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Canned Tomato Sauce Recipe (+ Water-bath & Pressure Canning)

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Home-canned tomato sauce from vine-ripened tomatoes may as well be an entirely new product as there is no comparison to store-bought. It's incredibly easy to make and you can water bath or pressure can it for long-term food storage.

Jars of home canned tomato sauce on counter with ripe paste tomatoes and wicker basket

Follow this easy step-by-step tutorial for my favorite canned tomato sauce recipe and enjoy it spiced up as pizza or spaghetti sauce, use it in chili, for tomato soup, barbecue sauce, cabbage rolls, and so much more.

Why I Love This Recipe

Learning how to can tomato sauce is life-changing. No, seriously, with a single jar you can create pretty much anything your heart desires with tomato sauce as the base.

Using my principles for growing a year's worth of tomatoes (and then saving the seeds for the following year's garden), I am able to can our entire year's worth of tomato sauce. Never having to purchase tomato, pizza, or spaghetti sauce from the store is pretty amazing. In fact, I dare say this may be the most versatile item in my home food storage.

And let me tell ya, if you've never had homemade tomato sauce before made from vine-ripened tomatoes, then you've never had tomato sauce before. All else is an imitation, my friend.

If you're struggling to grow enough tomatoes to put up for sauce, you can always buy them from the farmer's market. But you may also be interested in how to prune tomatoes for a better harvest, or even my 10 tomato growing tips for a disease-free harvest.

Be sure to also check out these 129+ canning recipes to put up this year!

How Do You Can Tomato Sauce?

The best part about canning homemade tomato sauce is that you've got options! (A girl can never have too many options for canning recipes, right?)

You can use both water bath and pressure canning methods for this canned tomato sauce recipe. Update: you can use a steam canner, as long as the processing time is 45 minutes or less (I incorrectly said 30 minutes but it is actually 45 minutes, yay). Keep reading below to see which option best suits your needs.

If you feel like you could use a bit more hand-holding for canning tomato sauce, you may be interested in my Tomato Canning eCourse! (It's only $19 and includes how to can salsa and other sauces as well!)

Tomatoes growing on the vine.

What Tomatoes Make the Best Sauce?

First off, you can use any tomato, but truly, paste tomatoes are the best for making sauces.

Why, you ask? (I love it when you ask questions, I truly do!)

Paste tomatoes have less water inside and are fleshier. This results in a thicker sauce without so much reduction time. And I'm all about saving time in the kitchen!

Some good paste tomato options are Roma tomatoes and, of course, the mother of all paste tomatoes (and quite possibly the best paste tomato of the bunch) is the heirloom San Marzano Lungo No. 2. I grow them every.single.year.

This also happens to be the variety that frequently ripens first, so it's a double win in my book. We liked the flavor diced and tossed onto pizza, but it really shines in sauces and pastes.

A white colander filled with fresh tomatoes.

How Many Tomatoes Do I Need To Make Tomato Sauce?

You need a lot of tomatoes at once to make tomato sauce. This may be difficult if you don't have a large number of tomato plants and your tomatoes are ripening over a long span of time.

To allow for this without needing to make small batches of sauce, you can freeze your tomatoes whole in gallon ziplock bags until you have enough to move forward with this recipe.

The bonus of freezing tomatoes is that, as they defrost, you're actually able to peel the skins off, eliminating the step of having to roast them in the oven in batches (watch the video above to see how to do this if you're working with fresh tomatoes).

If you didn't grow enough tomatoes in your garden for sauce, you can buy a flat or two at the local farmer's market or barter with a friend. It's up to you how you source them, but for this canned tomato sauce recipe, you'll want at least 20 pounds of tomatoes to make about 7 pints of sauce.

Sliced tomatoes on a blue cutting board with a knife.

Ingredients

  • Tomatoes (about 20 pounds makes 7 pints of sauce), I recommend San Marzano, Roma and Amish Paste, or another paste tomato, but remember, any tomato will do!
  • Bottled lemon juice (1 Tablespoon per pint jar and 2 Tablespoons per quart jar) it's important to use bottled juice from concentrate as fresh lemons vary in their acidity.
  • Salt (1/4 teaspoon per pint jar and 1/2 teaspoon per quart jar) I like to use Redmond Real Salt, but any sea salt will do as long as it doesn't contain iodine or anti-caking agents.
  • Dried Basil (1/2 teaspoon per pint jar and 1 teaspoon per quart jar) I don't like adding dried herbs to my jars anymore because I feel like they lose flavor during the canning process, instead, now I add my herbs after opening my jars of canned sauce for whatever recipe I'm using it for.
  • Canning jars, lids, and bands
  • Either a water bath or pressure canner
Tomatoes on the bottom of a large stockpot and a potato masher mashing the tomatoes.

Making This Tomato Sauce Recipe

1. The first step, pick yourself some tomatoes! I didn't bother weighing out my haul, it was approximately 90 ripe tomatoes which I'm guessing came close to about 20 pounds of tomatoes. It yielded three one-quart jars plus a one-pint jar in the end.

2. Slice the tomatoes in half and remove the inner seeds and white membrane.

3. Lay the tomatoes, skin side up, on a cookie sheet and place in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 5 minutes, or until the skins begin to come loose from the flesh.

4. Remove skins and reserve in a bowl (I like to either dehydrate or freeze dry my seeds and skins to then pulse into a powder and use to thicken soups!). If you want to skip this step of removing the skins, I used to simply chop my tomatoes and add them to the stockpot, cook them down, mash them, and then put the sauce through a food mill to remove the skins. But I've since decided that roasting and removing the skins first saves time in the end.

5. Place the remaining tomatoes into a food processor or high-powered blender and give it a quick pulse to liquefy the contents. If you don't have a blender or food processor, you can mash the tomatoes (as shown in the photo above).

NOTE: Keep track of how much liquid you end up with, this amount will be necessary to know how many jars to prepare for canning.

A stockpot filled with boiling tomato sauce.

6. Pour all tomato sauce into a large stockpot and bring up to a simmer and allow to reduce until the sauce is as thick as you like it. For my paste tomatoes, this usually means reducing it for about 40 minutes which allows about 1 inch of the liquid to evaporate. But my sauce is already pretty thick right from the start. This is purely preferential and will vary based on tomato varieties.

7. Meanwhile, prepare your jars, gather your lids, and either your water bath canner or your pressure canner.

8. To each jar, add a small amount of tomato sauce, then bottled lemon juice, salt, and optional herbs (see ingredients above for amounts).

NOTE: Lemon juice (or citric acid), salt, and herbs should be added to each individual jar, not the pot of tomato sauce. And you must add the bottled lemon juice for safe shelf stability.

Canning jars and measuring spoons with lemon juice and salt in them.
Jar of tomato sauce with a head space measuring tool in the top.

9. Fill jars with tomato sauce up to a 1/2-inch headspace for water bath canning and 1-inch headspace for pressure canning. I typically like to pressure can because it takes less time.

10. Run a spatula around the jar circumference to remove air bubbles. Add more tomato sauce if needed to keep 1/2-inch or 1-inch headspace depending upon your method of canning.

11. With a damp clean cloth, wipe the rim of the jar clean. Place on lids and screw down the bands until resistance is met, then to fingertip tight.

Waterbath canner with jars covered with water.

Water Bath Canning Instructions

1. Place jars on a rack inside your water bath canner.

2. Make sure at least 1 inch of water is covering the tops of the jars.

3. Once you've got rolling boiling water, add lid and process pint jars for 35 minutes or quart jars for 40 minutes.

NOTE: See recipe notes for altitude adjustments above 1,000 feet in elevation.

4. Turn off heat and remove the lid from the canner. Allow jars to rest inside the water bath for 5 minutes.

NOTE: If you remove jars immediately, you run the risk of cracking the jars or the siphoning of liquid, which can inhibit a proper seal.

