. Simmer on medium/low for about 20 minutes or until all of the apple are tender.
3. Scoop the cooked apples out and place in the top of your food mill. Crank the handle, adding more apples as needed, until you are finished running all of the apples through.

4. Pour all of the applesauce into a large pot and add in cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Stir.
   

5. Simmer on low for about 10 hours stirring occasionally.
   

6. Lower the heat to warm and cover with a lid overnight.
   

7. In the morning, remove the lid and stir in the honey. Turn back up to low and simmer until a medium brown color and it is thick, about another 6 hours but it depends on the type of apple. Stir occasionally.
   

8. Using a funnel, pour the apple butter into clean, hot jars leaving 1 inch headspace. Wipe off the rims of the jars and place lids and rings on the jars.

9. Place the jars into a canning rack and put into a water bath canner making sure the jars are completely submerged in the water. Bring to a boil and process for 20 minutes.

10. After processing remove the jars of apple butter to a towel on a flat surface. Once the jars are cool enough to touch check the seals. If any of the lids pop when you press them down place them in the fridge and use within a week.