Here’s what to do if you’re blessed with what seems like WAY too many apples!
Freeze ‘Em
Freezing is a quick way to dispose of apples, provided you have the freezer space!
You can freeze:
- Apple chunks or slices
- Applesauce
- Or even apple juice.
Can ‘Em
A little more involved than freezing (okay, a lot more involved) but, in my experience, it’s easier to find places to put more cans of food than it is to fit more stuff in the freezer!
Can:
- Applesauce (Golden Delicious apples make the most delicious sugar-free applesauce!)
- Apple juice (we can the juice from cooking apples for applesauce)
- Apple chunks or slices
- Apple pie filling (so you don’t have to eat all your pies in one week!)
- Apple butter
National Center for Home Food Preservation | Canning Sliced Apples
National Center for Home Food Preservation | Canning Applesauce
National Center for Home Food Preservation | Canning Apple Juice
Don’t know how to can? See resources below.
Dry ‘Em
You can dry apple slices or rings, then eat them, cook them, use them in pies and breads, and so on. You can also use apple in fruit leather.
Don’t know how to dry foods? See resources below.
Eat ‘Em!
Of course.
But how? An apple after every meal, like taking medicine, just to be sure they don’t go to waste?
Not necessarily!
Here are a few ideas:
- Raw apples
- Raw apples with peanut butter, almond butter, or another nut butter
- Peanut butter and apple sandwiches
- Cooked apples
- Baked apples
- Fruit salad
- Fruit soup
- Applesauce
- Apple in your cereal
- Apple bread
- Apple butter
- Apple cake
- Apple cobbler
- Apple cookies
- Apple crisp
- Apple muffins
- Apple pancakes
- Apple pie
- Apple salad
- Apple waffles
No need for apple boredom!
Need a recipe? See resources below.
Eat ‘Em Later
But! They won’t keep, you protest!
Store them in the refrigerator or another cool place, for longest keeping. Then preserve some by freezing, canning, or drying. Then make some of those things in the list above (like apple bread and apple muffins) and freeze them for later!
Share ‘Em With Others
Some people will appreciate a few free apples, but not everyone. If your people aren’t apple eaters (or your apples are too ugly to share), make them into something first, like an apple pie or apple bread. And things like apple crisp or apple cake are potluck friendly!
Resources:
So Easy To Preserve New & Revised Edition Plastic Comb – September 2, 2006by
Ball Blue Book Guide To Preserving ~ 37Th Edition by Ball
Excalibur dehydrators (they’re supposed to be very good).
National Center for Home Food Preservation | UGA Publications (PDF instructions)
National Center for Home Food Preservation | How to Can
National Center for Home Food Preservation | How to Dry Foods
Apples recipes from Taste of Home
Apple recipes from Allrecipes.com
Apple recipes at Recipe Archive
Apple recipes at Vegetarian Times
If you don’t have an abundance of apples but you’d like to, try Ripe Near Me or Local Harvest.
Never fear too many apples again!
