Apple butter is a delicious treat all year long, and if you make it in the fall with fresh apple sauce, you can preserve it to eat later on. Enjoy this tasty spread on warm bread, or just straight from the jar! You'll need basic canning supplies like Mason jars with lids, a pair of tongs, and a big pot to get started. This recipe should yield you about ten pints of apple butter.
- 9 quarts of applesauce
- 2 C. apple cider
- 3 Tbs. ground cinnamon
- 1 Tbs, ground cloves
- 1 Tbs. nutmeg
- 3 C. sugar (more if you like really sweet apple butter)
You can make this recipe with homemade or store-bought applesauce. Homemade tastes far better, so if you've never made your own applesauce, check out the Applesauce recipe at our Family Crafts site.
Fill a crock pot with as much applesauce as it takes to bring you about an inch from the top -- this will NOT hold all of the applesauce, unless you have a REALLY big crock pot, but that's okay. It should take about half the applesauce if you use a 5-quart crock.
Add 1 C. of the cider, half the cinnamon, half the cloves and nutmeg, and 1 1/2 C. of the sugar. Set the crock pot on Low, and cover. Allow the applesauce to cook on low setting for about 8 - 12 hours.
Around the 10-hour point, check the amount of applesauce in the pot. It should have reduced significantly by now, so add in the remaining quarts of applesauce, spices, cider and sugar. Mix thoroughly to blend with the applesauce that's already in the pot, and allow to simmer for a few more hours, until the applesauce has reduced to a nice, thick brown apple butter.
Optional - use a hand-held mixer to blend the apple butter into a creamy, smooth texture.
Finally, can the apple butter using the following steps: Home Canning Basics, so you'll have apple butter that lasts for months in your pantry.
Serve your apple butter with a loaf of warm, soft bread, or eat it straight from the jar!
