Homemade Applesauce

By Hklbrries

* Use apples such as Jonathan, McIntosh, Golden Delicious, or Gravensteins.

Ingredients

• 9 pounds apples*, peeled, cored and sliced (about 27 medium-sized)
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar (optional)
• 1 to 2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)

Details

Servings 6
Adapted from cooksrecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

Combine apples and water in a heavy 8- to 10-quart pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer, stirring often, until apples are soft, about 30 minutes.

Add sugar and cinnamon, if desired; bring to a boil. Sauce will be slightly chunky; to remove large lumps, whisk briefly with a wire whisk.

Fill hot, sterilized jars with hot sauce, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Gently run a narrow nonmetallic spatula between sauce and jar sides to release air bubbles. Wipe rims and threads of jars clean; top with scalded lids, then firmly screw on bands.

Place jars, slightly apart, on a rack in a boiling water canner or other deep pan half-full of hot water. Add more hot water to cover jars by 1- to 2-inches.

Bring water to a simmer; then cover and simmer for 15 minutes for pints, 20 minutes for quarts. Lift out jars and let cool on a towel away from drafts. Test seal of each jar by pressing lid; if it pops when pressed, there's no seal. Store unsealed applesauce in the refrigerator and use within 1 month.

If you like, you may omit processing and ladle sauce into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace for pints, 1-inch headspace for quarts. Apply lids; then freeze for up to 1 year or refrigerate for up to 1 month.