How to Make Apple Butter
Ingredients
- 4 pounds of apples** see note for varieties
- 3 cups apple cider
- 1 ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 250 degrees F.
- In a large, oven safe pot, combine the apples, apple cider, brown sugar and salt over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer, cover, and let cook for 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla.
- Using an immersion blender, puree the apples until no chunks are left (unless you want small chunks of apple in your butter). You can also carefully transfer the mixture to a blender and puree it that way.
- Place the uncovered pot in the oven and bake for 3-4 hours, stirring about every half hour. The baking time is really up to you, your apples, and your oven. I found that the longer I bake it, the thicker and darker the butter becomes. Mine was baked for just over 3 hours.
- Once done, remove from oven, let cool, and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
**I used Ida Red apples with a few Cortland thrown in as well. You can use a variety of different apples and you can use several different kinds of apples in one apple butter recipe. Other varieties that work well: braeburn, Cortland, Fuji, grimes golden, jonamac, liberty, and McIntosh
Lightly adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/homemade-apple-butter.html?oc=linkback
