Fall is the peak season for deliciously crisp and sweet local apples, and if you’re like us, a visit to an apple orchard is a must.
If you picked a few more apples than you know what to do with, try your hand at making homemade apple butter. This recipe is a set-it-and-forget-it wonder that will have your home smelling like heavenly spiced apples, and have you marveling at this delicious spread. Use it to make apple butter bread, spread it on toast, add it to yogurt, swap it out as a cinnamon roll filling: the options are endless. No matter what you do with this delightful spread, you’re sure to enjoy it.
This is a recipe you measure with your heart and the size of your crock-pot. If you have a larger crock-pot and more apples to use up, you can double or triple this recipe.
Ingredients:
6 apples
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
¼ cup water
Instructions:
Start with just 6 apples. You can cut up more if there’s room in your crock-pot.
Core your apples. Remove the seeds and stems.
Slice your apples into thin slices and set them into the crock pot.
You want to fill your crock-pot to the top. If it’s not full, estimate how many more apples you need and repeat. Make sure you count how many apples you add to the pot, so you can adjust the measurements for the spices and water.
Once the crock-pot is full, sprinkle your spices on top.
Add your water to the crock-pot. The water serves to keep the bottom of the pot from scalding or burning, so you don’t have to adjust this measurement perfectly. Just add enough to cover the bottom in a 1/2-inch layer. The less water you add, the less water you’ll have to cook off later.
Cover the crock-pot and set it on high. Let it cook for 24 hours. Sir it about one to two times within those 12 hours.
After it’s been cooking for 12 hours, transfer it to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. You can also use in immersion blender inside of the crock-pot, or a food mill if you’re more old-school.
Transfer the pureed apples back into the crock-pot and cook on high, uncovered, for another 2 hours. Sir it occasionally, about once every 30 minutes or so.
Transfer it to a glass jar and enjoy it right away, or seal it and keep it in the refrigerator.
The apple butter will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator. You can also freeze it, but use it immediately after it’s unthawed. For those who enjoy canning, you can also can this apple butter for more long-term storage.
-Delaney Blomstrom
