Apple Butter

Another apple recipe post! This time, some yummy apple butter.

When I was thinking about all the apple goodness I could make after apple picking, apple butter had never crossed my mind. But at the orchard they had samples of their own to try – and I would say it was one of the yummiest things I’ve eaten recently! Naturally, I wanted to try and make my own. I browsed some recipes online, which pretty much all consisted of the same four or five ingredients. So as usual, I tossed the recipes aside and made up my own! My recipe is below – definitely tweak it for your own tastes!

Ingredients:

Apples – enough to fill a crock pot 3/4 full once peeled and sliced. For me, this was 10 apples. (I used a mix of Macintosh, Macoun, and Cortland.)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp apple pie spice
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 – 3/4 cup apple cider

First, peel and slice your apples, and toss then in the crock pot.

Then add in your spices and sugar.

Pour in the apple cider, and stir everything together until the apples are fully coated.

Cover and cook on high for 1 – 2 hours, then turn down to low for 8 -10 hours. Stir periodically to keep things from sticking to the sides. After cooking in the crock pot you’ll end up with a brown mushy goo! Pour that into a blender and pulse a few times until it’s a nice creamy consistency. If you have an immersion blender, that would be MUCH easier – just blend it all right in the crock pot!

Then pour the butter into your jars (or whatever storage container you are using). I used mason jars, and canned them. Sealing the jars is really easy – just put the jars in a boiling water bath for about 10 – 15 minutes and you’re done! Now I have plenty to save to give as gifts – maybe with some zucchini or spice bread.

Lately, I’ve been enjoying some on an English Muffin for breakfast with a cup of tea. YUM! I think next time I’ll do a little less spice, and maybe a quarter cup more brown sugar – what can I say, I’ve got a sweet tooth!