How to Turn Apple Scraps Into Cranapple Jelly!
Is there anything more gratifying than turning scraps into something useful? What a wonderful goal to have…especially when you’re trying to save money on food purchases!
I want to encourage you to save your scraps and turn them into something delicious and useful. Join me as I turn our apple scraps into apple juice, cranapple juice, and then onto cranapple jelly!
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You can make fruit juice from any fruit scraps you have on hand.
The scraps can either be fresh or frozen and it can consist of a single type of fruit or combinations of different fruit. I made several jars of classic apple jelly a few weeks ago but I want to show you how to make reduced-sugar cranapple jelly. It’s perfect for fall!
We will use Pomona’s Pectin for this recipe so we can keep the sugar to a minimum. This recipe comes from the Pomona’s Pectin cookbook.
Instructions for Making Cranapple Jelly
1. How to Make Apple Juice Using Apple Scraps.
Put your apple scraps into a pot and cover with an equal amount of water. I had about 3 quart-size freezer bags full of apple cores, so I added about 3 quarts of water to cover.
I leave the stems and blossom ends on my apple cores. Don’t worry. It’ll all come out right in the end.
Bring the water to a boil over high heat and then turn it down to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
After 20 minutes, remove from heat and set aside to cool down. You can skip this step and go right on to the next step if your hands aren’t sensitive to steam.
When your apples and juice have cooled sufficiently, it’s time to strain the apple juice out.
Cover a bowl with a dampened flour sack towel or cheesecloth making sure to push the towel down inside the bowl and draping the edges outside of the bowl.
Slowly and carefully pour the apples and juice into the bowl so that you don’t burn yourself.
Get some kitchen string ready and start to tie it in a slip knot. Gather the edges of your flour sack towel up and pull the top of the towel through your slip knot.
Then hang up your “bag” and let the apple juice drip for a minimum of 2 hours until the juice stops dripping.
After 2 hours, take the bag of your apple scraps outside and feed them to the chickens or put them in your compost pile.
Since you started with apple cores and other scraps, they can’t really be turned into anything else. Trust me…cores and seeds don’t break down entirely if you try to turn the scraps into applesauce or apple butter!
Options for Apple Scraps:
You can stop right here if you need apple juice for drinking or if you want to turn it into hot apple cider. You can also can your apple juice in a water bath canner to store it away.
If you want to make classic apple jelly, check out my Canning Reduced-Sugar Apple Jelly post here.
2. How to Make Cranapple Juice.
From the steps above, I had almost 7 cups of apple juice.
Pour 12 ounces of cranberries (fresh or frozen; both work the same) in a large pot and add your apple juice. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.
Strain out the cranberries using a fine mesh sieve.
Voila! You now have cranapple juice!
You can stop right here if you want cranapple juice for drinking or if you want to can it using a water bath canner.
Save your scraps!
Whatever you do, save your cranberry scraps! Right now you have apple juice-infused cranberries.
What a treat! Save them in a glass dish in your refrigerator to use in oatmeal, granola, smoothies, or yogurt. You can also opt to dehydrate them and use them in baking gourmet breads.
We’ve been eating a lot of oatmeal for breakfast lately, so I suspect these won’t last long in our refrigerator.
3. How to Make Cranapple Jelly.
From the steps above, I had roughly 6 and 1/2 cups of cranapple juice. I adjusted the recipe slightly for my second batch of jelly as follows: 2 and 1/2 cups of cranapple juice, 1/4 cup of lemon juice, 2 and 1/2 teaspoons of calcium water, 1 cup of sugar, and 2 and 1/2 teaspoons of pectin powder.
Now that you have your cranapple juice, it’s simple to turn it into jelly. We will be using a box of Pomona’s Pectin for this recipe so that we can keep the sugar to a minimum.
In a separate bowl, mix together 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar (preferably organic) and 4 teaspoons of Pomona’s pectin powder. Set it aside.
Also empty the 3-gram pouch of Pomona’s calcium powder into a glass with 1 cup of water and mix well. Even though we won’t be using all the calcium water for this recipe, it will store for several months in the refrigerator so you can make future batches of jams and jellies.
In a medium saucepan, whisk together 4 cups of cranapple juice, 1/4 cup of lemon juice, and 4 teaspoons of calcium water. Bring juice to a boil over high heat and then slowly add the sugar/pectin mixture.
