Friday, November 18, 2011

Apple Butter

apple butter 1

A few weeks ago, I made some apple butter.  It was actually a slow cooker recipe.  But I did it a little differently, and it still came out delicious.

Instead of coring and pairing the apples and cooking them in the slow cooker, I simply washed, cut and cooked them with skins and cores in tact.  Once they were mushy, I put them through my strainer.  It saved me a lot of time on the prep end. apple butter 2

Then I added the sugar and spices to the sauce and dumped it in the slow cooker to meld the flavors for four or five hours.  

It was all I could do not to eat the whole batch before it was done cooking!  And the house smelled wonderful!!! 

Incidentally, I didn’t have any ground cloves, so I had to get creative with a hammer and strainer.  Lol!  You needed to know that, right?apple butter 3

Apple Butter

Ingredients:

  • @6 lbs of apples (I used Jonathans)
  • 2 Tablespoons vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups of raw or brown sugar. 
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves (I’m going to use less next time)
  • 3-4 teaspoons cinnamon

Peel and core the apples.  Cook in a slow cooker until mushy.  Then mush them up and add the spices.  Cook for a few more hours.

OR

Cut up the apples with skins and cores in tact.  Cook them on the stove till mushy, adding a dribble of water to the pan in the beginning, and stirring often.  Then put it through a strainer, add spices, and cook in a slow cooker for several hours. 

It will keep in the fridge for a few weeks.  Or you can freeze/can some.  Jars of apple butter would make wonderful Christmas gifts for teachers or anyone!  Just print off your own creative label and tie a pretty ribbon around the lid. 

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This is the first time I’ve made apple butter, and I was delighted with how easy it was!  It’s the perfect way to use up the great buys on apples this time of year.  :)

4 comments:

Mari said...

Sounds so good! I have ground cloves though - I don't want to go through the hassle you did. :)

Penny said...

What is that strainer thing? It looks pretty heavy duty! I LOVE doing this, but I add the spices from the start. You could probably put the cloves in a tea ball or wrap them up in a coffee filter and just drop them in, so save getting out the hammer! :o)

Kim @ Homesteader's Heart said...

I love apple butter. That looks really yummy my friend. Send some down will ya? LOL!
Have a great weekend.
Kim

Christina said...

That sounds SO yummy! And your ground-clove-solution is way clever.