This spiced applesauce is a wonderful way to use up fresh apples you eagerly picked at the orchard or found at the market.
A perfect fall afternoon feels cool and crisp, with sun occasionally breaking through billows of charcoal clouds. The smell of a perfect fall afternoon is chilly, damp earth and leaves, and the smoke from a wood stove fired up nearby.
And in the kitchen? The spicy scent of homemade applesauce. Apples right out of the orchard tote washed, peeled, sliced, loaded with sugar and spice, and baked.
Why you'll love it
This applesauce is rich with spices like cinnamon and clove, and has a hearty texture thanks to peels incorporated in the sauce. Yes, peels! I think they're too delicious to throw away, so they're finely chopped and added to the sliced apples. The result is a hearty, chunky texture.
This applesauce is sublime while still warm or even chilled from the fridge. It will fill you with all the Fall feels, whether you are cozy in your flannel and Uggs or sweating through the final warm days that pop up!
🔪 How to make this recipe
Step 1: Peel and slice the apples
Peel the apples and set the peels aside. Core and slice the apples. Place them in a bowl. Mince the apple peels in a food processor and add them to the apples.
Step 2: Toss in the sugar and spices
Toss the apples and peels with sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.
Step 3: Bake
Pour the coated apples into a small baking dish. Bake them at 375 degrees F for about 40 minutes until the apples are very tender.
Step 4: Mash 'em
Mash the hot apples into a hearty sauce, and stir to mix everything together. Serve the applesauce warm or chilled.
Notes:
- McIntosh apples are my favorite for making this applesauce, but you can also experiment with your preferred varieties. McIntosh apples have great texture and, I think the perfect tartness. If you decide to go with a sweeter variety, adjust the sugar to suit your taste.
Bake up a batch of this rustic applesauce, and dig into a delicious fall dish.
🧾 The recipe is below, and here are a few more recipes perfect for the season:
💬 Have you tried this Hearty Spiced Applesauce? Leave a comment and star rating below!
Hearty Spiced Applesauce
Ingredients
- 7 McIntosh apples, about 4-5 ounces each, washed
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Have an 8 inch x 8 inch baking dish and a large bowl ready.
- Peel the apples, and set the peels aside. Remove and discard the cores from the apples. Cut the apples into 1/2-inch thick slices. and place the slices into the bowl.
- Add to the bowl the brown sugar, granulated sugar, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Stir to thoroughly coat the apples with the sugar and spices.
- Place the reserved apple peels into a food processor and finely chop them. Add them to the mixture stir to combine them with the apple slices. Pour the mixture into the baking pan.
- Bake the apples for about 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to keep the apples moist. Once the apples are soft and mash-able, remove the pan from oven.
- Mash the apples with a potato masher until you get a thick and hearty sauce.
- Stir the sauce through before serving. You can serve the sauce warm, at room temperature, or chilled.
- The cooled applesauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. Makes about 1 pint
Notes
- McIntosh apples are my favorite for making applesauce, but you can also experiment with your preferred varieties. McIntosh apples have a nice tartness... if you decide to go with a sweeter variety, adjust the sugar to suit your taste.
Hearty is such a good description. I'm used to apple sauce without spices and purely as an accompaniment to roast pork. You've opened my eyes to a whole new way of eating it.
I love it loaded with spice, and usually as a snack. I hope you get to try it this way!