An Autumn Treat! Apple Butter!

Craving that sultry, apple cinnamon that’s so decidedly autumn? Snuggling up with a cozy-warm cup of coffee (or tea) on a crisp fall day needs a good pairing, and what’s better than a rich Apple Butter?! I don’t know of anything to rival the mood!

For starters, you need to get some canning jars! I was interested in small ones for a baby shower, as this apple butter makes a great party favor! However, I have found that the cheapest jars are actually from Bed Bath and Beyond, where you can use your $5 off coupon, or your 20% off coupon...either way, you want those jars to come down to 80 cents a piece! (For a 1 Quart Jar!) If you find a better deal, let me know! I’m always scouting for better deals on jars. Another good way to collect jars is to look at thrift stores. I tend to have luck at the Value Villages in my neck of the woods, sometimes scoring jars for less than 40 cents a piece!

Next step is to scavenge for apples! If you’ve got a tree, more power to ya, but if you aren’t blessed with one, check out your local Asian Mart! I’m serious! H-Mart, in Lynnwood, sometimes sells a 5lb bag of dying apples for a buck! And if you’re going to boil it all down anyway, that’s a steal! For this batch I was more pressed for time, and thus only acquired a 50 cents a pound deal, but hey, that’s still half price!

It’s recommended that you use Gravenstein or Granny Smith, but I had no problem with an unlabeled apple, that looked closer to a Jonagold.

Another recommendation is to use a SIEVE! It adds a bit of work, but a blender is not going to cut it (haha, so punny) for this one...a wire mesh strainer and spatula would acheive the same buttery results. Blending and food processing will only yeild apple sauce.

Autumn Apple Butter:
Cook Time: 4 ½ hours
Prep Time: 20-40 minutes

Yeild: 144 ounces (give or take...about 9 pint jars)

Ingredients:

10 lbs apples!

3 cups Apple Cider Vinegar (Regular is okay, will dilute flavor)

5 cups water

12 cups sugar (dependant on how your apples cook down)

2 Tablespoons Cinnamon

1 Tablespoon Cloves

1-2 Teaspoons Nutmeg

⅔ Cup Lemon Juice (preservative agent)

Molasses (Optional)

Now let’s get started! First, you want to de-stem all of your apples, we will be saving cores and skins, but the stems will block up your sieve.

Quarter your washed and stemless apples. Leave cores, seeds, and skins on. This adds to the delicious apple flavor of your butter, plus all of your nutrients are stored in the skins! Most of the skins will dissolve in the process, and the rest will be sifted out through the sieve.

In an extra large pot, boil the apples, vinegar and water for about 20 minutes. After they are done boiling, push the softened apples through your sieve into a bowl (or three if you’re making a large batch for the season as I do). 

Discard any remaining pulp, seeds, skin that won’t push through...be quick to throw it into your composter as it will rapidly attract fruit flies!

Return your “puree” to the pot, measuring as you go. Add 1 cup of sugar for every 2 cups of apple puree. Add the rest of your spices and a dollop of molasses for depth of flavor (about a tablespoon will do!) Now, bring the whole lot to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and stir occasionally for 4 hours. 

The best gauge for when to stir is when you see the sugar crystallizing on top of the bubbles. Also be sure to scrape the pot as you stir, you want to get all that sugar incorporated so it doesn’t burn.

My last tip is to put a wire screen over the top of your pot, because when the bubbles pop, they spatter apple butter everywhere, and if you or your children get spit at, the sugar makes this hardly-boiling mixture REALLY HOT!

Prepare a pot of boiling water, large and deep enough to cover your jars, remember your water level will rise as you put jars in…

Now just ladle the yummy goodness into your jars (a funnel is a very useful tool right about now)...your butter should be fairly thick, as in it does not spread much when tested on a cold plate. Place your jars in the boiling water, and allow to process for 4 minutes. The natural pectin in the apples will activate and set your butter. Remove from water and allow to cool at room temperature.

THERE YOU HAVE IT!!! A WONDERFUL AUTUMN TREAT!! (And a cute fall party favor, for a good size crowd for less than 30 dollars!)