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This homemade Cinnamon Applesauce is naturally sweetened with maple syrup, spiced with cinnamon stick, and made with a variety of apples. It’s ready in minutes, it’s perfect for gifting and completely refined sugar free.
Serve it alongside pork loin, roast chicken, or turkey. It’s equally delicious with your morning breakfast or enjoyed straight out of the jar as a snack.
You can use this recipe in my cinnamon sugar Applesauce Cookies!
I made it a goal to give at least one homemade gift to all the people on my Christmas list this year. Obviously I opt for food gifts because I love to cook and bake, and this homemade cinnamon applesauce has become one of my go-to’s. It’s wholesome and tastes like something you’d pay premium prices for at a specialty shop.
But what makes this recipe really unique is the maple syrup for sweetness instead of refined sugar. You can blend it smooth or leave it chunky for gourmet texture and flavor. Plus, there’s something special about giving food made with real ingredients and zero preservatives.
For more gourmet food gift ideas, try my Herb Salt, Pear Shrub, Vanilla Bean Sugar, Peanut Clusters, or even this Pear Applesauce.
Cinnamon Applesauce Ingredients
Here’s everything you will need to make this recipe and a few important notes too. Keep reading!
- Variety of Apples: Don’t forget to wash them before peeling, coring, and chopping into 1-inch chunks. I recommend using 2 to 3 types like Jonathon, Ambrosia, Cortland, Gala, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Fugi, and McIntosh apples. Just stay away from Red Delicious because they make the applesauce grainy and a weird in texture.
- Maple Syrup: This makes the recipe refined sugar free. But you can use granulated sugar too.
- Lemon Juice: Feel free to use fresh or bottled, just do not skip this ingredient. Lemon juice preserves the color of the apples, balances the sweet level, and helps raise the acidity to stay fresher longer.
- Cinnamon Sticks: I love using them because the flavor is more pronounced but sweet and mellow at the same time. You can use ground cinnamon if needed.
- Water
You’ll also want to grab a large pot, potato masher or immersion blender, and jars for storing.
How to Make Cinnamon Applesauce
1. Cook the apples. Simmer together the apples, water, maple syrup, and cinnamon stick (or ground cinnamon) until fork tender.
2. Mash and jar it up. Allow the apples to completely cool, remove the cinnamon stick, and mash it. Use an immersion blender for smooth and a potato masher for smooth Cinnamon Applesauce. Ladle into jars, seal with a new lid and ring, label it with the date and contents.
Find the complete recipe instructions with measurements below.
Storing and Freezing Information
Unless you’re going to eat all of the Cinnamon Applesauce at one time, I recommend refrigerating one jar (for up to 7 days) and freezing the rest (for up to 3 months).
If you do choose to freeze a jar, it freezes beautifully. Just make sure you use a wide mouth jar and keep one inch of headspace. This gives the applesauce room to expand without busting the jar. When you’re ready to eat it, thaw the applesauce in the refrigerator overnight.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
More Fresh Apple Recipes To Try
Cinnamon Applesauce
EQUIPMENT
INGREDIENTS
- 8 cups apples - * washed, peeled, cored, and chopped in 1/2" chunks
- 1 ½ cup water
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 lemon - juiced
- 1 cinnamon stick - **
INSTRUCTIONS
- To a large pot, combine the apples, water, maple syrup, lemon juice, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove lid and continue to simmer for 5 to 10 more minutes. The apples will be fork tender and soft enough that they slide off the fork when pricked.
- Remove mixture from the heat and allow to cool completely. Once cooled, remove the cinnamon stick and mash with a potato masher for chunky applesauce, or immersion blender for smooth applesauce.
- Ladle the Cinnamon Applesauce into jars leaving one inch of headspace. Add new lid, ring, and tightly seal jar. Refrigerate for up to one week (freezer information below).
RECIPE NOTES
FREEZING INFORMATION
Frozen applesauce is good for up to 3 months. Be sure to use wide mouth jars so the applesauce has room to expand, and label them with today’s date and contents. When ready to eat, thaw applesauce in the refrigerator overnight.Metric conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