Stir vigorously for 2 minutes until the pectin is dissolved. Once the jelly returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
4. How to Can Cranapple Jelly.
I made jelly in two batches. The first batch used 4 cups of cranapple juice and the second batch used 2 and 1/2 cups of cranapple juice. I was able to fill up and can 7 half-pint jars.
I was left with a little more than half of an eighth half-pint jar, which I stored in the refrigerator. We will use it up in the next few days.
Fill and heat up water in your water bath canner over medium heat. Wash half-pint jelly jars, lids, and bands.
Ladle hot jelly into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace at the top.
Remove trapped air bubbles, wipe rims with a dampened cloth, and put the lids and bands on until fingertip-tight.
Slowly lower the hot jars into your hot canner. Make sure that your jars are covered with at least 1 inch of water. Add the canner lid, bring your canner up to a boil, and process your jars for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude, if necessary.
After 10 minutes, turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, and wait for 5 minutes. Then carefully remove your jars and allow them to cool for 12 to 24 hours.
After the jars have cooled the required time, remove the bands and confirm that the lids have sealed to the jars. Then label and store your jars.
Recipe for Cranapple Jelly
Reduced-Sugar Cranapple Jelly (Made From Apple Scraps!)
Equipment
- large pot
- large bowl
- flour sack towel or cheesecloth
- kitchen string
- saucepan
- whisk
- bowl
- fine mesh sieve
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- water bath canner, jelly jars, lids, and rings
- ladle
- funnel
Ingredients
- 2 quarts apple scraps (fresh or frozen)
- 2 quarts water
- 12 oz cranberries
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 & 1/2 cups sugar
- box of Pomona's Pectin
Instructions
Make Apple Juice (From Apple Scraps)
- Put apple scraps in a large pot and cover with an equal amount of water. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes. Optional: take off heat and allow to cool for 20 more minutes or move on to the next step.
- Drape a flour sack towel or cheesecloth over a large bowl. Get some kitchen string ready by starting to tie it in a slip knot.
- Pour the apples and juice into the towel-lined bowl. Gather the edges of the towel up and pull the top of the towel through the slip knot. Tighten the knot and hang your "bag" up to drip for at least 2 hours until it stops dripping.
Make Cranapple Juice
- After 2 hours, pour the apple juice back into the same large pot. Add cranberries and bring the juice up to a boil over high heat. Then reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Strain out the juice using a fine mesh sieve. (You should have roughly 4 cups of cranapple juice at this point. If you don't have enough juice, pour some hot water over your leftover fruit and allow it to drip into your measuring cup until you have 4 cups of cranapple juice.)
Make Reduced-Sugar Cranapple Jelly
- In a separate bowl, combine 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar and 4 teaspoons of Pomona's pectin powder. Mix well.
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together 4 cups of cranapple juice, 1/4 cup of lemon juice, and 4 teaspoons of Pomona's calcium water. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then slowly add the sugar/pectin mixture. Stir vigorously for 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin. Once the jelly returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
Canning Reduced-Sugar Cranapple Jelly
- Have your water bath canner, jelly jars, lids, and rings ready. Jars, lids, and rings should be clean. The water in the canner should be hot but not boiling.
- Ladle hot jelly into hot half-pint or jelly jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace at the top.
- Remove trapped air bubbles, wipe rims with a dampened cloth, put lids and bands on the jars. (Be careful because the jars will be very hot.) Tighten the bands to fingertip-tight.
- Slowly lower the hot jars into the hot water bath canner making sure that they are covered by at least 1 inch of water. Add the canner lid, bring to a boil, and process for 10 minutes (adjusting for your altitude, if necessary).
- After 10 minutes, turn off the heat, remove the canner lid, and wait for 5 minutes. Then carefully remove the jars and let them cool for 12 to 24 hours, undisturbed. After that time, remove the bands and confirm that the lids have sealed to the jars. Label and store your jelly.
Makes a great homemade gift!
There’s nothing better than homemade gifts. Gifts that are edible, delicious, homemade, and very cheap to make are the best! And they’re always very appreciated by those receiving them.
They also don’t create any unwanted clutter. I love to receive useful gifts that won’t become clutter.
Try saving your fruit scraps this year so that you can make a delicious batch of this homemade reduced-sugar cranapple jelly. You can make pretty labels, wrap cute mason jars with jute twine or pretty ribbon, and attach the labels to the twine and jars.
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Pomona’s Pectin (If you buy in bulk, it’s cheaper.)
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Apple picking this weekend and I do hate waste!
This is so cool! I never would have thought of using my apple scraps this way, but I am always on the lookout for new ways to cut down on waste.