5 ways to preserve fall apples

SALT LAKE CITY — Fresh apples are in abundance during the fall months. If you are looking for a way to maximize apple-picking season this year, take a look at these five ways to preserve the tastiness of nature's favorite candy.

Apple butter

Canned apple butter is one of the best ways to enjoy the taste of apples all winter long. Apple butter tastes divine slathered on a warm piece of toast or dolloped over a hot bowl of oatmeal. Apple butter, like applesauce, takes a sizeable amount of preparation to get it to the perfect consistency. A food mill makes easy work of the process, but a food processor will do the trick in a pinch.

A popular apple butter recipe on Simply Recipes.com calls for a cup of apple cider vineagar that gives the butter a nice tang. To achieve perfection in consistency, apple butter must be cooked about two hours before canning.

Applesauce

Canned applesauce is an amazing thing to have around, especially in a house with young children. Store-bought applesauce works too, but there is something so fresh and wholesome about a bowl of homemade applesauce.

For the easiest method, use an apple peeler/corer/slicer tool. Peeling apples without one can be tedious; unlike peaches and other softer fruits, apple peels can't be coaxed off with blanching or chilling.

There are hundreds of ways to make great applesauce. This recipe from All Recipes.com is a sort of base recipe.

For fancier applesauce, try red-hot candies in place of sugar and cinnamon or make it gourmet with a various assortment of spices and sweeteners.

Canned apple mini pies

There's little better than biting into a warm apple pie. For families on the go, however, making an apple pie on the fly isn't always feasible. Canned apple mini pies are the way to go if you have to have the good stuff in a hurry.

This recipe from the popular site Our Best Bites teaches apple pie fans how to make the crust and freeze adorable little pies. They can be made in large quantities and frozen to be enjoyed up to a year later.

Apple pie filling

Canned apple pie filling is heaven in a jar. There are so many uses for delectable sugary canned apples; put it on ice cream, make an apple crisp, or just bake a good old fashioned apple pie. This recipe from All Recipes.com gives simple directions for making and canning apple pie filling from home.

Don't be startled when you add the sugar to the syrup and sort of recoil at the amount needed. Remember: you won't be eating a whole jar of it (well, you probably shouldn't be eating a whole jar of it).

Apple pie filling isn't complicated to make, but it does take time. The syrup needs to boil before it's added to the apples in the jars, and the apples can take a while to peel and chop. The apple peeler/corer/slicer tool will save time, but remember it slices the apples pretty thin. If you want chunkier pie filling, slicing by hand is the only way to go.

Apple cider

Many may assume the only way to juice an apple is through the means of an apple press. While a press does an amazing job, and freshly pressed apple cider is pure heaven, there is a way to make apple cider at home when a large press is not available.

Homemade apple cider is relatively easy to make. A step by step recipe on Pick Your Own.org outlines just how to make it happen. The apples generally don't need to be peeled — just chopped and simmered. Making apple cider is also a fantastic way to fill a house with the smell of cinnamon, apples, and cloves.

Canning apple cider is easy to do. Once the apples are simmered and the juice strained, it's just a matter of filling the jars and processing. Follow a recipe for processing times and make sure to sterilize all supplies.

What are your favorite ways to preserve the goodness of fresh apples? Leave a comment or send me an email at rgarfield@ksl.com.

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