5. After the five minutes have passed, using a jar lifter, carefully lift jars out of the canner and place them in a draft-free area on a kitchen towel folded in thirds. Never place hot jars on a cold countertop.

6. Allow jars to rest, untouched for at least 12 hours, 24 hours if you have the counter space.

7. Remove bands and check seals then move to the pantry for storage. (If any jars didn't seal, store them in the refrigerator and use them within a day or two.)

Upclose shot of a pressure canner with jiggler.

Pressure Canning Instructions

1. Add water to the pressure canner, place the inner rack inside, and load jars.

2. Lock the lid, bring to a boil, and allow the pressure canner to vent steam for 10 minutes.

3. Put the weight on and allow the canner to come up to 10 pounds of pressure (or use a weighted gauge, depending on your pressure canner).

NOTE: See recipe notes for altitude adjustments above 1,000 feet in elevation.

4. Start processing time after weight begins rocking and hissing, or dial gauge reads 10 pounds of pressure.

5. Process both pint and quart-size jars for 15 minutes.

6. Allow pressure canner to cool down naturally and for pressure to return to normal.

7. Carefully remove the hot lid and wait another 10 minutes before taking jars out of canner.

NOTE: If you remove jars immediately, you run the risk of cracking the jars or the siphoning of liquid, which can inhibit a proper seal.

8. Using a jar lifter, carefully lift jars out of the canner and place them in a draft-free area on a kitchen towel folded in thirds. Never place hot jars on a cold countertop.

9. Allow jars to rest, untouched for at least 12 hours, 24 hours if you have the counter space.

10. Remove bands and check seals then move to the pantry for storage. (If any jars didn't seal, store them in the refrigerator and use within a day or two.)

NOTE: If you have enough tomato sauce to fill all the jars needed for a run in the pressure canner, I'd use the pressure canner. Food may reach a hotter temperature in the pressure canner, but because it's processed for less time, it retains more of the nutrients. But, if you don't have enough jars or don't have a pressure canner, the water bath is completely safe with this recipe.

Vertical view of an open jar of tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes on the counter and a teaspoon of dried basil.

Now stand back and look at those gorgeous scarlet jars, just begging to be simmered all day for spaghetti, in chili, or in these slow cooker cabbage rolls.

Seriously, does anyone else like to sit and stare at the rows of home-canned food, or am I the only one weird that way? I'm hoping now that you know how to can tomato sauce, you'll be staring at them, too.

Want to learn how to pressure can?

I have a FREE pressure canning video series here walking you through how to:

  • safely pressure can without fear of blowing it up or exploding
  • how to make sure you stay SAFE and avoid botulism
  • the science of canning so you always stay safe
  • what foods CANNOT be canned at home, even in a pressure canner
  • and more

It's completely free and I've taught hundreds of people how to pressure can, you're in good hands! Click here to snag your seat and get started pressure canning today.

home canned jars of tomato sauce on counter with ripe tomatoes

Want ALL of my best-preserving recipes

This recipe is one of many in my new book, Everything Worth Preserving,

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Did you make this recipe? If so, I'd love for you to leave me a star review in the recipe card below, then tag me on social media @melissaknorris so I can see!

Easy Canned Tomato Sauce

Melissa Norris
Learn how to can tomato sauce at home with this easy recipe, safe for both water bath or pressure canning!
4.21 from 73 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 1 hr
Cook Time 1 hr
Canning Time 35 mins
Total Time 2 hrs 35 mins
Course Sauce
Cuisine Italian
Servings 14 cups
Calories 119 kcal

Equipment

  • Pressure Canner or Water Bath Canner
  • Canning Jars and Lids

Ingredients
  

  • 20 pounds tomatoes 20 pounds makes about 7 pints of sauce
  • 7 tbsp bottled lemon juice
  • 1.75 tsp salt
  • 3.5 tsp dried basil optional

Instructions
 

Prepare Tomatoes

  • Pick your fresh tomatoes, slice in half and remove seeds.
  • Place tomatoes, flesh side down (skin side up) on a cookie sheet and roast in a 350 degree F oven for 5 minutes (or until skins start to pull away from the tomatoes).
  • Carefully remove skins and set them aside in a bowl.
  • Add tomatoes to a food processor or high-powered blender. Pulse quickly to liquefy contents.
  • Add tomato sauce to a heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a boil.
  • Reduce heat and continue simmering until tomato sauce is reduced down to desired thickness. (This will vary based on tomato variety.)
  • Meanwhile, prepare your jars, gather your lids, and either your water bath canner or your pressure canner.
  • To each jar, add one scoop of tomato sauce, then add 1 Tablespoon bottled lemon juice to each pint jar (or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice to each quart jar).
  • Add 1/4 teaspoon salt to each pint jar (or 1/2 teaspoon salt to each quart jar).
  • Add the optional 1/2 teaspoon dried basil to each pint jar (or 1 teaspoon dried basil to each quart jar).
  • Fill jars the rest of the way with tomato sauce leaving 1/2-inch headspace for water bath canning and 1-inch headspace for pressure canning.
  • Run a spatula around the jar circumference to remove air bubbles. Add more tomato sauce if needed to keep 1/2-inch or 1-inch headspace depending upon your method of canning.
  • With a damp clean cloth, wipe the rim of the jar clean. Place on lids and screw down the bands until resistance is met, then to fingertip tight.

Water Bath Canning Instructions

  • Place jars on a rack inside your water bath canner.
  • Make sure at least 1 inch of water is covering the tops of the jars.
  • Once you’ve got rolling boiling water, process pint jars for 35 minutes or quart jars for 40 minutes. (See notes for high altitude canning instructions.)
  • Turn off heat and remove the lid from the canner. Allow jars to rest inside the water bath for 5 minutes.
  • Using a jar lifter, carefully lift jars out of the canner and place them in a draft-free area on a kitchen towel folded in thirds. Never place hot jars on a cold countertop.
  • Allow jars to rest, untouched for at least 12 hours, 24 hours if you have the counter space.
  • Remove bands and check seals then move to the pantry for storage. (If any jars didn’t seal, store them in the refrigerator and use within a day or two.)

Pressure Canning Instructions

  • Add water to pressure canner, put in the rack, and load jars.
  • Lock the lid, bring to a boil, and allow the pressure canner to vent steam for 10 minutes.
  • Put the weight on and allow the canner to come up to 10 pounds of pressure (or use a weighted gauge, depending on your pressure canner). See notes for high-altitude canning instructions.
  • Start processing time after weight begins rocking and hissing, or dial gauge reads 10 pounds of pressure.
  • Process both pint and quart-size jars for 15 minutes.
  • Allow pressure canner to cool down naturally and for pressure to return to normal.
  • Carefully remove the hot lid and wait another 10 minutes before taking jars out of canner.
  • Using a jar lifter, carefully lift jars out of the canner and place them in a draft-free area on a kitchen towel folded in thirds. Never place hot jars on a cold countertop.
  • Allow jars to rest, untouched for at least 12 hours, 24 hours if you have the counter space.
  • Remove bands and check seals then move to the pantry for storage. (If any jars didn’t seal, store them in the refrigerator and use within a day or two.)

