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?
Oh, yum! I love apple butter, especially apple butter doughnuts.
ReplyDeleteWhaaaat! Apple butter donuts! Wow!
DeleteI have never made applebutter. But I did put up 11 full quarts of chunky applesauce. I don't peel my apples either. Too much goodness being thrown away. I love applebutter. Nothing better on a piece of toast. Ya know, those pretty jars would be a quick Christmas gift too.
ReplyDeleteI have a few set aside for giving out at Christmas (shhh). Homemade apple sauce is the best. I like mine chunky too. :)
DeleteYou are one busy person! No moss grows under your feet! LOL
ReplyDeleteI don't sit well. I sit a lot at my job so when I'm home I'm like a fart in a whirlwind, as my grandmother would say. Ha, ha!
DeleteI do make apple butter. I do not use that much sugar! Sounds like 5 cups is a lot if you have nice sweet apples. I like to taste the apples. I thought that from earlier posts that you were trying to cut down on sugar. I guess it is the holiday season so throw caution to the wind. Happy Thanksgiving! Nice to have family to spend the day with.
ReplyDeleteWow. Not sure what to say to all that.
DeleteTotally took that the wrong way. You are good at redoing your recipes. Maybe look at ways to reduce the sugar if that is what you are doing right now. With the right apples you just could cut out lots of that sugar and be fine. It will taste great. Work with your recipe this year and see what you think. Again, Happy Thanksgiving
DeleteYou are right in that I didn't take your comments as intended. I initially saw your remarks as hyper critical of my efforts and was surprised by them as they seemed more hurtful than helpful.
DeleteI guess when it comes to making as big a batch of apple butter as this one made I don't see it as too much sugar. The recipe filled 12+ jars. When compared to a batch of jam its about half the sugar. I think it boils down (no pun intended) to personal preference. I happen to love this recipe and will probably stick with it. I admit I like my apple butter on the sweet side.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving as well. :)