What is a girl to do when she has 25 apples to use up and very little free time?
Apple butter–easy, smooth, warmly spiced, sweet, and tangy. It’s heaven in a crock pot.
It takes a long time in the crock pot (mine was a full day and night–probably around 20 hours!) but you don’t need to babysit it at all, so it’s a piece of cake.
Apple Butter (makes 3-4 pints)
- about 10 lbs of apples (I had 20-something small and medium apples, all different varieties)
- 2-3 cinnamon sticks
- 1 t freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 t ground cloves
- 1 C water
- sugar to taste (optional)
First off, peel the apples. I’m proud to report that I peeled 24 or 25 apples in 19 minutes, and several of those apples without breaking the peel. You know what I mean? One long spiral of peel for an entire apple.
I know. I was impressed, too.
Core the apples and roughly slice them (again, I strongly suggest you get those apple corer/slicer deals–it’ll only cost you a few bucks but it’s so helpful! I use mine every day!). Dump them all in the crock pot, top with the spices and water, cover, and cook on high for an hour or two.
I couldn’t fit all my apples in the crock pot at once, so I let the first half cook down a bit then crammed the rest in there. The apples will reduce by a lot, so you’ll have room!
Turn the crock pot down to low, and cook (I left it covered) for 8 hours, during which time I went to class. Once I came back, I put the crock pot down to low again (it turns off automatically), and removed the cinnamon sticks. We had a lot of young, green apples, so my apple butter needed a little sugar–I added half a cup. If you have sweeter apples, it may not be necessary at all to add any. Totally up to you. I propped the lid open with a knife and went to bed. In the morning, my every apple butter dream had come true.
Toast magic!
I put some into jars to keep (and maybe give away–we’ll see!), and the rest in the freezer. You can process these jars to seal and store them, but I think that in order to do this safely, there should probably be a higher sugar content. You could always do a little more research if you want to go that route.
I also had some in my giant bowl of steel-cut oats this morning, with some wheat germ and ground flaxseed. I was full for a good four hours, which felt great since I was back at my clinical playing with the cutest kids ever all day.
What can you use apple butter for? On toast, in oatmeal, in yogurt, mixed in a green monster, with your cereal, in baked goods, scooped up with fruit, and eaten with a spoon. Since you probably won’t be able to resist (I sure couldn’t!).
How gorgeous is that dark brown apple butter?
The spices were a perfect balance–no overwhelming cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice taste, but just enough to fill me with glee about the continuing fall weather.
Fall…I love you.
Here’s our CSA box for the week! Another small one, but they should be getting bigger soon. So sad that week 17 is already here and we only have 9 left–I’m definitely going to miss it.
19 comments
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breanna
September 22, 2011 at 8:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
oh mah gosh girl, looks delish!! I wish I could taste it! XO
Shauna
September 22, 2011 at 9:16 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Yum! And no food mill needed, right?
I found this about canning “reduced sugar apple butter” http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/apple_butter_reduced.html
Their recipe is with sucralose, which I don’t think does anything to help the canning process. The apples are acidic enough. I just canned applesauce (safely) without any added sugar.
Lauren Zietsman
September 22, 2011 at 9:51 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
No food mill needed! You could use one if you wanted it to be smoother:) If I make this again I’ll definitely try canning
Clarissa
September 23, 2011 at 8:08 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
This looks amazing!
Deb @ knitstamatic
September 24, 2011 at 3:09 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Apple butter is one of my all time favorites but never thought to make my own. That may be about to change.
Lauren
September 24, 2011 at 3:22 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
This was my first time making it, too, and I definitely suggest you try it!
Lauren
September 24, 2011 at 3:51 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
How easy is that? I am totally in love with this idea!
florence
September 24, 2011 at 7:13 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Welcome home! Your new web site is beautiful.Always happy to read you and cook your recipes (tomorrow it is roasted carrots).Thank you for everything.Florence.
debbie losier
September 25, 2011 at 7:20 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
hi I can’t seem to get subscribed in I really enjoy this site so please send me daily your blogs thank you so much have a great day
Lauren
September 25, 2011 at 9:48 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Did you try entering your email address into the suscribe box? It should work, but it might not look exactly the same as the last website!
Mercedes
September 26, 2011 at 7:15 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I wonder if this cooks the apples enough for me to eat it. I have oral allergy syndrome which, because I’m allergic to Birch trees and apples (and most fruits) when they’re raw. Maybe I’ll try it and see… if not, I’ll just give it to my coworkers!
Meg
September 28, 2011 at 6:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
What a great idea to use the crockpot for jamming! Thanks for sharing!
I made this yesterday…well at least I used the crock-pot method. I didn’t peel my apples, because I’m lazy. Which means I had to use a food processor to break down the skins. I wanted a more complex flavor so I made a few adjustments which included using orange juice and and the rind of 1 orange mixed with 2 oz. of bourbon in lieu of water. Instead of sugar I opted to use molasses and honey for the sweetener.
I brought the mixture up to high in my crock pot (which is simmering) before canning it in a 10minute hot water bath. And everyone is raving about it.
Lauren Zietsman
September 28, 2011 at 7:02 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ummm wow that sounds so good! Specially the bourbon and orange and molasses combo!
Rachel (teacher-chef)
October 9, 2011 at 3:31 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I LOVE Apple Butter and grew up knowing how HARD it was to make it (constantly stirring over a fire the old fashioned way). I decided that after apple picking this year I was going to make my own – well after less than 30 minutes of prep time I have this sitting on the counter and cannot wait until tomorrow afternoon to enjoy it (and sneak a taste along the way for quality control).
This recipe looks perfect with great photos and instructions – awesome (and I will be linking back once I finish mine)
Theresa Dansin
October 10, 2011 at 10:24 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Love this recipe, and seems so easy to do, I can’t wait to try it. I made applesauce this season, but didn’t think of apple butter.
Tonya
February 13, 2012 at 11:27 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
How long do they stay good in the freezer? Thanks
Lauren Zietsman
February 13, 2012 at 9:49 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
should last a couple of months at least!
Aimee @ Chickenville
February 26, 2012 at 3:29 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I never thought about putting it in our oatmeal. I’m gonna have to try this because I love the two separate, so why not together??? Genius. I love making apple butter in the crock pot. It’s easy and what a taste. I have also made pear butter the same way. After you are done, it’s taste very similar to the apple butter. We go apple picking and I always ask for the “seconds” that are perfect for this recipe, because they don’t need to look good. I love to serve mine on cinnamon bread, here’s the recipe I use for the cinnamon bread…
http://fromchapelhilltochickenville.blogspot.com/2010/11/crock-pot-apple-butter-with-cinnamon.html
Hannah Naczi
October 8, 2012 at 12:04 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Trying this today – went to get more honeycrisp apples, and all they had was a full bushel of “drops” (that look great) for $15. Now I’m overrun with apples…..
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