Video

Notes

  • Keep track of how much tomato sauce you're blending as you go to have an idea of how many jars to prepare for canning.
  • You MUST use bottled lemon juice for this recipe in order for it to be considered safe (or citric acid, see free chart for differing types of acid and amounts right above recipe card).
  • Lemon juice, salt, and optional herbs should be added to each individual jar, not the pot of tomato sauce.
  • If you have enough tomato sauce to fill all the jars needed for a run in the pressure canner, I'd use the pressure canner. Food may reach a hotter temperature in the pressure canner, but because it's processed for less time, it retains more of the nutrients.
  • If you don't have enough jars to fill a pressure canner, or you don't have one, the water bath is completely fine with this recipe.
  • Even if you are pressure canning the tomato sauce, you still need to use the bottled lemon juice (or citric acid).
  • Allow jars to remain in the canner for the recommended time to prevent siphoning of liquid which can inhibit a proper seal.
If you're 1,001 feet above sea level, you must make processing adjustments.
  • For water bath canning 1,001 to 3,000 feet is 40 minutes for pints and 45 minutes for quarts, 3,001 to 6,000 is 45 minutes for pints and 50 minutes for quarts. For altitudes above 6,001 feet increase by an additional 5 minutes.  
  • For pressure canning, 1,001 + feet use 15 pounds of pressure with a weighted gauge canner. For dial gauge, if 0 to 2,000 feet use 11 lbs PSI, for 2,001 to 4,000 feet use 12 lbs PSI, for 4,001 to 6,000 feet use 13 lbs PSI, for 6,001 to 8,000 feet use 14 lbs PSI.

Nutrition

Calories: 119kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 6gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 323mgPotassium: 1550mgFiber: 8gSugar: 17gVitamin A: 5398IUVitamin C: 92mgCalcium: 70mgIron: 2mg
Keyword Canned Tomato Sauce, pressure canning, Tomato, Tomato Sauce, Water Bath Canning
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

12 Ways to Preserve Apples at Home

by 42 Comments

Learn all the fantastic ways to preserve apples at home, including fresh storage, freezing, canning, dehydrating, and more! Here are my favorite 12 ways to preserve apples at home.

Red apples in a wooden crate with more crates stacked behind it.

We've all heard the saying an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but my apples don't grow all year round. My goal is to put up as much food as possible when it's in season to keep our food bill down by increasing our food storage.

It's apple season ya'll (When I get excited a little bit of southern kicks in, it's just how I roll) and I happen to have almost 75 pounds of apples sitting in my kitchen waiting to be preserved into something glorious.

Preserving apples in jars (and having multiple ways to do so) makes my Mason jar loving heart very happy. You ready?

What Can I Do With a Lot of Apples?

Learning how to preserve apples at home is a great, frugal skill to undertake. Anytime you can either harvest, or even buy, food when it's in season, you're getting it at the lowest cost, and when you can learn how to preserve it for the full year – without using icky ingredients – it's a major score!

While most folks think of making applesauce (and applesauce is delicious), there are many more ways to preserve those apples for use all year long. I’m going to share with you how to make apple preserves, apple pie filling, dehydrated cinnamon apples, apple pectin, apple cider vinegar, and more!

Apples in a wooden barrel.

What Are the Best Apples to Preserve?

There are so many varieties of apples, it can be difficult to choose. When canning, preserving or freezing apples, it is best to pick a crisp, firm variety that is both sweet and tart.

The most popular varieties are:

  • Jonagold
  • Braeburn
  • McIntosh
  • Golden Delicious
  • Pink Lady

You can even combine apples of different varieties to create a unique, dynamic flavor.

How to Preserve Apples

My top 11 ways (plus a BONUS) to preserve apples are:

  1. Apple Pie Filling
  2. Dehydrated Apples
  3. Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar
  4. Apple Butter
  5. Homemade Apple Pie Jam
  6. Apple Jelly
  7. Homemade Pectin
  8. Apple Fruit Leather
  9. Storing Fresh Apples (for Long-Term)
  10. Canned Apple Sauce
  11. Freezing Apples
  12. BONUS: Homemade Apple Cider

Apple Pie Filling

Canning apples for pie when I'm short on time (or when apple prices are sky-high) is one of my favorite home-canned apple items to have in the pantry.

Is there anything better than lovely jars of home-canned apple pie filling? Yes, there is, diving headfirst into said jar with a spoon… or no spoon.

Ever notice how apple prices go up during the holidays? Preserving apple pie filling ahead of time saves so much time when I'm busy with Thanksgiving and Christmas. I can bake a homemade pie by just popping open a jar of this filling and pulling out the best flaky pie crust from the freezer…

Here's how to safely can apple apples for pie with my Homemade Apple Pie Filling Tutorial and Recipe.

Homemade dehydrated apple chips with cinnamon sticks and two whole apples sitting on a wooden countertop.

Dehydrated Apple Chips

Want to know how to preserve apple slices? My favorite way is to make cinnamon apple chips. Apples lend themselves well to dehydrating and they're a great addition to a hike or to take on the go for a quick snack.

Simply peel and slice your apples, taking care to cut them relatively the same size and thickness for even drying. The beauty of preserving your apples this way is the cinnamon gives them a brown color so no need to worry about spraying them with lemon juice or citric acid to keep them from browning.

Place prepared apple slices in a container with a lid or a plastic ziptop bag. Sprinkle 1 to 2 Tablespoons of ground cinnamon on top (or to taste), close the container, and shake to evenly coat the apple slices.

Place on dehydrator trays, taking care to leave space around each apple slice for proper airflow. (I've had this dehydrator for years now and feel you can fit more on these square trays.) Set dehydrator to 135 degrees F and dehydrate until fully dry.

Depending upon how thick you cut your apples and the water content, this can be anywhere from 6 to 24 hours, it's best to check on them after 6 hours, then every hour until completely dry. 

How Do You Know When Apples Are Completely Dry?

The best way to determine if your apples are fully dry is by weight. Weigh your empty trays and then weigh your trays when they are full of prepared fruit. Subtract the empty tray weight from the full tray weight to find the weight of your prepared fruit.

Follow this ratio: 20 pounds of prepared apples should dry to 6.5 pounds. Put dehydrated cinnamon apple slices in a sealed container and enjoy!

For long-term food storage, use an oxygen absorber or a vacuum seal attachment on a Mason jar and store in a cool dark area of your home.

A bowl of homemade apple cider vinegar with the mother next to whole apples.

Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar

Did you know you can make homemade apple cider vinegar? Yep, and the bonus is it will be fermented with “the Mother”, just like the good stuff from the grocery store!

The perk of learning how to make homemade fruit vinegar (with any kind of fruit) is that you generally can use the fruit scraps. So for apple cider, you can use the skins and apple cores to make something from a byproduct that may have ended up in the compost pile.

You won't believe how incredibly easy it is. Check out this tutorial with photos and a video on how to make raw apple cider vinegar.

Then put that ACV to work in recipes (like this amazing old-fashioned vinegar pie), catching fruit flies, and for delicious and tangy salad dressings.

Two jars of homemade apple butter in swing-top jars with tags. Sliced and whole apples and cinnamon sticks surround the jars.

Apple Butter

Fruit butter, how I love you. You're thick and spread so nicely on homemade buttermilk biscuits and pancakes.

This recipe uses a special ingredient for a delightful flavor… get your homemade apple butter recipe right here, complete with canning instructions for long-term storage.

Homemade Apple Pie Jam (Low-Sugar Recipe)

Oh yes, apple pie in a mason jar ready to smear on your favorite biscuit, sandwich, cornbread, in between cakes… or, let's be honest, just by the spoonful!

Learn how to make easy apple pie jam.

Apple Jelly in a jar with spoon. Apples, cinnamon sticks and star anise around it.

Apple Jelly

Apple jelly not only looks pretty in jars (especially as gifts around the holidays), but it also only uses two ingredients to make! I'm a fan of simplicity and the fewer ingredients the better.

Check out this great apple jelly recipe and tutorial from my girl Laurie over at Common Sense Homesteading.

A woman crouched down next to an established fruit tree with mountains in the background.

