This homemade apple & pumpkin baby food puree is an easy & healthy recipe to feed your baby this fall! Only 3 organic ingredients (pumpkin, apples & water) means no preservatives, food dyes or additives!
Remove the stem from the pumpkin, cut it in half and remove the seeds.
Place both halves of the pumpkin flesh side down in a 9x13” baking dish.
Pour water in the bottom of the dish until it fills the dish about ¼” high.
Cover pan/pumpkins with foil and bake for 45-60 minutes or until the pumpkins are soft to the touch (the skin depresses when pushed).
Set pumpkin halves flesh-side up to cool.
Once cool, remove pumpkin flesh from the skin and measure out 1 ½ cups.
Cook apples:
Place peeled & chopped apples and 1 cup of water in a saucepan over medium heat.
Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the apples are soft (about 10-12 minutes).
Remove from heat and let the water and apples cool (do not discard water, reserve it to use in the baby food).
Make the puree:
Add ½ cup of the water used to cook apples, cooked apples and pumpkin to the container of your Vitamix blender.
Turn the machine on and slowly increase the speed to high, blend until smooth
If necessary, add up to an ½ cup more water and continue blending until mixture reaches desired consistency (younger babies (4-7 months) need thinner purees, while older babies (8+ months) can handle a little bit of texture)!
Freeze/store:
Freeze in 1-2 TBS portions using an ice cube tray or silicone mold.
Once frozen, remove cubes from tray/mold and transfer to an airtight container and store in the freezer.
To Reheat:
Place desired number of cubes in a microwave safe container and warm for 30 seconds per cube. Check to ensure they are not too warm before feeding to your baby!
Notes
Ingredients
Apples. I recommend a sweet, flavorful apple variety like Galas, Honeycrisps or Pink Ladies. But any variety will do. If you already have homemade, unsweetened applesauce on hand feel free to use 1 1/2 cups of applesauce instead of the 3 cups of cooked apples. Use organic apples and make sure to wash them thoroughly.
Pumpkin. I have included instructions to use freshly roasted pumpkin. But you can also use canned, organic pumpkin.
Store
Store in an glass jar with a lid in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Freeze
Transfer the puree to ice cube trays to freeze, or individual containers to store in the refrigerator. I love these silicone ice cube trays. they have a firm outer rim, making them easy to transport, and a lid for storage! The wells hold 2 TBS of puree. Once they are frozen, transfer the cubes to an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheat
Reheat refrigerated puree until just warmed.Reheat one or two cubes of frozen puree in a glass container in microwave for 40-60 seconds. You could also warm it on the stovetop or let it thaw at room temperature for several hours.