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It’s apple season! Which means it’s time to visit the local orchards and go apple picking and enjoy the bountiful harvest! It’s still a couple hours away from me, but I made a trip to Apple Hill with my mom over my birthday weekend. We went apple picking at an organic farm called Willow Pond Farm, then visited a couple different orchards and farms who sold the apples farmers market-style. We were surrounded by such a large variety of so many delicious looking apples… it was like apple heaven! At Boa Vista Orchards, we bought some amazing apple cider and about 10 different varieties of apples, some with a strictly applesauce-making purpose and some with baking intentions. They even had apple and pumpkin butter, jellies, jams, sauces, and so many more goodies! On a continuing search for more apple goodness, we stopped by Abel’s Apple Acres and tried some apple donuts and apple fritters, and bought more apples. I would just like to say that apple fritters are awesome! Large slices of apple fried up in fritter batter. Absolute deliciousness.
In the end, I ended up with a box of apples of varying sizes and types. Once I got home, I even took the time to separate my apples based on what I wanted to make. If you have any questions about what apples are good for baking or sauce, I’d suggest checking out the Cook’s Thesaurus. My goals for these apples include apple dumplings, apple pie, various muffins containing apples, and apple oatmeal. Hopefully I get around to trying everything. Cross your fingers for me please! I’ll be sure to report back on what comes out well!
As for what was left after separating out my baking apples, I had one soul purpose. Applesauce! After seeing a post about applesauce by from the Bartolini kitchens, I really wanted to go pick my own apples and make some fresh, delicious applesauce. It’s so simple and so delicious! My mom made some and was thrilled with her results. My husband and I love ours, too, though I cheated and added some sugar because I tend to like things on the sweeter side. It still wasn’t much though. I only added a ½ cup of sugar to 15 cups of applesauce. Still pretty darn healthy! I also prefer chunky applesauce, so I cooked the apples then took a potato masher to break down the apples to my desired consistency. My recipe is pretty vague, especially since I have no idea how many pounds of apples I cooked, but it works for any amount of apples so it’s all good!
Chunky Applesauce
Apples, peeled and cored (I used varying amounts of Gala, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Fuji, McIntosh, and Jonagold)
Sugar, as needed
Cinnamon, optional
Pour about an inch of filtered water into a large, heavy pot. Add the apples and cook, uncovered, on medium-high heat. When it starts to boil, turn heat down to medium-low; cook for about an hour total, or until apples are all tender. Mash the apple chunks with a potato masher to desired chunky consistency. For a smooth sauce, use an immersion blender or food processor to blend until smooth. If sauce is too watery, skim some of the juice off the top. Add sugar and cinnamon to taste. Enjoy cold or warm!
Source: Adapted from PickYourOwn.org
A Dash of Sugar and Spice 
Delicious!
Approx how many apples did you use?
My guess would be about 25 or 30 apples, but a few were really small, the rest being medium to large apples
I still need to get out to the orchards! Usually we go every year around my birthday too, but for some reason we missed it this year. Hopefully the weather will cooperate next weekend, because I’m not giving up on going. I love your apple sauce recipe. I’m a fan of sugar in mine too; although I prefer mine smooth to chunky. 🙂 I can taste it now!
Looks delicious! We went apple picking last week too – one of my favorite fall activities 🙂
Yum! I made my own slow-cooker applesauce last year. This recipe sounds delicious.
This is such an easy thing to make and so incredibly tasty, isn’t it?I’ve got some in jars and in my freezer, too. I love it! Thanks, Stefanie, for mentioning my blog. 🙂
Apples are one of my most favorite fruits, and I really can’t believe I’ve never used them to make applesauce before. I know my kids would love, love it.
There is nothing that says Fall like a nice warm apple pie. I have found a great way to make this all time favorite even better. Personal peices of pie:) All you do is make your pie as normal but instead of it getting put into a pan to bake you simply put the shell and stuffing into a cupcake pan. Only 6 are allowed at a time for spill over. This way there is no cutting and everyone gets just the right size/hand held peice of apple pie:) Or any other treat you don’t want to spend time cutting!
I have three apple trees, so at the moment I’m up to my armpits in apples. I’m also ‘dry-pack’ freezing them, which seems to be working out quite well. I’ve not tried that method before, having only froze applesauce in the past. Lovely photos, too, Stefanie. 🙂
Sounds like you had a wonderful time apple picking! I’m sure this apple sauce was delicious. I’m going to Julian to go apple picking with a few friends in mid-November. I can’t wait!
Apple sauce is so great. I love adding in a few cloves too! Such a great flavour. You can do so much with the sauce – my mother makes pies and cobblers with it, but it’s also so good mixed with oatmeal or just on it’s own!
I have been making apple and pear sauces for last three weekends. I simply cannot imagine the rest of the year without them. I love your idea of mixing different varieties. I did it once with peaches and the result was stunning!
Thank you for your post, I was sad that my family was not able to make it to the apple orchard this year. Instead I ended up buying one of the bags and using that to do some baking. This years apple treat was apple /oatmeal cookies..I think they would have done better if I put in some walnuts though. Either way they were a good treat to add to the pile of recipies:)