Homemade Apple Pectin

Did you know apples are high in pectin? In fact, my grandmother never used store-bought pectin, she just grated a green apple into her jam or jelly. But you can make and can or freeze apple pectin for use in all your jam and jelly recipes.

Apple fruit leather rolled up and piled on a white plate.

Homemade Fruit Leather

Have you checked out the ingredients in store-bought fruit leather? Yeah, not happening in my house. This one has only 3 ingredients (are you noticing a theme?) and is easy and straightforward to make.

Here's how to make apple and cinnamon fruit leather. But if you're looking for that store-bought thick and chewy consistency (rather than the oftentimes tough and even crispy fruit leather), check out my friend Carolyn's tip (from Homesteading Family) on making homemade fruit leather with a secret ingredient!

Red apples in a wooden crate with more crates stacked behind it.

Storing Fresh Apples (Long-Term Storage)

Apples are one of the cool fruits that can be stored for a long time with very little effort. Have you ever heard the saying one bad apple spoiled the barrel? It's true, and it dates back to when people used root cellars a lot more than they do today.

There are many tips for storing apples for long-term storage. This post by Living Homegrown discusses which varieties store best, how to harvest apples so they last the longest (and which apples should be eaten sooner), and she even covers how to store apples if you don't have a root cellar (she's speaking my language here!).

Here's the low down on storing apples for long-term storage.

Homemade applesauce in a swing top jar with apples around it.

Homemade Applesauce (Plus Canning Instructions)

My tip for applesauce is to not bother cutting or peeling beforehand. I steam my apples whole and then put them through the sieve to catch the seeds and peelings. Easy peasy and a lot less work.

Though Lauren over at Tastes Better From Scratch uses a different method, her tutorial is spot on for learning how to can applesauce.

Freezing Apples

It is handy to have fresh frozen apple slices on hand, especially around the holidays. Freezing apple slices allows you to store apples in the freezer until you are ready to bake them into a delicious apple pie, or maybe a cobbler. 

First wash, peel, and core your apples. Then cut the apples into slices that are relatively the same size and thickness. 

Blanching the apples will preserve the quality and allow you to keep your apples in the freezer for up to a year.

To blanch apples, bring a large pot of water to a boil and prepare a large bowl with cold water plus 1 to 2 cups of ice. Put the apple slices in the boiling water for two minutes. Immediately transfer the apples to the ice water to cool completely. 

When you remove the apple slices from the cold water, let them drain. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat and arrange the apple slices on it so that they are not touching. Let them freeze for several hours or overnight in a single layer. 

In the morning, take the apples and seal them in freezer bags. Keep them in the freezer until you are ready to bake with them.

Hot apple cider in a glass with apples and cinnamon around it.

Hot Apple Cider

Bonus! Don't you love a bonus? I do. Like when you put on a pair of pants you haven't worn in a long time and not only do they still fit but you find a $20 in the pocket!

How could I have forgotten to add this one with the original 11? I blame it on the 12 jars of tomato sauce I made and canned today, but really, homemade apple cider is a must. Would someone please bring me a cup and we'll toast to the loveliness of fall and apples?

How do you preserve apples at home?

Canned pumpkin in quart sized Mason jars with a large pumpkin in the background.

More Posts You May Enjoy

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How to Make Perogies- Traditional Ukrainian Perogi Recipe

by 28 Comments

Learn how to make perogies (or pierogies) from Anna, with her traditional Ukrainian Perogi recipe.

I can hardly remember a Christmas dinner without perogies. I want to say it happened once and so many family members complained that it never happened again.

Bowl of homemade perogies sitting on a wooden table. Text overlay says, "How to Make Homemade Perogies From Scratch: Family Recipe".

Because these potato-filled dumplings aren’t just a staple of holiday dinners in my family, they’re a part of our heritage; A heritage full of traditions that have been passed down through generations, many of which still find a place on our dinner table at every special occasion (and many meals in between).

Perogies are a versatile food, great for both holiday dinners and midweek meals alike. They’re also super frugal, costing mere pennies a piece when made from scratch. And a single batch will easily feed a large family (or a small village).

They make a fantastic main course as well as a perfect side dish. They stick to your ribs despite having no meat, and they're pleasing to just about everyone’s tastebuds. I’ve literally never met anybody who doesn’t like them.

The History of the Humble Perogy

Perogies originated in Eastern Europe out of necessity. They were originally considered a peasant food as they are composed of humble ingredients like flour, potatoes and onions. Nevertheless, they were a frugal way to fill hungry bellies with a few simple ingredients and helped stave off hunger during frigid and barren Eastern European winters.

Today they are enjoyed by all, regardless of class or social status, and they remain a staple food for Eastern European families like mine, even though we’ve lived in North America for multiple generations.

Food is one of those things that connects us to our past and to our ancestors and to the ways of life of long ago. Although I’m fourth generation Canadian, the perogies I make and feed my family have changed very little from those my great-great-grandmother fed to hers.

A Frugal and Filling Addition to Your Family Table

Many people are familiar with perogies, but unfortunately they don’t know much more than the fact that you can buy them pre-made from the store. I often meet people who tell me they love perogies but have never made them from scratch (and probably never even tasted them from scratch). And yet, these are one of the easiest things to make at home!

They do tend to be a little time-consuming as you typically roll out enough dough at one time to make anywhere from 50 to 150 perogies at once. But the process is straightforward and a few simple ingredients go a very long way, making this an easy pierogi recipe.

Pierogi filling recipe

  • 5 lb. bag of potatoes
  • 1 lb. of sharp cheddar cheese (optional)
  • 1 large onion
  • a pinch of salt
  • pat of butter

With these ingredients you can make a batch of about 150-200 pierogis, depending on how large you’re cutting them. Now, it’s been a while since we bought them from the store (yes, it’s happened), but I think you get around the same amount or a little less in a large box from Costco and that will run you around $10.00 plus tax.

Store-bought perogies also contain added, unwanted ingredients like the food additive soy lecithin that you won’t find in this homemade version.

If you’re making them with cheese (which I highly recommend), the cheese will probably be the most expensive part of this recipe. We bought a 1-lb. brick of cheese for $6.50 and a 5-lb. bag of russet potatoes for $2.50. Add in an onion, a couple eggs and some flour and salt from our pantry, as well as a little butter and oil, and our last batch probably cost around $10 or $11.

While this is roughly the same as the store-bought Costco version, it contains no questionable ingredients, the cheese is real (not processed) and you could essentially cut your costs to under $5.00 for the whole batch if you omit the cheese. For a batch of 150, this works out to just over 0.03¢ per perogy! Even with the cheese it still works out to around 0.07¢ per perogy. Now if that ain’t frugal I don’t know what is.

My Family's Pierogi Main Dish Recipe

This perogy recipe was passed down to me from my aunt, who inherited it from her mother who learned it from her mother and so on. Every year around this time we begin making dozens and dozens of these little dumplings to serve at Christmas dinner as well as for Ukrainian Christmas in January and then for Malanka (Ukrainian New Year).

Traditionally, the women and girls of the family would get together to make a huge batch of perogies together. I highly recommend making this a family affair if you can!

For one, many hands make light work. But more importantly, this is such a fun tradition and is something that all generations can do together. And nothing says the males in the family can’t help out too. In fact, my husband enjoys a good perogy session just as much as I do:)

Old-Fashioned Cooking for a Busy Home

Tired of hectic meal times and complicated recipes or relying on processed foods? Instead, learn how to have

  • Simple and easy time tested from scratch meals.
  • Easy skillet suppers
  • Nourishing and kid-approved soups and stews
  • Old-fashioned baked goods from buttermilk pie, homemade cake mixes, to Mom’s chocolate chip cookies
  • Don’t spend all day in the kitchen, tips for busy times without sacrificing hand made goodies
  • Wholesome ingredients without processed and questionable items

Want more easy homemade recipes all in one place? This recipe and 100+ more are found in my book–-> click here Hand Made: the Modern Guide to Made-from-Scratch Living. 

