Growing up in Pennsylvania, we always had apple butter in our home. It was a staple for breakfast on the weekends – apple butter on toast. YUM.
But I feel like apple butter isn’t a well-known food in other parts of the country. I’ve talked about it to people from other states, and they always ask, “Apple butter… like flavored butter?” Maybe it’s a Pennsylvania thing?
If you’re not familiar with apple butter, it’s basically a highly concentrated form of applesauce. It’s made by cooking apples slowly on low heat. The sugars in the apples caramelize, which gives apple butter a deep brown color.
Farmers markets are great places to buy apple butter, because the ingredient list is pretty straight forward. No nasty chemicals, artificial sugars, or preservatives. However, I know not all of you live near farmers markets. So, I wanted to create a simple and sweet apple butter recipe that you can make at home… without a Crock Pot {because I personally don’t have one!}. I feel like there aren’t many recipes online for apple butter without using a Crock Pot, so I thought it would be fun to experiment.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m really not a baker. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE sweets, as long as I don’t have to make them. I screw up chocolate chip cookies, folks. But… this apple butter recipe was spot on delicious. So if I can make it work, anyone can.
Let’s get into the recipe.
- 6 small gala apples and 2 small granny smith apples (approximately 3 pounds total)
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Peel, core and dice apples.
- Place apples in a large frying pan with all other ingredients.
- Cover and simmer on low for 30 minutes.
- Remove the cinnamon sticks.
- Place apple mixture in a food processor and blend until smooth. If you're making applesauce, this is where you'd stop. But we're making apple butter, so there's another step.
- Add apple mixture back into pan (without lid) and let simmer for 2 hours. Stir frequently, to make sure the sauce isn't burning.
- The apple butter is done when the surface holds its shape when drizzled with water.
- This small batch will only take about 2 hours to thicken. Larger batches can take anywhere from 6-10 hours.
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