Apple Butter
Wondering what exactly is apple butter? Well, let me tell you. Apple butter is this amazing spread of apples cooked down with those wonderful fall spices of cinnamon and cloves. There’s no butter in it, but you can spread it on bread or waffles like you would use butter….or just eat it off the spoon. No judgement here. My latest batch of apple butter is so good that I didn’t get this recipe photo taken in time. The family got to the jar first. The jar is half empty. That’s why the picture is from the top. I was trying to hide the fact we only had half a jar left! It went fast.
Recipe:
2 lbs of assorted apples, about 6 medium apples, coarsely chopped with skins (coarsely chop and peel apples if you don’t have a food mill or potato ricer). Do not use stems and core.
1/2 C apple cider or apple juice
2 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp salt
Place cut up apples in a large sauce pan along with juice and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer on medium high heat, then reduce heat to low, cover and cook apples for 20-25 minutes until apples begin to soften and fall apart.
Remove from heat. If you have a food mill or potato ricer and left the apple skins on, run your apples through it to remove the skins. If you don’t have a food mill or potato ricer and you peeled your apples, just put the apples in a food processor or blender and process until smooth or until the apples reach the consistency you like.
Return puree to the saucepan and simmer over medium heat adding sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Gently simmer, stirring often and cook until the apples turn a rich caramel color and are thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Spoon apple butter into your favorite Ball jar, cover and refrigerate. It will last up to 3 weeks in the fridge. Ours never does. I need to start making triple batches. Enjoy!
* Want to put it in the crockpot and forget about it? No problem. Just put your apples, juice and lemon in the crockpot on low over night or all day while you’re at work. Then pick up and complete the recipe where you remove the skins and puree the cooked apples.
Her friends call her “Southern Belle.” But with three young children, she’s called “mom” more than anything these days. Debbie started Dede’s Cajun Cuisine in the fall of 2011 after catering a Southern lunch for a funeral at her church. She knew she wanted to share her love of cooking, southern heritage, and specifically, Southern food with her friends and family. The challenge became how to juggle all of that with her first priority of being a mom. Dinner time is always that crazy part of the day when everyone is hungry and tired. Between kid activities, never-ending laundry and the day-to-day grind of life, there isn’t enough time to prepare a meal from scratch.