How to Make Perogi Potato and Cheese Filling

First you’ll want to prepare the ingredients for your filling. Start by peeling your potatoes, then cut them into quarters and boil them until soft enough to mash. While the potatoes are cooking, grate your cheese and then dice up one whole onion and sauté in a little butter.

Once the potatoes are ready to mash, strain the water out but reserve 2 cups to make your dough with. You can use regular water but using the starchy potato water makes for great dough and makes this recipe even more frugal.

Return strained potatoes to the pot. Add grated cheddar and sautéed onion and mash really well. You want the filling to be thick and firm (so don’t add any milk or cream like you might with regular mashed potatoes).  But you also want to make sure there are no lumps, so mash well.

How to Make Perogies

Prepare your dough. This perogies recipe will make about 150-200 depending on how big you cut them, but you can easily multiply or divide this recipe to suit your needs.

How to Make Pierogi Dough

  1. Mix together flour and salt.
  2. In another bowl, mix a little oil with a couple eggs and the potato water (or regular water if you accidentally dumped your potato water down the drain).
  3. Slowly add wet ingredients to dry and mix well.
  4. Flour your hands and knead your dough ball until smooth.
  5. Then let it rest, covered, for about half an hour.

When perogie dough is ready, roll it out to about 1/8 of an inch thick. You want it thin, but be careful not to roll it too thin as it could break.

Either use a biscuit cutter or an upside-down cup to cut your circles out. Cut out as many as you can and then ball up remaining dough and roll out once more. Repeat the process until all of the dough has been used up.

By this time, your perogi filling will be cool enough to touch. Scoop about a tablespoon of potato filling for each dumpling and roll into a neat little ball. It’s easiest if you prepare a bunch of these balls before you start filling your perogies.

Gently stretch out each circle of dough and then place a ball of filling in the centre of each one. Seal them up with your fingers as you go, pressing the two edges firmly together. Wet your fingers a little if needed to help stick the edges together.

Be careful not to get any filling between the dough as this can prevent a proper seal. If your perogy dumplings aren’t sealed well the filling could boil out when you cook them. The dough is still quite edible (and yummy with sour cream!). But let’s face it; A perogy ain’t a perogy without the filling.

Repeat this process over and over until you’ve filled and sealed all your perogies. Lay each finished perogy on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper so they don’t stick together. Double check each one to make sure they’ve sealed all the way around.

To cook, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook in small batches (no more than 10-15 perogies at a time for best results). Cooking them in small batches keeps them from sticking together as much. Stir them gently to keep them from sticking as well. Boil until done. Perogies will float to the top of the pot when they’re finished.

For best results (and to prevent them from breaking), use a slotted spoon to remove perogies from water and transfer to a colander to let drain more. Toss each batch with about a tablespoon of butter (again to prevent sticking… and because… butter).

Repeat until all perogies are cooked and then transfer to a serving dish. Serve with fried onions and sour cream, and enjoy alongside sauerkraut, cabbage rolls, pickles and Ukrainian or Polish sausage with a little mustard and you’ve got yourself a meal that’s fit for a king, but on a peasant’s budget.

Homemade Frozen Pierogies

Now, what to do with them all? Perogies freeze really well, so if you’re not planning on cooking them all the same night, put the baking trays in the freezer to flash freeze them before transferring them to a freezer bag. They should keep in the freezer for up to 4-6months.

Other Creative Fillings and Meal Ideas

Once you’ve A) used up all your dough or B) used up all of your filling, you’re finished your batch! But don’t worry about having leftover dough or filling. You can add an egg to the potato filling and form into balls, then roll in bread crumbs and fry to make potato croquettes.

And if you have extra dough, you can fill them with a variety of other ingredients to make different types of perogies. Pierogi dinner ideas with other popular fillings are sauerkraut and bacon, cottage cheese, ground or shredded meat or fruit fillings like cherry and blueberry.

You can really put anything you like in the middle. This is just a dumpling after all. You could even just cook the dough on it's own and serve dumplings with chicken or in soup. Get creative with whatever you have on hand! Just be sure to cook any meat before using it as filling.

Share with loved ones and enjoy!

Traditional Ukrainian Perogies

Anastasia Sakawsky
This traditional Ukrainian perogy recipe is extremely frugal, averaging out to less than 10¢ a piece. This recipe makes around 150-200 perogies but can be doubled or divided to fit your needs.
4.31 from 13 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Cuisine Ukrainian

Ingredients
  

For the Filling:

  • 5 lbs russet potatoes
  • 1 lb brick of old/sharp cheddar cheese grated
  • 1 onion finely chopped and sautéed in butter

For the Dough:

  • 6 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsps salt
  • 2 cups warm water potato water from filling is the best
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs lightly beaten

Instructions
 

  • Peel potatoes and cut into quarters. Cook in boiling water until soft enough to mash.
  • Drain well, reserving 2 cups of potato water for dough.
  • Return potatoes to the pot and add grated cheese and sautéed onion. Mash until smooth. Let filling cool while making the dough.
  • In a large bowl, sift flour and combine with salt.
  • Mix together water, oil and egg, and pour half of mixture into flour. Mix and slowly add the remaining liquid. Knead by hand until flour and liquid are well combined, into an elastic ball. You may need to add a small amount of either flour or water, depending on the consistency of the dough.
  • When well blended and smooth, wrap in plastic wrap or a clean plastic bag and let dough rest for at least 30 minutes.
  • Cut dough in half or in thirds, keeping unused dough well wrapped in plastic until needed. Flour the table or counter lightly and roll dough to about 1/8 inch thickness (thin is best, but not too thin, as you don't want the dough to break as you fill your perogy).
  • Cut the dough in rounds using a biscuit cutter or a small drinking glass (upside down).
  • Scoop about 1 Tbsp of potato filling for each perogy and roll into a ball in the palms of your hands.
  • Fill each round of dough with a ball of potato filling and seal the edges of the dough together with your fingers. Make sure when pinching the edges to ensure there are no gaps or that the 2 sides of the dough do not pull away from each other. Wet you fingers just a little if needed to help dough stick together.
  • Freeze on a baking tray and then transfer to a freezer bag if making in advance.
  • To cook, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook in small batches (10-15 perogies at a time), stirring gently to prevent dumplings from sticking together. Perogies are finished cooking when they float to the top.
  • Use a slotted spoon to remove them from water and drain before transferring to a serving bowl. Toss with butter and serve hot with sour cream. Add fried onions and.or bacon bits to take your perogies to the next level!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

There you have it, how to make perogies at home. Will you be making this treat any time soon?

Pinterest pin with two images. Top image is of a bowl of homemade perogies with a side of sour cream. Bottom image is a close up of a bowl of homemade perogies. Text overlay says, "How to make homemade perogies: Great-great-grandma's traditional Ukrainian Recipe".

Strawberry Rhubarb Dump Cake without Jello & Homemade Cake Mix

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Strawberry rhubarb dump cake is one of my favorite recipes, in fact, I started with this recipe when I was seven years old. A neighbor served this dish and the next day, I walked up the street to her log cabin and asked for the recipe. She graciously shared! (I take it as a compliment when someone asks for the recipe and always supply it upon request)

But as we started moving away from processed and boxed foods, I had a hard time making strawberry rhubarb dump cake because the original recipe called for both strawberry jello (hello food dye and artificial flavoring) and a boxed cake mix.

Easy Strawberry Rhubarb Dump Cake from Scratch

Since recovering my health and only using from scratch recipes in our kitchen, I struggled with giving up our beloved Strawberry Rhubarb dump cake or using the processed ingredients and cringing the entire time. I'm telling you, the dilemma is real people.

