Since our family was able to go to a small apple orchard and pick all the apples we wanted for free, it was time for me to learn how to make apple butter. I am totally new to canning besides seeing my mom can at times growing up. I have never really liked apple butter before. I like cinnamon and apples but not too much cinnamon. I left out the allspice and cloves that most Apple Butter recipes call for.
I pulled out my Moto X smartphone and googled how to make homemade apple butter. Yes, that is right. I was standing in front of my stove using the internet to do something “old-fashioned” like canning. (It kinda makes me laugh thinking about the irony.) I saw a few recipes to make it in the crockpot from homemade applesauce. I prepared my apples into applesauce then filled up my 6-Quart Slow Cooker
I began cooking the apples down before really worrying about seasoning the mixture. I wrote down two different recipes for spice ingredients but went my own way making it less spicy and more apple flavored. So this might not be a “true apple butter” but I do not care as long as we like it and eat it. I will be giving this as part of Christmas this year (so sorry any family reading this for present spoilers!)
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon of Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of Nutmeg
1 Cup of Sugar (if needed)
6 quart of applesauce (before being cooked down)
I keep stirring my applesauce every hour or so because I feel like my 6-Quart Slow Cooker
might cook a little hot. I did not want it scorching or burning. I ended up putting the crockpot on the “keep warm” setting over night just to be on the safe side. During the day I had it on “low”. My applebutter cooked for more than 24 hours. I canned one batch the first evening around the 24 hour cooking mark. Then the second batch I canned in the am of the next day.
Thaleia, I am so going to have to try this! Thank you for sharing the recipe! It sounds fantastic. We have apple trees planted and have just started getting apples consistently, but only from the Granny Smith Tree… still waiting on the others to cooperate! So I’ll have to go to the farmers market to get some apples this weekend!!
I love applesauce from Granny Smith apples! I think we used 3-4 varieties from the one orchard that we picked from. I will see next week when we go back if they know the names or not.
Visiting from A Books and More…. love this simple recipe, sure take the time out of peeling and cooking down, like I used to. So yummy on pancakes too!! Im looking for good recipes, would love to have you stop by and share in our Recipe Linky http://ohmyheartsiegirl.com/pumpkin-bundt-cakes/karren
Have a great weekend, Happy Fall!
Karren
I’ve done that before and it’s really tasty!
I can’t believe it’s almost time to can more apples already!