When searching the net for a recipe for Apple Butter the other day, I came across the recipe below at one of my fave recipe sites, All Recipes. What I like most about this site, besides there are tons and tons of recipes for just about anything, are the comments you can read for each recipe. Other cooks listing their successes or failures with the recipe. Their slight changes or additions or deletions to recipes.
It's a great resource!
Anyway, I was quite intrigued at this recipe as it has the apple butter cooking in a slow cooker.
Yes . . . crock pot!
Actually, I stumbled upon quite a few apple butter recipes that use the
handy-dandy crock pot.
The whole process was super-simple. The hardest, or most time consuming, step, of course, was peeling, coring and chopping the apples. Not so bad for me, though. I actually enjoy chopping stuff.
I find it therapeutic :o)
The apple butter turned out so thick, and rich, and creamy. And the color! A dark, dark chocolatey caramel ambery color. And it tastes pretty darn good, too!
A lot of the cooks' comments on this particular recipe stated they used less sugar than the recipe called for. I'm sure a lot of how much sugar is needed depends on the type apple you use. I would imagine a more tart apple, like Granny Smith, might need more sugar, than, say, a Gala like I used. It seemed like an awful lot of sugar to me as well. So, I followed the advice of a lot of the cooks and cut the sugar almost in half.
The recipe:
5-1/2 pounds apples - peeled, cored and finely chopped
4 cups of sugar (I used 2-1/2 cups)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
(I also added 1/8 tsp of allspice and 1/8 tsp of ginger)
- Place the apples in a slow cooker. In a medium bowl, mix sugar and spices. Pour mixture over the apples and mix well.
- Cover and cook on high 1 hour.
- Reduce heat to low and cook 9 to 11 hours (I let my apples cook a full 24 hours.), stirring occasionally until the mixture is thickened and dark brown.
- Uncover and continue cooking on low 1 hour. Stir with a whisk, if desired, to increase smoothness. (I used my immersion blender to really blend the mixture super smooth.)
- Spoon the mixture into sterile containers, cover and refrigerate or freeze. A water bath can be done for 10 minutes to seal the jars.
If you're an apple butter lover, I'm sure you will enjoy this recipe. Not only for it's yummy tastiness, but it's super simple preparation. Not to mention your house will smell of simmering apples and cinnamon for a day!
Thanks for visiting!
Leave a comment so I can get to know you.
6 comments:
Ohh I've never made or tried apple butter, isn't that crazy! It looks like a fantastic recipe and goodness knows I have the apples to spare :)
Is apple butter spread on bread or are there other uses too?
btw-LOVE those very tiny mason jars too!
Angie
Are you sure you are not from the South?! I never heard of Apple Butter until I moved South. It's a big deal here. I remember my kids making it in elementary school and I didn't know what it was. Anyway, I might have to give this a try. I like the recipe you used and the fact that I can use a crock pot. Thanks!
OH MY can I just say YUM!!!!!! That looks and sounds DELICIOUS! Oh, and I love your spooky setting.....BOO!!♥
Well, Angie, good question. I've never done anything with apple butter but spread it on toast, bread or biscuits - like jam or jelly. Maybe put a dollop of it on pork, or use it in place of apple sauce in cake recipes. I guess it's like apple sauce, only cooked longer to get that creamy, "buttery" consistency.
Definitely worth trying if you never have!
Oh, Lisa, I do have southern routes. Both my parents and their families are from southern West Virginia. Does that count as the southern? I think so! :o) And I live literally a quarter mile from the Mason Dixon line, so we're about as close to the south as a northerner can be LOL!!!
Looks so yummy!
I've seen a recipe for apple butter made in the slow cooker, but I haven't tried it yet . Looks like it turns out great !
Hope you're having a great day!
You are reading my mind this morning! First we are learning to can and I just saw your post, "Canning Craze"! Hello! THEN I was going to do apple butter but really have no idea what to do with it. What do you do with it? Put it on toast or something?
Post a Comment