I'm not one to give up on our favorites, I was determined I could do this real food. Determined. It took a couple of goes, but I did it. This strawberry rhubarb dump cake from scratch now contains real strawberries, gelatin (totally a health food when sourced from grass fed cattle), and a homemade cake mix that is light and fluffy. Can I get an amen!!!

No more feeling guilty and it still tastes amazing.

So I did it, I came up with a completely real food version of our favorite. You're welcome!

If making things from scratch the old-fashioned way without chemicals and a ton of store-bought ingredients, including from-scratch cakes, biscuits, and more, grab Hand Made: the Modern Guide to Made-from-Scratch Living with over 100 recipes!

Keep rhubarb on hand all year-long

A great way to keep rhubarb for baking all year long is to chop it up and freeze it in a plastic freezer bag or freezable container.

The great thing about this strawberry rhubarb dump cake is you can use fresh or frozen fruit, so it can be served all year long.

Other easy delicious homemade dessert recipes

Close up image of a frosted chocolate cupcake on a white plate with a cake tray full of cupcakes in the background. Text overlay says, "Chocolate Mayo Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting".

Great-Grandma's Heavenly Easy Chocolate Mayo Cake

Easy Honey Banana Cake

Melt in Your Mouth Blueberry Cake

Strawberry Rhubarb Dump Cake without Jello

MelissaKNorris
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 1 hr
Total Time 1 hr 5 mins
Servings 12

Ingredients
  

  • 4 cups diced rhubarb
  • 1 and 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar I use raw organic cane sugar
  • 1 scoop gelatin 2 and 1/2 teaspoons gelatin I use this brand of gelatin that's from grass fed cattle and no fillers
  • 1 cup cold water
  • Homemade Cake Mix
  • 1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour we'll turn it into cake flour below
  • 3 Tablespoons organic non-GMO corn starch use 2 Tablespoons in the bottom of your cup, then spoon full with flour, use 1 Tablespoon for the 1/2 cup
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place rhubarb and sliced strawberries in pan, sprinkle sugar over it, then evenly sprinkle the gelatin over top.
  • Thoroughly mix your dry cake ingredients together and sprinkle evenly over rhubarb. Pour your 1 cup water over all of this and dot with 3 tablespoons chopped butter. Don’t stir!
  • Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Serve this warm by itself, or add a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. My husband says the rhubarb counts as a vegetable and eats it for breakfast, too.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Homemade Cake Mix Recipe

by 18 Comments

Would you believe that making a homemade cake mix is faster and cheaper than running to the store to buy one in a box? It's true.

How to make homemade cake mix recipes in a jar. Never buy a boxed cake mix again with this recipe and free printables and recipe cards!

Plus, this homemade cake mix recipe tastes better than the boxed counterpart, doesn't contain any questionable GMO ingredients, and can be stored in one of my favorite items of all time, a Mason jar. 

This is my great-grandmother's Chocolate Cake recipe and you know when a recipe has been passed down for that many years, it's a keeper.  Ain't no one passing down and making a recipe for that many generations if it isn't good, can I get an amen?

Resources for making Homemade Cake Mix in a Jar

1 quart-sized Mason jar

Funnel for pouring in dry ingredients

Long-handled spoon

Embellishments for decorating the jar

Get yourself more from-scratch cooking and time-tested recipes in The Made-from-Scratch Life. With over $20 in free bonuses, this is the perfect book to give with this homemade cake mix in a jar recipe so they'll never go back to store-bought processed stuff again!

How to make homemade cake mix recipes in a jar. Never buy a boxed cake mix again with this recipe and free printables and recipe cards!

How to Make Homemade Chocolate Cake Mix in a Jar

  1. Place your canning funnel on your Mason jar
  2. Pour in the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and powder
  3. Tap the top of the dry ingredients to help remove the air pockets and settle all of the ingredients into the jar.
  4. Place a metal canning lid (I wash and dry used canning lids for these dry goods projects) and band on.
  5. Pretty up the jar however you want, I especially like this red and white jute twine and silver jingle bells for the holidays.
  6. Attach the FREE printable tag with baking instructions.

Homemade Chocolate Cake Mix Baking Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Combine ingredients in jar with 3/4 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup cold water, 1/2 cup brewed coffee and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir until smooth and pour into greased and floured pans (two 8 inch cake pans, one 9×13 baking pan or cupcake tins).

Bake cake for 30 to 40 minutes or bake cupcakes for 16 minutes. Allow to cool before frosting.

Other Homemade Mix Recipes:

Homemade Cake Mix Recipe

MelissaKNorris
3.90 from 10 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 30 mins
Total Time 40 mins
Servings 8 to 12

Ingredients
  

  • Homemade Chocolate Cake Mix Dry Ingredients
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions
 

  • Baking Directions
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
  • Combine ingredients in jar with 3/4 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup cold water, 1/2 cup brewed coffee and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir until smooth and pour into greased and floured pans (two 8 inch cake pans, one 9×13 baking pan or cupcake tins).
  • Bake cake for 30 to 40 minutes or bake cupcakes for 16 minutes. Allow to cool before frosting
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
How to make homemade cake mix recipes in a jar. Never buy a boxed cake mix again with this recipe and free printables and recipe cards!

Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Sugar Cookies Recipe

by 12 Comments

These old-fashioned pumpkin cookies are amazing, plus they use real pumpkin. I can't stop eating them! Grab the recipe here

These old-fashioned pumpkin sugar cookies are easy to bake and taste like pumpkin pie in a cookie, except in my opinion, they're better than pumpkin pie. Say what? Yep, I said it.

Truthfully, I'm not such a big traditional pumpkin pie fan, but no bake pumpkin cream pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin roll, pumpkin applesauce muffins with maple glaze, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread, now we're a talking my language.

I like a soft cookie, but I did not want a pumpkin cake or pumpkin muffin top masquerading as a cookie. So three different cookie variations later, you have these melt in your mouth old-fashioned pumpkin sugar cookies. Can I get an amen?

As far as cookies though, these actually use a full cup less sugar than chocolate chip cookies, but you'll never miss it.

Want more old-fashioned from scratch cooking? The answer is yes, always, yes, then check out over 100+ recipes in my new book Hand Made:the Modern Guide to Made-from-Scratch Living, including the 3 bonus videos, coupons, and more here!

How to Make Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Sugar Cookies 

First off, you need some pumpkin. Now, being a homesteader I make sure and plant sugar pie pumpkins in our garden because they produce a sweeter pumpkin flesh for baking.

Thankfully, we grow enough pumpkin I don't have to purchase store bought pumpkin pie filling or pumpkin puree, but if you can't get your hands on some pumpkins to cook, you may use pumpkin puree.

There's just something extra special about using the crops you grow to then produce your meals and recipes. Even after all these years, I still get an immense feeling of gratitude and satisfaction when I prepare a recipe with the bounty of our own land and homestead. It's something I hope every person gets to experience.

This is my favorite way to make homemade pumpkin puree the easy way

If you're starting from a real pumpkin homesteader style, then chop that baby in half, scoop out the seeds to roast and snack on later, and place each half of the pumpkin cut side down in a 9×13 baking pan with an inch of water and bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until pumpkin is soft and fully cooked.

Allow to cool, then scrape out the inside of the cooked pumpkin. You are now ready to make your pumpkin cookies.

These old-fashioned pumpkin cookies are amazing, plus they use real pumpkin. I can't stop eating them! Grab the recipe here

(recipe shared from Hand Made: the Modern Guide to Made-from-Scratch Living)

Melt the butter and the add the coconut oil to the melted butter. The heat from the melted butter will soften up the coconut oil. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the melted butter, coconut oil, brown and white sugar, and molasses. Then add in and combine the cooked pumpkin.

