This post, featuring a recipe for lightly sweetened and gently spiced Maple Applesauce, was sponsored by Ball® Fresh Preserving Products by Newell Brands.
So far this summer, I’ve written four pairs of posts in partnership with my friends at Ball®Fresh Preserving Products by Newell Brands. In May, it was all about their Mixed Berry Jam and the Jammy Baked Oatmeal I made with it. In June, we focused in on Honey Cinnamon Pears and the Honey Cinnamon Pear Sorbet I turned them into.
For July, the starter recipe was Kosher Dill Pickle Spears (so crisp and tangy!) and the transformation was a batch of Pasta and Kosher Dill Pickle Salad. Last month, I shared their life changing recipe for Roasted Garlic Roma Tomato Sauce and then used it to make a really lovely Summer Vegetable Braise.
This month, they’ve asked me to focus on apples. This is not a hard assignment, as apples are one of my very favorite things to eat and preserve. My starter recipe is Maple Applesauce, which is what I’m going to walk you through today. Make sure to check back tomorrow for the Chocolate Applesauce Muffins I use it in!
To start, gather up 12 pounds of apples. There is no one best variety of apple for making applesauce, but I do find that I like the flavor best when a sauce contains at least two or three varieties of apple. Using a diverse assortment of apples means you’ll end up with a more complex-tasting sauce.
Once you’ve chosen your apples, cut them in quarters and heap them in a large pot. In selecting the pot you use to cook down the apples, know that you’ll want about one quart of capacity for every pound of fruit you’re using. As you can see, 12 pounds of apple quarters fit pretty neatly into my 12 quart stock pot.
Pour a cup of water into the bottom of the stock pot and tuck a cinnamon stick or two in with the apples. You just want enough liquid so that the apples don’t scorch at the start of the cooking process (this means, if a single cup isn’t going to cover the bottom of your pot, use a splash more). Then, you cook. Every apple is going to have a different cooking time, so you just let the apples simmer over medium-low heat until they’re all soft.
In the case of this batch, the green apples I used were tender after just 20 minutes of cooking, but the red apples needed nearly an hour of gentle heat before they softened sufficiently.
Now, you may have noticed that I didn’t peel or core my apples before cooking. That’s because I have a Ball® freshTECH HarvestPro™ Sauce & Salsa Maker. Fitted with the standard screen, this machine makes really quick work of the cooked apples. It easily separates sauce from the less edible bits, and creates a gorgeously uniform texture (just make sure to remove the cinnamon sticks prior to milling the sauce). If you don’t have one of these appliances, you can either use a manual food mill, or you can peel and core prior to cooking, and then break the apples up into a more rustic sauce using a potato masher.
When you’ve gotten the sauce to your desired texture and you’ve returned it to the pot, it’s time to sweetened with a bit of maple syrup. Know that maple syrup is a lower acid sweetener, so it needs to be used carefully in canning. Happily, in this sauce the ratio of high acid apples to the lower acid syrup is such that the sauce remains perfectly safe for canning.
Simmer the sauce down for about ten minutes, to ensure that it’s quite thick and that it’s piping hot when you fill up the jars.
While the apples cook down, prepare a boiling water bath and sufficient jars for the sauce. Once you judge that the sauce is done, remove one jar from the canner. Funnel in some of the applesauce, filling to 1/2 inch headspace. Stir with a wooden or plastic chopstick to remove any trapped air bubbles. Wipe the rim, apply a lid and ring, and place the jar back in the canner. Repeat with the remaining jars and sauce.
These jars are processed for 25 minutes at a full rolling boil (remember, if you live at elevation, you need to adjust your processing time accordingly). When the time is up, remove the lid, turn off the heat, and let the jars cool slowly in the canner for 5 minutes. Once that time is up, remove the jars from the canner and let them cool on a folded kitchen towel. Once the jars are entirely cool, check them to ensure that the jars have sealed fully and completely.
The total yield on my batch was 20 cups of product, which is a bit higher than the yield suggested by the recipe (yield variation at work!). I opted to use Pint & Half jars to contain 9 pints of the product (this left me with 6 jars in total), and left that final pint out to use in the muffins (check back for that recipe tomorrow!) and for immediate snacking.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Newell Brands as part of a compensated partnership. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.
