Cranberry Applesauce | Canning Recipe
Cranberry applesauce is a delicious alternative to plain applesauce. It combines the sweetness of the apples with the tart cranberries allowing for a little less sugar and a winning flavor combination! This recipe for cranberry applesauce is safe to preserve with a water bath canner.
Why Bother Making Homemade Cranberry Applesauce?
If you’ve ever made homemade applesauce before you know the answer to this question. It’s all about taste! Homemade applesauce and cranberry applesauce has a fresh flavor that is unmatched by its commercialized equivalent. As the creator of homemade cranberry applesauce, you know the quality of the fruit that went into it.
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While commercial applesauce is made in a similar fashion there is really no contest between the two. Homemade wins every time.
You can also control what kind of sugar you’d like to use, and how much, if any at all.
Cranberry Applesauce as a Canning Recipe
Both cranberries and apples are high acid foods, meaning they are safe to process in a water bath canner. I also add a some lemon juice to ensure acidity and preserve color.
This recipe makes roughly 7 quarts, or you can mix quarts and pints. But keep the processing time the same! Canned cranberry applesauce will last for approximately two years. It can definitely last beyond that point but the quality and color of the produced food lessens after that point.
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New to canning? Here is a list of basic canning equipment. You can also find more detailed information on how to can this particular recipe below
Ways to process Apples and Cranberries to Make a Sauce
My preferred method of cooking apples and cranberries into sauce is to cut apples into quarters and cook them in a saucepan on a stovetop along with the cranberries. Then put them through a sauce maker or food mill. I use a sauce maker, it’s awesome!
If you don’t have all the necessary equipment, you can use different methods. You can soften the apple and cranberries in a saucepan, a crockpot on low, or even the oven on low (225ºF). The key to any sauce is to make sure it doesn’t get brown or burnt! Low and slow is always the way to cook and stir it often!
I also put a cup of water in the bottom of my pan so nothing sticks before the juices start to release.
After cooking, an alternative method is to push the apples and cranberries through a sieve to remove the seeds and skins if you didn’t have a food mill or sauce maker. This method is much more time consuming but it can be done.
Cranberry Applesauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 10 lbs apples washed and quartered
- 5 lbs cranberries
- 2 Cups Sugar (Optional) You can taste it plain and if it's too tart slowly add sugar until it's to your liking.
- 1/4 cup canned lemon juice
Instructions
- Place water, apples, and cranberries in a very large saucepan.
- Cover and simmer on medium low heat, stirring often to prevent scorching
- Meanwhile, prepare a water bath canner and jars.
- After the cranberries and apples have fully softened, run through a food mill, sauce maker, or sieve to remove both skins and seeds.
- Return to the saucepan and keep warm on low heat. Add in lemon juice and sugar and stir until dissolved.
- Ladle hot cranberry applesauce into half pint jars leaving a 1/2 inch of head space. Wipe rim. Center lid on the jar. Screw on the band with until it is finger tip-tight.
- Place jars in canner and ensure the jars have at least one inch of water above the tops of the jars.
- Bring to a boil and process for 20 minutes. Remove lid, turn off heat, wait 5-10 minutes then remove jars. Let cool and store.
Notes
- This can be water bath canned in pints too. Process pints for 15 minutes (adjust for altitude as needed).
- Sugar is NOT necessary in this recipe for water bath canning safety. You can adjust the sugar to taste. We usually land on about 2 to 2 1/2 cups. How much you need will vary based on the sweetness of the apples you’re using and personal preference.