Dump in all your dry ingredients and mix until combined. Cover and allow dough to chill in the fridge for at least an hour or even overnight. Trust me on this part. Chilled dough makes better flavored and textured cookies. Something magical happens upon chilling and all the flavors mingle together.

You have two options after your dough has chilled. For a puffier pumpkin sugar cookie, place some sugar in a bowl and roll a good sized tablespoon of dough (use an ice cream scoop to easily create uniformed cookies, this one cleans the scoop for you, making the process faster and a ted bit less messy) into a ball and then roll it around in the sugar until it's fully coated. Place 2 inches apart on an cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, just until cookie has set. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes before removing from sheet.

For a flatter, but still perfectly soft pumpkin sugar cookie, take a heaping tablespoon of dough and plop it on your cookie sheet. With your fingers, flatten it out into the desired size of your cookie. The cookie will only slightly spread out and up about a 1/4 of an inch thick. Sprinkle a light dusting of sugar on top of each cookie. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, just until cookie has set. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes before removing from sheet.

These old-fashioned pumpkin cookies are amazing, plus they use real pumpkin. I can't stop eating them! Grab the recipe here

Other delicious Pumpkin Recipes:

Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

MelissaKNorris
No ratings yet
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 1 hr 10 mins
Cook Time 10 mins
Total Time 1 hr 20 mins
Servings 28

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon molasses
  • 1 cup cooked pumpkin
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Instructions
 

  • Melt the butter and the add the coconut oil to the melted butter. The heat from the melted butter will soften up the coconut oil. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the melted butter, coconut oil, brown and white sugar, and molasses. Then add in and combine the cooked pumpkin.
  • Dump in all your dry ingredients and mix until combined. Cover and allow dough to chill in the fridge for at least an hour or even overnight. Trust me on this part. Chilled dough makes better flavored and textured cookies. Something magical happens upon chilling and all the flavors mingle together.
  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • You have two options after your dough has chilled. For a puffier pumpkin sugar cookie, place some sugar in a bowl and roll a good sized Tablespoon of dough into a ball and then roll it around in the sugar until it's fully coated. Place 2 inches apart on an cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, just until cookie has set. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes before removing from sheet.
  • For a flatter, but still perfectly soft pumpkin sugar cookie, take a heaping tablespoon of dough and plop it on your cookie sheet. With your fingers, flatten it out into the desired size of your cookie. The cookie will only slightly spread out and up about a 1/4 of an inch thick. Sprinkle a light dusting of sugar on top of each cookie. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, just until cookie has set. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes before removing from sheet.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

DIY Canning Ring Wreath

by 6 Comments

This DIY canning ring wreath is my new favorite homestead decor ever! You guys know I have a canning addiction.

Learn how to make this simple DIY Christmas canning ring wreath with supplies already on hand. Plus, you can use it for any holiday. I think this is my most favorite wreath ever! And no pine needles drying up and falling on my floor!

Being able to take something that's just lying around, and then turn into something oh so cute, well, this little homesteading heart just kept pace with a fast fiddle stomping tune. (Did I ever tell you I know how to do the Tarheel stomp and love bluegrass? Too much info….)

Anyone else love free? Because free is about as frugal as you can get. Plus, I happen to think this captures simple and rustic together in a beautiful way…. that doesn't make me conceited because I made it, does it? (Let's just be good friends and say it doesn't, okay?)

This is part of our homemade Christmas series. One of the best ways to save money is to use things you already have on hand. To get my FREE Pioneering Today-A Homemade Christmas e-book, sign up here for our 8 Week Homemade Christmas Series and get the book as a bonus!

This canning ring wreath just keeps getting better and better, because you can swap out the decoration on the side to fit any season. Right now, it's a rustic fall look for Thanksgiving.

Other holiday embellishment ideas

Christmas– red ribbon, pinecone, bell, snippets of evergreen boughs, any tree ornament

Valentines- red and pink ribbon, felt heart ornament

Easter- eggs, bunny ornament

Spring bird nests, hydrangea, spring flowers, moss, twigs with buds

Summer sunflowers, bright flowers

Learn how to make this simple DIY Christmas canning ring wreath with supplies already on hand. Plus, you can use it for any holiday. I think this is my most favorite wreath ever! And no pine needles drying up and falling on my floor!

Fall feathers, dried flowers, seed pods, leaves, cinnamon sticks, star of anise

Resources for Canning Ring Wreath

34 Wide mouth canning rings 

Jute twine (seriously, jute twine might be one of the most used items on our homestead, from the garden, to kitchen, and now decorating!)

Burlap ribbon or this snowflake burlap ribbon

Thread and needle to gather ribbon into embellishment flower

Tip: if you want a really rustic wreath, use rusted canning rings. Typically, you don't can with the rusted rings anymore because they're harder to screw on and don't get as tight. You shouldn't store your home canned goods with the rings on either, so this puts them to good use.

How to Make Canning Ring Christmas Wreath

Learn how to make this simple DIY Christmas canning ring wreath with supplies already on hand. Plus, you can use it for any holiday. I think this is my most favorite wreath ever! And no pine needles drying up and falling on my floor!

Gather your canning rings. I used wide mouth to make a larger wreath, but have used smaller rings to make a table top canning ring pumpkin (check out the video on it here). If you have two colors of rings, I had silver and gold, separate the canning rings out into two piles by color. 

Learn how to make this simple DIY Christmas canning ring wreath with supplies already on hand. Plus, you can use it for any holiday. I think this is my most favorite wreath ever! And no pine needles drying up and falling on my floor!

If you have more of one color than another, decide if you'll make a pattern by doing two of one color to the other or any other combination you wish.

Learn how to make this simple DIY Christmas canning ring wreath with supplies already on hand. Plus, you can use it for any holiday. I think this is my most favorite wreath ever! And no pine needles drying up and falling on my floor!

Take a length of jute twine and begin sliding the canning rings onto it. Make sure they're all turned the same direction.

Learn how to make this simple DIY Christmas canning ring wreath with supplies already on hand. Plus, you can use it for any holiday. I think this is my most favorite wreath ever! And no pine needles drying up and falling on my floor!

When all of the the canning rings are threaded onto the thread, join the two ends of jute twine together and tie tightly into a bow. Use the two loops of the bow to hang your wreath.

Next, lay your burlap ribbon out flat. Using about 1 inch stitches, go up the center of the ribbon with thread. Pull taunt and gather the ribbon, making a burlap ribbon embellishment (aka rustic flower).

Our chickens just got done molting, so I used three of their feathers to give my rustic flower a bit more flare. Hot glue the feathers on the back of your rustic feather and then hot glue it to your wreath.

Frugal tip: Look for things around your home, yard, or barnyard you can add for a bit of charm without buying anything.

Learn how to make this simple DIY Christmas canning ring wreath with supplies already on hand. Plus, you can use it for any holiday. I think this is my most favorite wreath ever! And no pine needles drying up and falling on my floor!

Challenge: Make your wreath and share it in our Homemade Christmas Facebook group. You'll get an invite when you sign up for our free 8 Week Homemade Christmas Series.

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Homemade Barbecue Sauce Recipe

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This homemade barbecue sauce recipe whips up in 10 minutes. Cheaper than store bought and can be customized to ingredients you have on hand. Try it now!

A homemade barbecue sauce recipe made from ingredients in your pantry, especially homemade canned goodness, is high on my list of must have. I've made several different variations, but when I saw Amy had incorporated both flavored vinegar and homemade fruit butter… I might have started drooling.

This is definitely a barbecue sauce recipe you'll want to print out and play with the ingredients you have on hand. I plan on trying it with some of the cherry jam I have on hand from last year in place of the fruit butter.

