Apple Butter

The beginning of Fall always makes me start looking forward to apples and all of the lovely foods I can make with them. One that I have always wanted to try is homemade Apple Butter. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what it entailed except cooking apples for a long time to concentrate their amazing flavors into a fragrant, rich spread. Upon reading many recipes, I found out that the method is very simple. Basically, just cut apples into slices, put in a slow cooker, cook for several hours while stirring a few times, add a bit of spice, and put in glass jars.

Gather your apples. I used organic Gala. I think it is important to use organic produce when possible in general, but especially in this recipe because you use the peel. Wash them well and get ready to go on a slicing frenzy.

I used 13 medium-sized apples which was just about 5 lbs. slice them up and place in your slow cooker.

I cooked them on low for a total of 4 hours. The picture below is after about 1 hour. I stirred them to make sure they were not sticking.

After hour 2, the apples smelled wonderful.

After hour 3, even better.

After hour 4, they are really broken down and getting smoother.

Next, I transferred the apples to my Vita mix to blend everything until smooth. I placed the apples back in the pot and stirred in some fragrant ground cinnamon.

I wish you could smell this.

I also added just a squeeze of fresh Meyer lemon juice to balance the sweet and hint of spice.

Here is the finished product, placed in 3 pint-sized Mason jars.

Apple Butter

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

4 hours

Total time

4 hours 10 mins

 

A flavorful, healthful fruit spread for toast, pancakes, French toast, hot cereal, a topping for ice cream or fruit crumble bars. Or, if you are like me, you just eat it off of a spoon.

Author: Ashley

Recipe type: Staples, Snack

Cuisine: American

Serves: 3 pints

Ingredients

• 5 lbs. Organic apples, I used gala
• ½ t. Ceylon cinnamon, ground
• 1 t. Meyer lemon juice

Instructions

1. Slice your apples leaving the peels on for nutrients and fiber.
2. Place in a slow cooker and turn on low.
3. Stir once each hour to make sure it doesn't stick.
4. After 4 hours or so, blend mixture until smooth either in a blender or with an immersion blender.
5. Return puréed apples back to the slow cooker and continue cooking for an hour or more to desired thickness and color.
6. Stir in cinnamon and lemon juice.
7. Place in glass jars.
8. Cool and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Mine is going to be gone before that!

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