Easy Freezer Applesauce

A few weeks back, my neighbor came over and told me he had some apples that had fallen off his tree and I could have them if I wanted, to make applesauce. I thought "sure, that sounds great". I asked my daughter to accompany me across the street and carry the box back since I had tweaked my back a bit. Then we set them on the porch...and they sat there, and they sat there, and they sat there for a good week. Ooops. Finally I went through the box, picked out all the good ones (which was still the majority of them) and brought them in my kitchen. I thought "I guess I'll just can some applesauce, but I don't have a water bath canner or pressure canner, and don't even know which to use". So off I went to Google land to see what I could find. Finally deciding a water bath canner was the way to go, I called a woman who has been friends with my hubby's family for well over 40 years, it's so awesome. She suggested I simply freeze my applesauce...it's easier and she feels like it keeps it's flavor much better. I'm totally into "easy" so I thought I'd give it a shot! 

The hardest part is the peeling and coring, unless of course you have one of those nifty gadgets that does that for you. I did not, so it took me a little while to get them done. But totally worth it, so let's get on with it. The amounts really are all based on how many apples you have. So go with your taste preferences. 

Ingredients

Apples, peeled, cored and roughly sliced (nothing fancy)
brown sugar (optional)
cinnamon
Juice of a lemon
1/2-1 c. water

Instructions

1. In a large soup pot, add your water, lemon juice and apples. You want just enough water to get things going, so start with less, and add more if you need it. Cook over med-high heat and keep an eye on it. 

2. Stir occasionally until you notice apples starting to break down. At this point I just keep watching it and stirring it periodically. When it starts to really breakdown, I start adding the brown sugar and cinnamon. You can totally leave these out if you want. My apples were pretty tart so I added probably about 1/2 c. brown sugar, and I love the cinnamon taste so added a couple tablespoons of that. Keep tasting it until it's where you want it. 

3. Once the majority of the apples have cooked down, remove them from the pan and into a blender or food processor. Blend to desired consistency. I wanted smooth! Return to pan, make sure it is to your liking, adding more flavors if needed. 

4. You can use either plastic containers or glass jars. Pour applesauce into jars or containers. Make sure you leave 11/2-2" head space for expansion. Allow to cool before placing in the freezer. 

So easy and it was so good. 


With Joy UNquenchable,