Here is the recipe:

1 can apple juice concentrate
1 can water
1 8 quart stock pot filled with cut up apples (if at least 5 of the apples are really green then the apple sauce will be thicker due to the green apples natural pectin)
1 cup blueberries
1 cup Marionberries (Oregon Blackberries... Blackberries can sub)
sugar to taste (I used 1/2 at most... this last one was less than 1/4 c.)

Quarter and core the apples. (No need to peal if you have an apple sauce mill) Put them in the 8 quart stock pot until it is full. Add the juice concentrate and the water. Boil for about an hour or until they are all soft and apple sauce like. ;) Then add the berries, and simmer for another 20 minutes until the berries are really soft and mushy. Run the apple sauce through a apple sauce mill into another pot. (It will be much less than 8 quarts by this time... more like 4 - 5) Cook down to desired thickness (the longer you cook it the thicker and sweeter it gets... but don't boil at this point. It will burn easily.) Add the sugar to taste. Bring to a boil and put in jars. Water bath boil for 25 minutes to seal.

Makes about 4 quart jars of AppleSauce. :D

It is SO good. I have made 14 quarts of the stuff already and now I am going to move on to Strawberry Applesauce (which is the same recipe with out the second cup of fruit, and always a 1/2 cup sugar because cooked strawberries are way more tart than MarionBerries.) And then regular Applesauce with no sugar cooked down for another hour. The best part is I picked and grew ALL of the fruit, used organic 100% apple juice concentrate, and organic sugar. And they cost under a $1.25 a jar to make in brand new jars!

Love Val

Yum...sounds delicious. Katie and I love applesauce, especially the berry kind.

I really must try that! We're going to a U-pick farm tomorrow morning for apple and blackberries. I guess we'll go to the wednesday evening farmer's market for blueberries, and we'll be set. I could not have seen this post at a better time!

I made three batches of MarionBerry/Blueberry, and three batches of Strawberry... and then today I tried Cinnamon. Cinnamon I noticed needs more sugar because the Cinnamon brings no sweetness and actually makes it really tart, but it was really good. Still only about 1/4 c to 8 quarts of apples but a whole 1/4 this time went in on average. I actually have never used the full 1/2 cup yet.) And I really would buy this in the store... it is SO good!!!! That is the only reason I put in sugar at all... I was after a recipe that I would spend money (which means save if I made it at home) on... and this is so much like the Natures Valley one that I just could not help but make as much as I could with the free apples that I got. (It is two cinnamon sticks, and a ts of ground cinnamon added early. :D The sugar to taste after milling.)

PS I am glad that you are going to try it. I have a friend that keeps saying she will and does not. If you do, will you post results for me? Thanks! I would love to know how others turned out. Becareful of burning after you mill it.... it really does burn fast. Good Luck!!

Love Val

any way to do this without an applesauce mill? It sounds delicious:)

j

You can just leave the skins on. And if you make strawberry you don't have to worry about seeds. You most likely would want to cut the fruit up more because it will make the peices of skin easier to digest as well as not get stuck in your teeth. :D

Rasberry seeds will go through the food mill. All the others will get weeded out, mostly. You can always find one at our local goodwill... you may want to look there.

Love Val

Ok, so if you don't have an applesauce mill then you just do it and leave the skins on, then eliminate the applesauce mill part?

Will the skins not make the applesauce yucky????

Sorry if this is a stupid question...... :confused:

You can also peel and core the apples than just run them through a food processor after you cook them.

Well, I made some (with a few changes to fit what I had on hand) and it is delicious, but I didn't leave enough headspace in the jars and they leaked. I don't feel like proccessing them again, so I put the in the fridge and I think today I'll make it into fruit leather. The remaining blackberries are in the freezer to buy me some time so I can try again later. I think I might make some apple butter first.

This sounds really good. I just made homemade applesauce this past weekend, but it didn't have any of the added yummy fruit.

