Rich, silky, deeply spiced apple butter made slowly with fresh apples. Perfect spread on toast, biscuits, pancakes, or warm cornbread! 🤎
🛒 Ingredients
- 5 lbs apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
- ½ cup apple juice or water
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ tsp salt
👩🍳 Method
- Prepare the apples: Peel, core, and chop the apples into small pieces. Place them in a large slow cooker.
- Add the ingredients: Pour in the apple juice. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, vanilla, lemon juice, and salt. Stir well.
- Slow cook: Cover and cook on LOW for 8–10 hours, stirring occasionally, until the apples are extremely soft and dark caramel-brown.
- Blend: Use an immersion blender to blend the apples until completely smooth. Alternatively, carefully transfer to a blender and puree in batches.
- Thicken: Leave the slow cooker uncovered and continue cooking on LOW for 1–2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the apple butter becomes thick and spreadable.
- Cool: Let it cool slightly. The apple butter will thicken more as it cools.
- Store: Spoon into clean jars and refrigerate. For longer storage, use a tested canning recipe and proper water-bath canning procedures.
🍞 Serving Ideas
Spread it on toast, biscuits, pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, or cornbread. You can even swirl it into yogurt or use it as a topping for ice cream! 🍎🥞