#18 Apple Butter

This is a combination of 2 recipes.

Ingredients:

12-15 large cooking apples, cored and chopped into small bits (~14 cups)
~3 cups apple cider or juice
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves


Directions:

Combine the apples, cider and sugar in a slow cooker. Cover and Cook on low for 10 hours or high for 4 hours. Remove apples/cider mixture into a blender (or food processor) and blend until smooth. Add the spices and return to slow cooker and cook on low for another hour or until the desired consistency (for a thicker butter leave the lid off in this section).

Now it is ready to be canned. I am still working on my expertize in this area so here is a copy of instructions from the recipe I used:

"Here is the canning part: Spoon apple butter into hot, sterilized canning jars (pint or half-pint do nicely). Leave 1/4 inch head-space. Wipe rims and adjust lids. Place in a boiling-water canner for 5 to 10 minutes (5 minutes for half-pints, 10 minutes for full pints from the time the water begins to boil). Carefully take jars from canner and allow them to cool on racks. The result is about 4 pints. So double up on recipe for bigger batches!"
*Remember that for higher elevations you need to have the jars in the water bath for longer.

**It is best to use tart apples, like macintosh. I use the ones from my tree in my backyard. I also broke my blender after the first batch so the second time I used the food processor and it was not nearly as smooth as the blender!! If you need to borrow canning equipmemt or you just want to get together for a Can-a-thon let me know!!!