Being a pioneer woman or guy (aka frugal person), it's important to use what you have on hand, instead of running out to buy specific ingredients. Don't be afraid to try substitutions. This is also the benefit of having a well stocked basic food pantry. 8 Foods You Should be Storing and How

Summer can be a crazy time of the year, can’t it? There is lots of weeding to be done, beginning harvests and canning and so many other homesteading projects.

I find that these busy times are when I need simple, fast recipes that are both nourishing and tasty. As we raise pastured pigs on our farm, barbecue pulled pork is a family favorite. I can put a pork shoulder in the crock pot overnight, add in some barbecue sauce the next day, make up a hearty green salad or cooked greens and I have a complete meal that my family loves.

I have a few cookbooks with all sorts of variations on barbecue sauce. They are very good but take a lot of ingredients and can be time consuming to make. I came up with this barbecue sauce recipe when I was in a hurry one night. I already had ketchup on hand so that part was done.

I looked through my pantry to see what I could combine to make a good sauce.

Homemade Barbecue Sauce Recipe

This homemade barbecue sauce recipe whips up in 10 minutes. Cheaper than store bought and can be customized to ingredients you have on hand. Try it now!

I added some of my home canned apple butter. I also had flavored vinegar ready to go (flavored vinegar is really easy; fill a quart jar with raw apple cider vinegar, add in fruit like cranberries, blueberries or blackberries and spices like orange peel or whole cloves and let sit for a month at room temperature) but regular apple cider vinegar works just as well. Here's our tutorial on making blueberry basil thyme vinegar. 

Then I went to my spice cabinet to see what flavors would round it out – salt, garlic and onion powder are what I decided on.

I put all these ingredients into a sauce pan to simmer and added a chunk of butter for extra flavor. I cooked the sauce until the butter melted and it began to bubble slightly (keep it at a low temperature and stir often to prevent splattering). The sauce turned out really yummy and I made the whole thing in about ten minutes. The best part was that my family absolutely loved it. We used the leftovers on grilled salmon the next day…:)

Please, don’t be afraid to experiment in your kitchen. It's really a lot of fun!  Sometimes its easier to start with a recipe you have and change a few items just to see what you come up with.  You will have a few duds now and then but the more you experiment the better you will get at combining flavors, even ones you wouldn’t necessarily think to combine.

P.S. Make sure you keep good notes so that when your family raves about your new recipe you can make it again (made that error a few times…).

Anyway, happy Summer everyone – anyone hungry for barbecue???

Barbecue Sauce Recipe Ingredient Swaps

Don't have apple butter? Any fruit butter will work, giving it a slightly different flavor, peach would be fun.

Use jam or jelly. Grape jelly is wonderful when paired with meat, I also love cranberry and cherry (low sugar no pectin cherry jam recipe) with both chicken and pork.

Or for a more savory sauce, try using this red pepper garlic jelly in place of the apple butter.

No ketchup? You can use a cup of tomato sauce, or add tomato paste and extra water or juice. If using tomato sauce or paste, add in a teaspoon or so of ground mustard and a dash of pepper.

Barbecue Sauce with Pantry Staples

MelissaKNorris
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Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1 cup apple butter
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar or flavored vinegar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 TBSP butter

Instructions
 

  • Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan.
  • Cook over medium heat until smooth and bubbling, stirring occasionally.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Healthy Carrot Cookie Recipe from WW2 & Great-Grandma

by 25 Comments

A carrot cookie recipe from WW2 that only doesn't use any refined sugar and comes straight from Great-grandma's recipe box, yes please.

Most vintage recipes use frugal and real food ingredients, making them healthier for us and lighter on the pocket book. One of my favorite things about vintage recipes is the stories behind them. Andrea has been taking us through her great-grandmother's recipe collection from the 1930's and 1940's.

Healthy carrot cookie recipe from WW2

Anyone else have a love affair with this time period and all things vintage? I can't help but love this is a WW2 carrot recipe. Often though a lowly root vegetable, carrots are a great addition to baked goods with providing both moisture and flavor. 

Many of us have vegetables coming along in the garden so this a fabulous recipe to put to work with what you have. It calls for carrots, but I might try playing around with some zucchini or even pumpkin. If you missed the other parts in this fabulous series (Andrea, huge thank you for sharing your families treasures with the rest of us) check out Frugal Kitchen Tips from 1913 and Historical Recipe: Honey Date Squares

If you're looking for a carrot cake cookie recipe, you'll still want to try these, but don't expect them to taste like carrot cake. These healthy carrot cookies are more like an oatmeal cookie in texture.

Andrea~

This recipe for oatmeal carrot raisin cookies is another 1940's find from my great-grandmother's collection.  Sweetened with honey, and full of raisins, nuts, carrots, and oats. Breakfast cookies are totally a thing, especially a carrot breakfast cookie because veggies, right?

And to up the health factor, though traditionally made with pastry flour,  they turn out equally as well with whole wheat pastry four, spelt flour, or a gluten-free blend.  Walnuts and pecans are both good choices for the nuts.

Don't be afraid to make these your own. And if you need to be nut free, feel free to leave them out.

How to use fresh ground Spelt flour in carrot cookies

I love using spelt flour in my baking because spelt is an ancient grain that has a higher protein count but less gluten,who doesn't love all that, right?

However, I've always have to increase the amount of spelt flour by an extra quarter cup to 1 cup of regular flour, so if you make this recipe with spelt flour, you may need to add an extra 1/2 cup of flour, using 2 and 1/2 cups total. I usually start with the regular amount, but if it feels to wet or doughy, I add a 1/4 to 1/2 cup until if feels correct.

Want to bake these healthy carrot cookies with fresh ground flour? Check out my Best Flour for Baking- Home Baker’s Flour Guide 101

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Oatmeal carrot cookie recipe from WW2

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Carrot Cookies Recipe 

  1. Mix together flour, baking powder, and spices and set aside.
  2. Cream together butter or oil and carrot.  Beat in baking soda, honey, and eggs.
  3. Stir in raisins, nuts, and oats.
  4. Add dry ingredients to carrot mixture and mix until combined.
  5. Drop by spoonfuls on greased or lined pans and bake at 350 degrees for 12 – 15 minutes.  (The original recipe calls for 15 minutes, but I found mine were done by 12 and over-browned by 15)
  6. Cool on a wire rack.

Print version of healthy carrot cookie recipe

Carrot Cookies Recipe WW2

MelissaKNorris
This carrot cookies recipe is not only healthy (no refined sugar) but is also hales from WW2 making it an old-fashioned delicious dessert or snack every house should have on hand… or in the cookie jar!
4.32 from 16 votes
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Prep Time 7 mins
Cook Time 12 mins
Total Time 19 mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 60 cookies

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups flour whole wheat pastry, spelt, or gluten-free blend
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • ¼ tsp allspice
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ cup softened butter or coconut oil
  • 1 cup grated raw carrot
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • ¾ cup honey
  • 2 eggs well beaten
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
  • 2 cups rolled oats

Instructions
 

  • Mix together flour, baking powder, and spices and set aside.
  • Cream together butter or oil and carrot.  Beat in baking soda, honey, and eggs.
  • Stir in raisins, nuts, and oats.
  • Add dry ingredients to carrot mixture and mix until combined.
  • Drop by spoonfuls on greased or lined pans and bake at 350 degrees for 12 – 15 minutes.

Notes

Feel free to sub in your favorite flour for these healthy carrot cookies, we love ancient grains but a gluten free blend of equal parts almond flour, coconut flour, and ground golden flax meal is our at home go to.
Keyword carrot cookies recipe healthy carrot cookie carrot cookie recipe WW2
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

The original carrot cookies recipe was published in a victory economy bulletin by the Lakeside Milling Company of Toronto, Canada.

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