One of my favorite fall traditions is going apple picking. When I was little, my parents would bring us to one of the local orchards every year. This year I got to bring my little guy to Strawberry Hill Farm to go apple picking for the first time! I had promised to be good and not go over board with the apples, but I still left the farm with almost 20 pounds. They all looked so good I couldn’t help myself. Getting too many apples is a yearly occurrence so I am prepared to handle my haul. I put them up for pie fillings and Jewish Apple Cakes, but one of my favorite ways to use my apples it to make a big batch of delicious apple butter.
I love apple butter. It’s thick and fragrant and tastes like fall. Apple butter is so much more complex than a simple jam or jelly. The combination of apples, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg are just so delightful and comforting. It makes a great spread on toast, waffles, biscuits or pancakes. It works as a filling for crepes or you can use it to flavor your oatmeal. My brother has even used some of my apple butter as a base for a barbecue sauce for pork ribs. The possibilities are endless. Honestly, it is so good that I have to keep myself from eating it straight out of the jar with a spoon! Plus, when your are cooking it your house smells heavenly!
Perks of Cooking in a Crock-pot
One of the great things about this recipe is that you can make it in a crock-pot. Good apple butter needs to cook low and slow for awhile to get the perfect taste. This can be achieved on a stove top in a thick dutch oven, but then you have to babysit it. It will cook faster, but it will still take awhile and you have to be sure to stir it regularly to keep the apples from burning on the bottom. The crock-pot takes a little longer but you can just throw all the ingredients in and let it go. It makes the whole cooking process so much easier and frees you up to do other things. A major perk when you have a little guy who wants to go to the park to play.
Preserving Apple Butter
In the recipe below I have included the canning instructions for the apple butter. You do not have to can your apple butter if you don’t want to. However, non-preserved apple butter will only last three weeks or so in the refrigerator. An alternative preserving method is freezing. There are plenty of people who opt to freeze the apple butter instead. As long as the spread is protected from freezer burn it will keep for several months in the freezer. I’m sure this is a perfectly fine way to preserve apple butter, I just have never tried it. I’ve always opted for canning. I like having the freedom to simply pop open a jar whenever I want without worrying about thawing. Plus I think the jars of preserved apple butter are quite pretty, and they make excellent presents to friends and loved ones.
Crock-Pot Apple Butter
Equipment
- Crock-pot
- immersion blender or regular blender
- ½ pint (8 oz.) jam jars with rings and lids
Ingredients
- 6 lbs. apples
- ⅔ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- ⅓ cup apple cider
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg freshly grated
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
Apple Butter
- Peel, core and chop apples into about 1" pieces and pour into crock-pot.
- Add brown sugar, white sugar, apple cider, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and vanilla extract to the crock-pot. Give it a good stir and set the crock-pot to cook on low for 7 hours.*
- After 7 hours the apples will have cooked down and will be starting to turn to mush, but there will still be some larger chunks. To get the smooth thick consistency desired use an immersion blender right in the crock-pot or pour it into a stand blender and blend till smooth.
Canning Instructions
- While the apple butter is still cooking wash and sterilize your jam jars. This can be done by hand washing and then boiling the jars or simply throwing them in the dishwasher. (Do not boil the circular lids or put them in the dishwasher.)
- Fill a canning pot (or any pot that is large enough for 7 jars or so jars) about ⅓ of the way with water and set it on the stove top over medium heat. Fill a small sauce pan with water and turn it on low heat to simmer.
- Carefully ladle the finished apple butter into clean jars leaving ¼ inch head space. If you don't have quite enough to fill your last jar all the way up, just cap it and put it in the refrigerator to enjoy now.
- Put the lids in the small sauce pan to warm up.
- Carefully wipe the top of each jar to ensure a good seal. With tongs grab a lid out of the simmering water and carefully place on top of the jar. Put the metal ring on top and tighten until it is just finger tight. Continue until all of your jar have lids and rings.
- With tongs carefully place each of the jars into the large pot to process. There should only be one layer or jars. The water should come about 2 inches over the tops of the lids. Add more hot water if necessary. Turn the burner up to high to boil. Process for 15 minutes at a boil before removing jars from the water.
- Allow jars to cool overnight and then check to make sure they have sealed properly. If they have sealed properly there will be no give in the lid. Any jar that doesn't seal can be kept in the refrigerator for immediate use.
Notes
I hope you like this recipe! If you have any questions or comments please let me know!
Happy cooking!
Pictures are just so cute!!!! Another recipe that I need to try. Working is really interfering with all these delicious recipes that are building up in my things to do list.