Maple Applesauce
make applesauce with, leaving the skins on boost nutrition and adds subtle pink hues. The addition of maple syrup creates a slightly sweet, very Fall flavor.
Ingredients
- 12 pounds apples cored and quartered (peeled if desired)
- 1 cup water
- 2 cinnamon sticks optional
- 1 1/4 cups maple syrup
Instructions
- Combine apple quarters, cinnamon sticks and water in a large stockpot. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until apples are very tender, about 25 minutes.
- Process apples in batches through a Harvest Pro, food mill or food processor until smooth, removing cinnamon sticks. Alternately, peel and core the apples prior to cooking and then crush them with a potato masher for a chunkier texture.
- Prepare boiling water canner. Heat enough jars to hold approximately 5 quarts of product in simmering water until ready to use, do not boil. Wash lids in warm soapy water and set aside with bands.
- Return applesauce to stock pot, add maple syrup and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 10 minutes.
- Ladle hot applesauce into a hot jar leaving a ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim. Center lid on jar and apply band, adjust to fingertip tight. Place jar in boiling water canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.
- Process jars 25 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off heat, remove lid, let jars stand 5 minutes. Remove jars and cool 12-24 hours. Check lids for seal, they should not flex when center is pressed.
Could this recipe be successful halved? I don’t know if I can handle 12 lbs of apples in my tiny kitchen!
Yes.
I’m wondering if I could substitute pears for the apples as I’m allergic to apples. Would I need some lemon juice as Apples are more acidic? Thanks so much, I hope this question isn’t too difficult to answer easily!
It would be better to find a pear sauce recipe rather than try and transform this one.
Can I core them, leave the skin on and use a stick blender to turn them into sauce?
An immersion blender doesn’t do a great job with the apple skins.
We are lucky to have a small backyard heritage apple orchard. In early summer, we make transparent applesauce every year to add to pies we make later in the season when more of the apples are ready. As you said, a variety of apples in a product lends itself to a more interesting taste. In terms of pies, I like to have some cooked yet chunky pieces as well as sauce. By using different types of apples in a pie this juxtaposition of taste and texture automatically happens.
I followed all your directions for the applesauce. After filling thejars and leaving thehalf inch space I tightened lids to fingertip-tight. All jars placed in boiling water bath for 20-25 min. Upon removing the top of the pot I was greeted with applesauce seeping from one jar and the other jars with separation of liquid and solid. What went wrong
There is information about leaking jars here: https://foodinjars.com/blog/canning-101-applesauce-faq/
And the separation information in this tomato post also applies to apples: https://foodinjars.com/blog/canning-101-tomato-float-sauce-separation-and-loss-of-liquid/
We made this this past fall and it was sooooo yummy! I wonder how long this would keep in the fridge if not ‘bathed’? I have seen you comment on jam recipe that if you just let the jars seal and keep them in the fridge they’ll keep 6-8 months unopened in the fridge. At the rate we eat applesauce this might be a better approach, haha. Does this work for applesauce?
I find that the approach of letting jars seal and then keeping in the fridge really only works for high acid quick pickles. I wouldn’t recommend it for applesauce, as it has a tendency to mold faster. Doing the boiling water bath is really always the best option for long term storage.
Can I use a mixture of pears and apples for this recipe?
The recipe is no longer linking on Ball’s site. Any idea why?
I don’t know why. But I have it and can email it to you.
I’m also interested in receiving the recipe! Thank you.
I just edited the post to include the recipe.
This is THE best applesauce recipe! My kids beg for it every fall!
I’m so happy to hear it!
Just picked up 60#s of apples and popped over here for ideas. 🙂 This Maple Applesauce sounds divine and is definitely on the agenda! 😀
I wanted to double check the time of 25 minutes for pints. Should I then add 5 minutes if I want to use quarts, plus altitude adjustments?
Thank you so much!
Yes, that’s exactly how you should adjust if you’re going to can this sauce in quarts.
Loved this recipe and the taste was awesome
What size jars? How many per batch? Thanks
I used Pint & Half jars, which hold 24 ounces. Using those jars, my yield was six jars, plus a little extra. If you want to use quart jars, your yield will be approximately 5 quarts. Quarts and Pint & Half jars both process for the same amount of time. You could also can this sauce in pint jars. If you make that choice, you can reduce the processing time by five minutes.