3 Autumn Apple Recipes
If you’re anything like me, you’ve almost certainly gone to an orchard, gotten EXTREMELY excited, and came home with 10 or so pounds of fruit you cannot eat. If you have never done this, I applaud your restraint and am curious to know how you compensate (serial killing? antique doll collecting? sound mental health?).
Luckily for you (and me), in apple season there are LOTS of recipes that use up many, many apples. I have not yet bowed to the desire to purchase an apple peeler and corer (not an affiliate link), but the time may be drawing nigh. If you don’t have one, an apple slicer/corer is a MUST. If you eat apples a lot, you’ll use it constantly.
In the spirit of spending your orchard overabundance, here are 3 apple recipes to make your home smell amazing.
Homemade Applesauce
If loving applesauce makes me prematurely elderly, then sign me up for AARP, baby!!! It works as a tart sauce over pork products, as a great snack on its own, or even as an egg substitute in baking. Warm spiced applesauce is a heavenly winter breakfast, and the varieties are as varied as apples! For savory meals, make your sauce with Granny Smith apples. Mix-and-match common varieties (gala, fuji, McIntosh) for a classic flavor, or use honeycrisp for a sweet dessert.
Personally, I prefer unsweetened applesauce, but you can add up to 1/2 cup of sugar (brown or white) if desired.
Homemade Applesauce Ingredients
6 medium-large apples
1 c water
Pinch of salt
2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1/2 c dark brown sugar (optional)
Omit the following if making tart applesauce:
2 sticks cinnamon (or 1 Tbs ground)
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
Homemade Applesauce Tools
Vegetable peeler or apple peeler
Apple slicer or knife
Large stock pot
Measuring cup
Stirring spoon
Blender (or immersion blender, or potato masher)
Homemade Applesauce Instructions
Peel, core, and chop your apples into small roughly cubed pieces.
Add apples with water, vinegar, salt, and seasonings to a large stock pot.
Turn the heat to high and bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, lower to medium-low heat, cover, and simmer until apples are tender (15-20 minutes).
Remove the pot from the heat. Remove the cinnamon sticks.
Mash the apples with the potato masher, or blend with immersion blender. If using standard blender, blend applesauce in small batches to prevent sticking.
Adjust sweetness as desired. Voila!
Eat fresh within 2 weeks, freeze up to 1 year.
Apple Butter
Apple Butter is a misleading name - it contains no dairy at all. But it’s a delicious, smooth addition to hearty brown bread, the layers of a spice cake, or served warm over vanilla ice cream. Even better, it’s pretty much exactly like making applesauce except with some extra vanilla, and cooked a bit longer.
Apple Butter Ingredients
6 medium-large apples
1/2 c water
Pinch of salt
2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1/3 c dark brown sugar
2 sticks cinnamon (or 1 Tbs ground)
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp vanilla
Apple Butter Tools
Vegetable peeler or apple peeler
Apple slicer or knife
Large stock pot
Measuring cups & spoons
Stirring spoon
Blender (or immersion blender, or potato masher)
Apple Butter Instructions
Follow up to step 5 in applesauce recipe above (omitting vanilla and sugar until this step). After blending apples, add vanilla and sugar.
Return to heat and cook on medium-low, stirring often, for 1-2 hours. Use a rubber spatula and scrape well when stirring to prevent burned bits. Once the butter is cooked down well (it should be deep caramel color, thick, and smooth) remove from heat and place in jars.
Apple butter lasts 1-2 weeks in the fridge and up to a year frozen (make sure you leave about an inch in the top of your jars for the butter to expand as it freezes).
Slow Cooker Apple Cider
One of my pet peeves with slow cooker recipes is when they take a lot of attention throughout the day. This recipe is NOT that. It’s heavy on the set-it-and-forget-it scale. It’s especially great if you’re hosting a party. You can keep the finished cider in the slow cooker and add some adult beverages if desired. Best of all, because you remove the apples after cooking, you don’t have to peel them
Slow Cooker Apple Cider Ingredients
14 medium-large apples, mixed variety of your choice
3 cinnamon sticks
1/4 inch piece peeled fresh ginger
1 tsp whole cloves
1/2 tsp whole allspice
1 whole nutmeg
Pinch salt
8 c water
1 c dark brown sugar
Slow Cooker Apple Cider Tools
Slow cooker
Apple corer/slicer
Cheese cloth
String
Potato masher
Strainer
Large Pot
Slow Cooker Apple Cider Instructions
Core and chop all of the apples.
Wrap all of the whole spices in the cheese cloth and tie with a string.
Add the apples, water, and spice bag to the slow cooker. Cover and set on high for at least 8 hours (up to 24).
Once you’re ready to finish the cider, remove the spice pouch. Use the potato masher to gently extract any additional juice from the cooked apples.
Set a large stock pot in a sink, and place the strainer over the stock pot. Pour the apple cider into the strainer. The pot should catch the juice and the strainer should catch the larger bits. Discard the chunks or use an immersion blender to turn them into applesauce.
Return the liquid to the crockpot to heat and serve.
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