Thanks for the recipe.

if you want to make applesauce without having to mash it. take out the sugar ( and in this case the apple juice) and add it after the apples soften. the sugar maintains the shape of the fruit. you can do this even with the skins on (cut up some of course) Mcintosh apples are the best for this as they have a high water content and therefore will melt nicely with litle water.

sounds delicious! I'm a huge fan of homemade applesauce and refuse to buy store bought. Though I will have to say that homemade applesauce is neither simple nor thrifty. It is far cheaper and easier to buy it, but NOTHING storebought tastes nearly as delicious as homemade applesauce. I make a ton every year and will definitely make some of this.

Oh, and I peel and core my apples, but I do not run them through the food processor as I like my applesauce chunky. An apple peeler/corer is an excellent investment for those who want to make more applesauce.

WOW this thread has been around for two YEARS! lol...

Last year I made 54 quarts of it, and we have 3 left now. lol... So it is time to make more. I still do the same thing... but with Gravinstein apples I haven't had to add any sugar (besides the concentrate) at all.

Even with buying ORGANIC apple juice, I still kept the price down to around $.45 a quart. That is CHEAP considering.

Picking blueberries friday with friends, and so we will see what comes of this years batch. Peaches are next... then apples. I LOVE the fall in the NW!!!

Val

Edit to add: Yes... if you use an apple pealer/corer/slicer I could see how the mill would become obsolite. lol... The chunky sounds So good to me, but my kids would never go for it. :D You can still find one at goodwill for usually around $1. It has been well worth the investment for me.

Wow, I've only made applesauce once, years ago. I agree that store bought applesauce is only barely tolerable. I'm sure we would eat more if I made it. Maybe I'll try it again this year.

I'll have to save your recipe, Val. It sounds delicious!

It's starting again... its raining here today and I am bagging up 16lbs of blueberries and then starting on the gravinstein apple sauce. I can't wait! They are falling from the trees in droves and my dad has already made 5 gallons of juice, and then called me. "Please come pick up apples this weekend. I can't keep up with them all!"

Ahhhhhhh... the joy of a good apple year.

~~~~~~~~~on another note:

So my dd found a chunk in one of my applesauces and I serioulsy have heard about it for a week. lol... This is about how the conversation goes:

Me: "Honey, I don't put chunks in my applesauce"
dd: "I know you didn't mean to mom and that is ok, but I am just not into chunks so..."
(dh snickering in the background)
me: "Cyan, seriously, you found one chunk in 50 quarts of applesauce."
dd: "I had to give that whole bowl to Rowie because it had chunks in it mom! She likes the chunks, but I am just not into them."

OMG! This was yesterday sitting at the table for lunch. Dh couldnt help it, he burst out laughing. So yeah... the mill is essential here. lol!

oh man.. I'm so looking forward to being there next year and being able to can stuff.. things are too expensive here, and since we're moving..

Yum! Apples are not ready here yet, but we have about eight apple trees on the property, most producing heavily this year. I am glad this got bumped up; I was going to call you for your recipe! I remember talking to you last year on the phone while you were canning. :)

We have an abundance of blackberries (not ready yet either, summer comes late to Vermont!) and I will use those in the recipe.

Can't wait! :D

Blackberries are just starting now for this year. I am guessing if I wait a few weeks we will be drowning in them. Yum! I have two friends who have invited us to come get some off their property. I am pretty happy about that. Plus I just got my Farmers Market WIC checks (yep... still on that. I get a review this on the 22nd and we will see if this new babe keeps us on or not) and so I am picking up strawberries and peaches pretty much 1/2 price due to that. We missed rasberries this year though. My dads plants were producing but he and his gf were using them way more this year than past years, so we only got 2 quart bags (about 2lbs)... that isn't enough to go a whole year, so I will have to look on sale somewhere. Hopefully mine will be mega producing next year beings that most of the canes will be 2nd years. I still want to get to the other side of the mountains to get cherries, but the only ones left are the black cherries. I don't like those NEAR as much as early rainers, so I may have to pass. Right now the babe doesn't like the car... I got car sick driving an hour day before yesterday.

Tomatos are after peaches. I think I may have enough in my yard for this years canning. I HATE canning tomatos. I may just buy them and freeze the ones I have for casaroles. Beans are coming too... must go to the Farmers Market tomorrow and pick up 10lbs of beans.

Wow... look at the paragraph of babble. LOL!