Homemade Apple Juice {recipe}

Ophelia loves applesauce.  She'll eat bowls and bowls of it at a time if you let her.  I try to make her homemade applesauce whenever I can.  Last fall we lucked out and her Nana and Gramp sent her two boxes (!) of apples from New Hampshire.  Two very large boxes.  We made tons of applesauce and froze it.

It wasn't until my mom was visiting in January that I thought about making apple juice.  Turns out, my grandma used to do this all the time with the leftover bits when she made applesauce.  I'd completely forgotten about it until my mom mentioned it.

It's simple.  Super simple.

{the apple juice supplies}

After you've made the juice, you can sweeten it if you plan to just drink it.  It takes a lot of sweetening.  I leave it as is and use it to make oatmeal for Ophelia.  I also use it when we make juice from concentrate.  I wouldn't recommend using it in place of all the water, but if you use it for about half, it doesn't alter the taste too much.

This is such a fantastic way to use the entire apple.  And it gives Phee's bedtime oatmeal an extra boost.  I'm sure there are any number of other ways it could be used- I just haven't come across any others in our kitchen.

{the apple bits ready to simmer}

Homemade Apple Juice

apples
water
clean jars or bottles

Put the peels, cores and other leftover bits from making applesauce into a large pot.

Cover your apple bits with water plus a couple more inches of water.

Boil the apple bits for a while.  (I've never timed this.)  I would guess about 30-40 minutes if you're making a big batch.

Let the juice cool, then scoop out as many of the apple bits as you can.  Strain the juice to get all the seeds and other pieces out.

Pour the juice into clean jars or bottles and store it in the fridge.

{finished apple juice}

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