Homemade Applesauce + Apple Muffins
When I lived in Washington state for a few years as a little girl, my grandma Smith in springtime would take me to her neighbors backyard to pick blueberries. We would bring them home and bake my (favorite) blueberry muffins. When my grandma’s strawberries were ripe in her backyard we would pick those too, baking up a batch of shortcakes in the kitchen to layer with the sliced berries and whipped cream. Later in summer when the wild blackberries were ripe, I would enjoy bowlful’s of those at her house, always sprinkled with a spoonful of white sugar to make them taste like pie filling.
Then came fall, when my grandma would have me help peel and core apples. We would chop them up and place them in a big pot to simmer with oodles of cinnamon. She would give them a stir, making sure to leave the sauce with bits and pieces of apple so there was some good texture. She would scoop some into a bowl for me while it was warm and top with ice cream. The ice cream would slightly melt, creating a moat around the edges. I remember thinking this is the best applesauce in the world.
To this day when I make applesauce I think of my grandma and try to make it just like I remember hers tasting. She had a significant influence on me and my connection to food with the seasons. She liked to make everything feel special. There was never a delay in her mind to having fun, she leaned into it in every moment! I still make an orange soup every halloween because she did and I thought that was a fun way to connect my dinner to the holiday. I tell Scott almost every year how my grandma once took my brother and I on a “ghost ride” way past our bedtime to the parking lot of an almost-closed grocery store. The lot was empty of cars and the shopping carts were still out. It was dark with overhead street lights and she put us in a shopping cart and ran us all over the parking lot swerving, hooting and hollering sayin we were “on a ghost ride!”. Afterwards taking us to Baskin Robbins to get one of their spooky Sundays with little ghosts and pumpkin decorations sticking out the top. We got home way past our bedtime and went to sleep with big smiles on our faces. Events like this happened all the time with my grandma. We always called her “a really big kid!”
I know you’re reading this grandma, I LOVE YOU and hope to come visit you in Washington again soon. Thank you for all the core memories from my childhood, I’m passing as many as I can onto Riley now and she seems to have our spirit for cooking and celebrating the little things. She has had many bowlfuls of this applesauce so far this season, and seems to love it for all the same reasons I do.
This isn’t fancy or different than most recipes you’ll find online, just a classic I hope inspires you to make a batch sometime this fall too (if you haven’t already). And if you like muffins, look below this recipe for those too!
x Jessie
CINNAMON APPLESAUCE
Makes about 2 quarts.
10-14 apples I used Jonagold and Granny Smith
a splash of water about a 1/3 a cup
1 to 1/12 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Note: Using a mix of tart/sweet and firm/soft apples is key for good flavor and texture. If you go to an orchard this fall, ask if they have a box of “seconds” that are good for apple sauce making. Usually these are just a little wonky but great for sauce.
Peel, core, and slice the apples into pieces. Placing in a large, heavy bottomed pot.
Sprinkle over the water and cinnamon, set stove to medium high heat, and cover with a lid.
Once it begins simmering, turn the heat down to medium and let cook.
After aout 10 minutes, give the apples a stir with a wood spoon.
Let cook for another 10 minutes covered before stirring once more and removing from the heat.
Let cool slightly with the lid off before transferring to jars to store in the fridge. (Or serve some up warm.)
If freezing extra jars, make sure to use wide mouth jars and leave an inch or two of headspace at the top for expansion when frozen.
I always make sure the jars I’m freezing have cooled in the fridge overnight before transferring to the freezer to prevent shock to the glass.
Enjoy! The refrigerated jars should last a week or two and the freezer jars many months.
Want a fun recipe to use your delicious homemade applesauce in? Make these muffins! I whipped this recipe up the morning of Owen’s first birthday last week for a little “breakfast cake”. Topped with a frosting made simply of a spoonful each of coconut yogurt, peanut butter, and maple syrup - yum.
APPLE MUFFINS
Makes 1 dozen.
1 1/2 cups of homemade applesauce
2 large eggs
3/4 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups whole spelt flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Mix the applesauce, eggs, coconut sugar, olive oil, vanilla, and almond extract together.
Sprinkle the spelt flour on top along with the baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Stir well to combine and divide into a lightly greased muffin tin.
Bake at 400F for 18 minutes. (A knife or toothpick inserted should come out clean.)
Let cool for at least 10 minutes in the pan before removing, these are delicate.
Enjoy fresh and store leftover muffins in an airtight container on the counter for a few days, or in the fridge for a week.