🍏 Fall Fun With Easy Apple Recipes 🍎
Easy ways to enjoy local apples all year long!
With apple season upon us we thought we would share what we love to do with our apples. I grew up watching my grandmother preserving the fall harvests. I have found ways to simplify the process and save time from what my grandmother used to do. Even though this is still some work it is doable for a busy person and well worth the benefits of having your own fresh apple goodies to enjoy throughout the winter. Below you will find recipes for applesauce, apple butter, and apple cake. Along with our favorite mulled cider drink!
One way to make all your apple eating and recipe making easier is to use an apple peeler. They make peeling your apples a quick and easy job vs. your standard vegetable peeler and apple corer. The best part about an apple peeler is that as it is peeling your apples it is also slicing and coring them! It takes so much less time and work that making recipes with apples isn’t such a chore anymore.
After you use the apple peeler on your apples then you can make your homemade applesauce and apple butter. These are our favorite recipes for both!
Home-Style Applesauce
Ingredients
- 9 lbs (about 27 medium sized apples) apples, peeled, cored, & sliced Jonathan, McIntosh, Fuji, Golden Delicious, or Staymen
- 1½ cups water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1-2 tsp cinnamon powder
Instructions
- Combine apples & water in a heavy pan or roaster oven. Bring to a boil stirring often. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 30-60 minutes or until the apples are soft.
- Add sugar and cinnamon and bring to a boil again, stirring frequently until everything is well blended. If you want a smooth applesauce you can use a food processor or immersion blender to break up the chunks. Store in jars and refrigerate.
If you want to can your applesause for long term storage
- Fill prepared, hot jars with hot applesauce leaving 1/2 inch head space.
- Gently run a non-metallic spatula along the sides to release air bubbles. Wipe rims and top with hot lids and screw bands.
- Process in boiling water canner for 20 minutes. Let cool and make sure that the lids seal within 24 hours for long term storage.
Notes
The trick for making large batches of the apple butter and applesauce for your winter storage or for gift giving (homemade apple butter makes the best gift!) is to use a roaster oven. You can double or even triple your batch sizes while using a roaster!
Crockpot Apple Butter
Ingredients
- 5½ lbs apples peeled, cored, and finely chopped Jonathan, McIntosh, Fuji, Golden Delicious, or Staymen
- 4 cups sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Place apples in a crockpot or roaster (200-250 degrees). In a medium bowl mix the sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Pour mixture over the apples and mix.
- Cover and cook on high for 1 hour.
- Reduce heat to low and cook 8-9 hours, stirring occasionally until the mixture is thickened and brown.
- Uncover and continue cooking on low for 1 more hour. Stir with a whisk to get lumps out.
- Spoon mixture into sterile jars. Refrigerate or freeze.
If you want to can your apple butter for long term storage
- Fill prepared, hot jars with hot apple butter leaving 1/2 inch head space.
- Gently run a non-metallic spatula along the sides to release air bubbles. Wipe rims and top with hot lids and screw bands.
- Process in boiling water canner for 20 minutes. Let cool and make sure that the lids seal within 24 hours for long term storage.
Notes
This apple cake recipe is the easiest one bowl recipe to make ever and tastes great!
Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 1¼ cup olive oil
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 FGF pasture raised eggs
- 3 cups apples, chopped they do not have to be peeled
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine the first 4 ingredients and mix by hand with a wooden spoon.
- Add the remaining ingredients and mix together by hand. It will seem like a very thick batter. That's okay. I normally don't grease my pan for this recipe.
- If you have a bundt pan that batter tends to stick to, you may then decide to add a little oil or nonstick spray.
- Bake for 1 hour or until cake tester comes out clean.
Notes
Last but not least is our mulled cider recipe. It is a warming spiced drink that just tastes like fall!
Mulled Cider
Ingredients
- 3-4 tbsp FGF Mulling Spices
- 1 qt apple cider
Instructions
- Place FGF Mulling Spices in the included muslin bag.
- Add the apple cider and filled muslin bag to a pot.
- Gently simmer for 30 minutes, remove spice bag and serve hot or cold.
- Garnish with a dried apple slice or a cinnamon stick!
Apples are full of fiber, antioxidants, flavanoids, vitamins and minerals and everybody loves them. Like they say an apple a day keeps the doctor away!
