Thursday, October 8, 2009

Apple Butter

I'm loving all this fall baking and cooking. This is totally my favorite time of year! We got lots of apples and pears for really cheap ($.33/lb) this week, so I was excited to use them to make delicious treats. I'm planning on using the pears to make pear honey, but first I wanted to use up some apples by making delicious apple butter! This was my first time making apple butter, but it won't be the last - this stuff is fantastic. It tastes like autumn itself.


Apple Butter
8 apples - peeled, cored, and chopped
4 cups sugar (my apples were already pretty sweet, so I used three cups, one of which was brown sugar)
4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. salt

Fill a slow cooker with diced apples, sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt (I also added a bit of allspice - that stuff goes great with apple dishes). Cover, and cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 12 hours, or until thick and dark golden in color.

Pack into small, freezer-safe containers leaving 3/4 inch space at the top. Store in the freezer. Makes 2 1/2 - 3 pints.


So that's what the recipe says to do. But my slow cooker is apparently incredibly slow. After cooking several hours longer than the recipe says, my apples still hadn't thickened into an apple butter texture - they were just pieces of very soft chopped apple floating in a fragrantly spiced syrup. So I whirled the mixture in the blender in batches, leaving a few larger chunks, and was able to get the right texture that way.

This really is so delicious. We served it over homemade biscuits for breakfast this morning - doesn't that look so good?
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7 comments:

  1. CamilleOctober 8, 2009 at 9:24 AM

    I had to blend mine into the actual butter itself as well, but the recipe I was using said that would happen. So it's not just you and your Crock Pot! :-)

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  2. Tina ButlerOctober 8, 2009 at 9:40 AM

    Your apple butter turned out really good. I love the new header.

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  3. BunnyOctober 8, 2009 at 7:41 PM

    You make apple butter in a slow cooker!!! I have to try this, I've never made apple butter before thanks!!

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  4. Katy ~October 9, 2009 at 3:31 AM

    I have never made apple butter but it always looks so good. How do you store it? How long does it keep? Any idea? It would not go very fast in this house so this is one reason I have been reluctant to make it. Would certainly enjoy it though. Love the spices!!

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  5. JaneOctober 9, 2009 at 12:17 PM

    Ooooo..apple butter is one of my favorites but I always buy it at the farmer's market. I'm going to try this recipe. It seems so easy. Thanks for sharing!

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  6. StephanieOctober 9, 2009 at 6:25 PM

    Katy - you store the unopened containers in the freezer. Once you bring it down to the fridge, I assume it should last at least a few weeks. I doubt that ours will stick around that long though, we've been eating it really fast!

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  7. StephanieOctober 9, 2009 at 6:26 PM

    ~Plus, if you put it into smaller containers, like half-pints or even smaller, you only have to have a little bit out at a time and are more likely to be able to finish it while it's still good.

    ReplyDelete

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