As crazy as it seems for a girl who on any given day has 3 pounds of apples on her counter, I’ve never made applesauce. And I adore applesauce—the spices, the chunks of warm apple, the sweet tart taste—but cannot stand the canned commercial stuff. Why, then, did I wait so long to start making homemade applesauce (really, if you can help me answer that one go ahead, because I’m at a loss.)

This applesauce is based on a recipe from Cooking Light magazine—which gave me the idea to add cranberries, another sentimentally Fall ingredient. The cranberries lend the applesauce a tarter, intriguing taste, and give the applesauce a rich pink-red color, so if you are thinking of gifting your applesauce, this one looks beautiful! I used brown instead of white sugar, feeling like brown is somehow cozier, warmer, than white. I also added allspice and used extra ground cinnamon, because I like my applesauce spicy! Once you get the peeling and chopping done, applesauce is so easy to make—and so worth it!

Now, I’m off to sit on my patio in the crisp air with a bowl of warm applesauce, to ponder what to have for dinner. Oh, how I love Saturdays!

Chunky Spiced Cranberry-Applesauce

The amounts of this recipe are based on the amount of apples I had in my kitchen today—2 pounds. If you have more or less, however, just tweak the other ingredients to match and don’t worry about it—applesauce is very forgiving!

Makes 3 heaping cups

• 2 pounds apples (anything on hand—I used Pippen, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 2 cups fresh cranberries
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup real maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 1/3 cup water
• lemon juice for sprinkling

Peal and chop the apples. Place them in a bowl with cold water covering them, sprinkle in lemon juice. In a dutch oven, bring the rest of the ingredients to a boil and stir until cranberries begin to “pop,” about 3 minutes. Drain apples and add them to dutch oven. Turn heat down to low-medium, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Uncover and bring back to a boil. Mash the apples to your chunkiness level—using the back of a spoon or potato masher. Cook for 15. Pour applesauce into a big bowl, throw on a sweatshirt and go sit on your patio, watch the falling leaves, and enjoy!

Peal and chop the apples. Place them in a bowl with cold water covering them, sprinkle in lemon juice. In a dutch oven, bring the rest of the ingredients to a boil and stir until cranberries begin to “pop,” about 3 minutes. Drain apples and add them to dutch oven. Turn heat down to low-medium, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Uncover and bring back to a boil. Mash the apples to your chunkiness level—using the back of a spoon or potato masher. Cook for 15. Pour applesauce into a big bowl, throw on a sweatshirt and go sit on your patio, watch the falling leaves, and enjoy!