Sugar Free Apple Sauce is Easy and Makes Good Baby Food - Recipe

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It turns out apple sauce is really easy to make.  So easy I debated not writing a post about it.  Then I thought it's simple and that's why ya'll should know about it.


There are no apples around here.  We had an unseasonably warm spring.  We kept walking around without jackets on in March and April going, "It's so nice".  The whole time we were holding our breath waiting for the snap back abruptly into winter.  Then it did happen right as the fruit trees were blooming and just like that the flowers were frosted and there would be no apples, peaches or pears in northeast Indiana for 2012.

We visited a local apple orchard when Jeff's brother and sister in-law came to visit at the end of September.  We knew there would be no apples to pick, but we went anyways for their cider tasting.  McClure's Orchard in Indiana offers 24 kinds of hard cider and wine as well as 3 sweet ciders.  We couldn't pass that up!

Tasting glasses ready at McClure's Orchard.

Now I'm wondering if we could brew our own cider.  I love the champagne-like, aply named Celebration cider and Jeff was a big fan of the Grandpa's Bourbon Barrel Aged.  Both tasted nothing like the sweet stuff I think of as cider.

Back to the apple sauce.  They didn't have apples to pick at the orchard but they did have lots bought in from small orchards in neighboring states.  I got a half bushel of 'Johnathan' apples to make into sauce.

To make apple sauce all you do is peel and core the apples, throw them in a pot with a bit of water.  Boil until soft and then puree. It's just apples, no sugar, no salt, no lemon juice.  Compared to the seasoned tomato sauce, salsas and pizza sauces I've been making this recipe was a snap.  It took all of three hours start to finish.

We start 'em early in the kitchen.  

I'm not a huge fan of apple sauce, but I'm betting some canning jars on the fact my little one will be.  She just past the four months old mark and this winter we'll start introducing food.  That's why I canned the apple sauce into half pint jars.  A half pint is one cup. That's probably a couple servings for a baby.  I'm thinking once she's a little older, I'll be mixing in some cooked cut pieces of chicken, zucchini or liver.

A half bushel of apples yielded 12 half pint jars.  I've been considering getting another half bushel to make another batch because I'm not sure how much she'll want and it's not like apple sauce will go bad if it doesn't all get eaten in the next 12 months.  Anyone have any thoughts or experiences to share in that department?

A lot of the veggies I'm freezing this year are with baby food in mind. Think she'll like kale or chard?  Me neither.  I am hoping to sneak them in with other foods. Also on the docket to be frozen are roasted red pepper, rutabaga and beets.  I just ordered Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide to Introducing Solid Foods - and Helping Your Baby to Grow Up a Happy and Confident Eater.  I'm curious.  Anyone tried it?

Apple Sauce for Grown-ups or Babies based on the Ball Blue Book Recipe

1/2 bushel of apples
water

yield - 6 pints

1. Wash, core and peel apples
2. Gently boil apples in a half inch to inch of water in a large heavy bottomed pot on the stove.  Stir occasionally to prevent sticking until fork tender.  Fork tender is when you can stick a fork in and the chunk doesn't break.
3. Puree in the pot with an immersion blender or if you must, batch through a food mill or blender.   
4. Heat to a boil.  This part was messy; lots of big plops shooting hot apple sauce all over the kitchen.  Have someone watch the baby in another room.  And keep a lid on the pot when your not stirring or ladling   
5. Can or Freeze
   Can - Fill sanitized jars with the hot apple sauce leaving 1/2 inch of head space.  Clean the rims and put on the lids.  Immediately process in a boiling water-canner for 20 minutes for pints, half pints or quarts.
   Freeze - Let cool, fill freezer containers cover and pop in the freezer.