How often do you use apple butter? Yeah, I didn’t used to use it that much. Maybe I would buy some at a country store up in the mountains, but it was not a staple in my kitchen.
And then I found this great recipe for bran muffins–moist and sweet and healthy and delicious. And one of the ingredients is apple butter. Now, they have some pretty good options at the grocery store but I didn’t see a jar small enough for just a portion for the recipe. Enter Magnolia Journal and all the tastes.
This is a slow cooker apple butter and it is so good. Not too sweet, just the right amount of spice.
Go ahead and slather some on a piece of buttered toast–yeah, that good. We will be eating it more often around here–and it freezes well, so that’s a plus.
- 12 medium cooking apples (I used McIntosh and a few Galas) peeled, cored, and sliced.
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Place apples in a 5 or 6-quart slow cooker. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.
- Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Uncover and stir. Leave uncovered and cook on high 2-2 1/2 hours more or until apples are very tender and most of the liquid is evaporated, stirring occasionally.
- Cool mixture at least 1 hour or cover and chill overnight. Process with an immersion blender.
- Spoon apple butter into half-pint freezer containers, leaving a 1/2 inch head space.
- Seal and label. Store for 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 1 year in the freezer.
- Note: You can also process this in a blender or food processor, half a batch at a time. It will be slightly lighter in color and have a thinner consistency.