My Apple Butter Adventure
For many southerners, apple butter is a staple in their household. I however, had never had apple butter until a week ago. Even though I’ve been in the south all my life, it never crossed my plate.
If you’re not familiar with apple butter, let me share what it is. It is an apple spread that you usually put on biscuits or toast. Contrary to the name, apple butter has no butter in it. It simply goes on smooth and has the consistency of butter.
There’s an auction that my in-laws go to on a weekly basis. When we visit, I always try to make a point to go to the auction since you can find some great deals on small appliances, odds and ends, and toys. Apparently there is a Mennonite lady who sells her canned goods. One of these is apple butter. The apple butter sold for $4 a jar. I”m sure that is a fair price since it is homemade. The in-laws got some and brought it home. Having never tried it, I decided to go for it. My God, it was wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, I was going to have to get some….fast. My frugal nature would not allow me to pay $4 for a jar of apple butter so I was going to have to figure something out.
Once I got home, I started searching for apple butter recipes. I found a great one on my favorite site Recipezaar. It was actually cooked using a crock pot which made it even easier for me. I could have it cooking while I was at work. So here’s the recipe:
- 5 1/2 lbs apples, peeled and finely chopped (recipe author used 3-4 different types of apples, I used 1)
- 4 cups sugar
- 2-3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
- Place apples in a large bowl.
- Combine sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt.
- Pour over apples and mix well.
- Place in crock pot, cover and cook on high for 1 hour.
- Decrease heat to low; cover and cook on low for 9-11 hours or until thickened and dark brown.
- Stir occasionally.
- Uncover and cook on low for 1 hour longer.
- If desired, whisk until smooth.
- Spoon into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-inch head space.
- Cover and freeze.
Have you ever finely chopped up 5 1/2 pounds of apples? I started to and then said no way! It would’ve taken me forever! I simply took out the cheese grater and grated up the apples and didn’t think twice about it. Instead of regular sugar, I used Splenda. Everything else I followed directly except for freezing. I canned instead.
I prepared everything the night before and placed it in the fridge. When I got up the next morning I let it cook on high for the hour we were getting ready. I then turned it back to low while I was at work. Once I got home, I let it cook for the hour uncovered. After it was done, I let it cool down. Once it cooled, I took the crock pot and poured it into my blender. I turned it on a low stir speed with smoothed out the apple chunks. I was super surprised with the results. It ended up being super awesome and it really didn’t take too much on my part to put it together. The tough part was peeling the apples. In the end I think I got about 3 pints even though the recipe said 4. I kept one pint out to eat and canned the other 2.
I then took on another first……canning. Now I had done some reading about canning. The boiling water method didn’t really seem too hard. So, I took it on. I simply filled up the pot all the way until both jars were covered. I then took out the jars to let the water boil. Once the water started to boil, I put the 2 jars back in. I let them sit in the boiling water for 10 minutes. Remember, you must keep the jars totally submersed in the boiling water for the entire 10 minutes. Once the 10 minutes were up, I pulled them out with tongs and let them sit for an hour for the seals to fully seal. Be careful though, those jars will be hot!!
With my costs out of pocket it was about $1.87 a pint. That’s a savings from $4. The next time I make it, I’m going to look to see if I can find the apples cheaper. I am now proud to say, that I am an apple butter/canner extraordinaire
Only one thing with the recipe: using Splenda. I avoid Splenda because, in my opinion, Splenda can cause health problems if used for many years. Check this:http://www.karlloren.com/Diabetes/p40e.htm
Thanks for the recipe. I will try it.