Crockpot Apple Butter + Canning 101

Now that it's fall and everyone is craving apples and everything made from the Crock pot, I thought it would be fun to share my adventures of making some apple butter. Contrary to popular belief, apple butter isn't actually a type of butter. Hubby was very surprised to learn this; he's so cute. In any case, this stuff is delicious on something as plain as toast and as savory as a biscuit.

At the beginning of the summer, I became a woman on a mission. I wanted to learn how to can, do it properly, and make some yummy stuff to keep us in stock for months to come. Well first off, I was really intrigued with this concept of making apple butter in the Crock pot. My best friend absolutely loves apple butter and I wanted to do something nice for her for her graduation.

What you need to know going in is to respect the power of all spice - it is a powerful spice, powerful powerful. Put too much of this and cinnamon and cloves together and you've got a mixture that tastes like Big red gum - good for potpourri, bad for the back of your throat. I tried it with more and ended up having to toss the whole pot out. If you're like us and do not like very spicy apples, heed my warning. The amount I suggest may not seem like it's going to be enough for a huge batch of apple butter, but trust me, friend, it does the trick.

In any case, I was bound and determined to make my sweet friend some apple butter, and so I bought another bag of granny smith apples and I tried again. This time it was quite the success. The flavor was there, it wasn't too sweet, it wasn't too spicy, it was just right. It was my Goldilocks of apple butter. Here's what I did:

Crock pot Apple Butter

Ingredients
3 lb bag of Granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into chunks
1 1/2 cup of Apple juice
1/4 tsp of all spice (I didn't even fill it up all the way)
1/2 T of Cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp of clove
2 cups of sugar
1 (48oz) jar of applesauce  (sweetened or unsweetened is up to you)

Combine all of these ingredients and stir. My recommendation is to take that stir-spoon and taste of it before it starts cooking. It will let you know right away if you need more apples or juice to temper out too much spices...or if you want more. Anyway, this needs to cook on high for pretty much all day. I'd say about 6-10 hours. When it's done it will look like the picture below. It will also be delicious.

Go on, give it a taste! But be careful, it's HOT!

When this is done, it is ready for whatever purpose you might have for it. As you can see above, I canned it. Yep, I sucked it up and climbed that mountain and made it to the top. Canning has officially been crossed off my newlywed bucket list. It was again one of those things that was intimidating, but not as difficult as I anticipated. Here are the steps:

1. Put a rag on the bottom of the canning pot and put your jars right side up like so.

2. Put these bad boys in a bowl.

3. Throw these over here.

4. When these guys have boiled about fifteen minutes get 'em out.

5. Like so...but be careful, this water is HOT. You're gonna want to set these right side up on a clean dishtowel.

6. Now boil a little water in your kettle...

7. And when it whistles, pour that hot water on your lids to sterilize them.

8. Using a canning funnel and a ladle, fill the jars to just about the lip of the jar. Top them with the lids. (You might want to use a lid magnet to get them up with, they'll be hot.) Then screw on the bands, but not too tight yet.

9. Now these guys go back in the canner to boil again. (I changed water to be safe). I boiled these half pints for about     7 minutes.

10. Last of all, set these guys out to cool and listen for the blessed popping of seals. I get a little rush when they pop sealed. I'd done it! When these are all sealed and cool enough to handle, get a big strong husbandly-type of person to tighten the bands for you, and label them how you'd like. And that's it!

When I make this again, I really want to see how it tastes with Splenda. I think the Apples, juice, and apple sauce gives out enough sugar without having the granulated stuff also. But I gotta say, this is some really good stuff. My bestie was so excited about this she declared that she was going to spoon it right out of the jar. That warmed my heart to hear. Funny how food just has a way of making people smile.

Hope y'all are taking advantage of all fall has to offer you!

God bless!