Apple Butter

Ever made apple butter?  It's been years since I experimented and made some.  Probably after tasting the Apple Barn's apple butter in Pigeon Forge.  It is so very yummy.   I attempted on Friday night, cooking the apples on low in the crock pot all night.  I used a recipe found online.  It was pretty good but not nearly as good as the Apple Barn's.

So, I just had to try again. I had wanted to can it, but I didn't have the lids so I froze the first batch.  On the next recipe I remembered that the Apple Barn's didn't have much taste of the other spices (nutmeg, cloves, allspice, etc) but seemed to just have a wonderful taste of cinnamon and apples. This time I increased the cinnamon and used only a pinch of cloves, then added 1 T of vanilla, which I'd seen in another recipe.  I also cooked it down more.  First batch I had seven half pints, this one, only five, :(  It is much better than the first and more like the Apple Barn's recipe.

I wish now, that I had kept adding apples as they cooked down to make a bigger batch.  Now I know I have a good recipe, and can always make more. I think it would make a great gift along with a loaf of homemade bread.

My recipe:
~ 12 apples of various kinds
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 - 2 Tablespoons cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
1 Tablespoon vanilla

Peel, core, and chop apples. Mix with sugars and cook on low 8-10 hours or overnight.  Then remove the lid,  add cinnamon, salt, cloves, vanilla.  Puree with an immersion blender.  Let cook without lid until it gets thick and will stay on a spoon, a little thicker than applesauce.  Can be frozen or canned in a water bath canner.

The apples and cinnamon cooking in your home gives off a wonderful fall aroma.

Rachel