Kick-Start Fall with Homemade Spiced Applesauce

Fall is apple season, and quite soon, orchards across the state will start harvesting their early ripeners, like Zestar! and First Kiss. Apple season in Minnesota runs from mid-August to November, which means we have around three months to gorge ourselves on delicious home-grown apples. Did you know that many of the popular apple varieties you can find in grocery stores and orchards all around the country were bred by researchers at the University of Minnesota? In addition to the highly sought-after Honeycrisp, the U is responsible for Haralson, SweeTango, Fireside, and Zestar! apple varieties. Quite a résumé! Most of these varieties are bred specifically to be cold tolerant as well as to produce an attractive, delicious fruit.

Apples are one of my favorite fruits. I love ’em in baked goods, from crisps and cobblers to muffins and slow-cooker glazed apples. But there are many other ways to use the piles of apples available in the fall, including making your own applesauce! Today I’m going to share a recipe for chunky, spiced applesauce that is delicious on oatmeal for breakfast or eaten with graham crackers as a snack. It could also be tasty fresh and hot off the strove with a scoop of ice cream.

My gathered ingredients.

What You’ll Need

• Approximately 3 pounds fruit (I use 13 small apples and 3 pears)
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

How to Do It

1. Peel, core, and chop all your fruit into bite-sized chunks.

2. Combine all your ingredients in a large pot and heat to a boil.

It will seem like not enough water to start with, but when the apples cook down, it’ll be just right!

3. Simmer for around 40 minutes, or until apples are soft and easily pierced, stirring occasionally.

The apples and pears have cooked down and are making friends with all the tasty spices.

4. Transfer about half the mix to a blender and blend smooth, then recombine with the remainder for a partially chunky applesauce. If you prefer entirely smooth applesauce, you may need to blend in batches, as this recipe makes a large volume.

5. Refrigerate the applesauce. It should keep for about three to four weeks, or longer if frozen.

Spiced and cooked to perfection. The remaining apple chunks are nice and tender and flavorful.

This recipe is pretty versatile. If you have some other fruit on hand that you need to get rid of (or if you just feel like adding it), you can replace the pears or some of the apples; just make sure the bulk of the mass is still apples or else you may change the texture too much and end up with fruit soup. You can also tweak the spices, or leave them out entirely if you want something plainer. Adjusting the brown sugar and honey will, of course, change the sweetness of the end result. If you use really tart apples, you may want to increase the sugar from what I’ve listed here.

I hope this recipe will tempt you into trying your hand at homemade applesauce. It’s super easy, and I promise the end result is worth it. Come, —join me in basking in the glory that is apple season!