Warm chunks of apple seasoned and simmered with cinnamon and hints of vanilla make this the perfect fall treat.

Ingredients

  • 5 medium apples (we like Honeycrisp), peeled and chopped into wedges *about 3 ½ – 4 cups of apples
  • 1 – 2 Tbsp white sugar (less if apples are sweet; more if apples are sour like Granny Smith)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ cup dried cranberries or raisins
  • Water (fill bottom of pot ½ in after adding apple slices)
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract

Tools & Timing

  • Peeler
  • Cutting board & knife
  • Measuring cups & spoons
  • Prep bowl
  • Heat proof spatula/wooden stirring spoon
  • Potato masher or pastry blender
  • Medium pot
  • Glass storage container or storage jars with lids

Prep Time: 15 min; Bake Time: 35 Min  Total Time: 50 Minutes; Yield: about 2 cups

Background

My mom is such a good cook! She has been making and modify recipes since I can remember! In the fall, I always remember her making this homemade chunky apple sauce. I love to serve it fresh and warm, but it’s super yummy served cold too!

Step-by-step

  1. Peel your apples.
  2. Chop each apple in half. Then, working vertically, cut them into ½ in pieces. *They don’t have to be perfect, but you want them to be similar in size so they cook evenly! **You need about 3 ½ – 4 cups of apple chunks; however, there will be space between the chunks when you put them in a measuring bowl – don’t worry about that!
  3. Add your apples to your prep bowl. Add white sugar, cinnamon, and dried cranberries or raisins. Toss to coat apple chunks evenly.
  4. Pour apple chunks into your pot.
  5. Add water so it comes up to about ½ inch.
  6. Turn heat to medium high and bring water to a boil.
  7. Once the water boils (watch for it – this took 4 minutes for me), turn your heat to medium-low or low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. (All burners and pots are slightly different – turn the heat to low first; if your waters simmers with little bubbles, that’s great! Leave it there! If you lose the simmer, slowly increase the heat until you can keep the simmer.) *Watch as you stir – if you lose too much water and your apples start to burn, you can add more water. If this is the case, add it slowly – start with 2 Tbsp, then continue to watch…if it still seems to be burning, you can add 2 additional Tbsps.
  8. After 20 minutes, your apples chucks will have softened.
  9. Use a potato smasher or pastry blender to smash apples into smaller chunks.
  10. Continue to simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes. *Again, if you need to add water here you may; however, I had additional liquid in mine without adding water, so I needed my extra liquid to cook off. We want chunky, thick applesauce.
Initially, the apples will be cooking in a lot of liquid…
…they are done once the liquid has been cooked down.
  1. Once your sauce looks thicker and most of the running liquid is gone, turn off heat and stir in vanilla. *At this point, do a taste test – if your sauce needs it, you can always add a little more sugar at this point…add it slowly (1/2 Tbsp at a time, stir, and taste, and add more if necessary until you get the taste that you want). I don’t usually add extra sugar!
  2. You have the option to now serve (I love this served warm with pork chops or turkey!) or place in jars with cute lids (or glass storage container). *If using jars, seal with lids immediately. Let cool and then refrigerate. If using a glass storage container, let cool on counter then cover and refrigerate.

Serve and Enjoy

Other Options

If you love all things ‘apple,’ try my Cobbler Apple Crisp…if you are more of a pumpkin fan in the fall, check out my Chocolate Cupcakes with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting or my Chocolate Pumpkin Mousse Tarts!

A Note on Apples

Different apples will have different amounts of water in them – this is why we have to watch as they cook! Adding sugar to the apples will draw liquid out of them…some apples will have more liquid to be drawn out and some will have less…that means you may need to add a little extra water as your cook your apples OR (like I did) you may need to cook your apples longer to get the  extra liquid to cook off (and I didn’t add extra water on step 7 because my apples were so juicy I had a lot of liquid to cook down).