Making Apple Butter

A couple weeks ago I was sitting at my desk at work and it struck me.  Hard.  I wanted some apple butter.  My mouth watered too when I thought about peanut butter and apple butter sandwiches, apple butter on waffles or pancakes, apple butter on a slice of toast.  I realized I needed to make some apple butter.  Soon.

So I did.  

I stopped at a fruit stand on my way home from the bank and picked out eight pounds of assorted apples.  After washing them up in the kitchen sink I quartered each apple and remove the core.  I saved the trimmings for the chickens which made them incredibly happy.

I don’t peel my apples when I make applesauce or apple butter so once they were all cored I cut them into bite sized pieces and filled up my largest slow cooker.  I let them cook down all day, stirring occasionally, and once they were good and soft I used a potato masher to really pulverize them.

Then I stirred in five cups of sugar, two teaspoons cinnamon, one teaspoon of nutmeg and one teaspoon of clove.  I let it cook another two hours and it was done.  My taste testers declared it delicious so I knew it was ready to be processed.

I ladled it into hot sterilized jar, topped them with sterilized canning jar lids and rings.  I processed the jars in a hot water bath for 15 minutes and then removed them to cool on a folded dish towel.  They all pinged and sealed up nicely.

The next morning I removed all of the rings and washed up the jars in hot soapy water to remove any residue from canning.  Once they dried I put on some cute little labels I made on my computer and some address label stock I happened to have on hand.

This batch made up twelve half pint jars of apple butter to add to our pantry and enjoy.  There was also a little left over to enjoy right away and it was every bit as good as I had imagined.  It was great on a peanut butter sandwich too.

Do you make apple butter?