Hello Friends!
Apple season is upon us! This year we have an abundance of apples and I’m trying to find many ways to use the ones that are bruised.
I usually end up using every last apple to make pie filling and lots of applesauce.
This year I am adding in apple butter and dehydrated apples!
We recently got a dehydrator. Which was perfect timing since we have SO many apples!
So far I have dehydrated 3 batches. The first batch was gone in a flash. The kids loved them and I let them eat freely! Now that they have slowed down I will be dehydrating more and vacuum sealing them for the coming months.
That brings me to the first simple way to use apples without a canner.
Dehydrate them!
We have a Cuisinart
It takes about 6 hours on medium heat to get them dry enough. The type of apple might change that a little. We have used Honeycrisp apples so far and they have turned out good!
One thing to keep in mind, while you are slicing your apples you will want to put them in a bowl of cool water with some lemon juice or salt to help them from browning.
Now if you don’t have a dehydrator you can still dehydrate apples.
All you need is your oven!
Turn your oven to the lowest setting, or 150 degrees. Then get a wire rack and put it on a sheet pan. If you don’t have one, you can use parchment paper. The wire rack will help with air circulation.
Depending on the type of apple you use, how juicy it is, this should take about 2-3 hours. You will know they are done when you touch one and it feels dry, or you can fold your apple slice in half. As long as it doesn’t stick together then you know they are dry!
Simple as that!
The second easy way is to make apple pie filling!
Find your favorite recipe and double it. (Mine is at the bottom 🙂 )
Make yourself a yummy pie or apple crisp with one portion then stick the other in a gallon size freezer bag.
A friend shared this next tip with me.
Get a pie plate out, and lay your bag of pie filling in the center. It helps to shape the bag of filling so it’s sitting even in your pie plate. Then pop it in the freezer! After 24 hours you can take your pie plate out. Then whenever you feel like pie (or crisp) you can pull the filling out of the freezer, set it in the pie plate and proceed however you like!
The third simple way to use up extra apples is applesauce!!
All you have to do is wash, peel (if you want), core and slice then put them in a pan with some water. Let them cook on medium -low heat for about a hour, or until softened.
Once the apples are soft you can
a) use an immersion blender and blend it until smooth
b) let cool slightly and blend in blender. With this step you don’t want to try this when the applesauce is to hot or it could crack your blender.
After it’s all blended up, portion as you like, label then freeze.
If your family enjoys apple butter you could continue to cook on low heat for a few more hours, stirring occasionally, until the applesauce thickens, reduces and turns a darker color. At that point you can leave it as it is or add a little cinnamon Depending on your taste will depend on how much you add. I would start with 1 tsp and then add more if you like.
There you go, actually 4 ways to use up extra apples without canning!
Let me know which is your favorite way to use apples.
Don’t forget to check out the apple pie filling and crisp recipes!
Until Next Time,
Julie