An Inspired Cook

It’s apple season and since I have apples on hand I had to make apple butter.  I brought out the slow cooker for this one because it’s so easy to fill it and leave it.  I set it up to cook overnight and by morning the smell of apples and spices filled the kitchen.   If you happen to have an apple machine that peels, cores and slices your apples, it really makes the job faster and easier because it’s consuming when doing it by hand.  I made enough to put some in the freezer while keeping a couple jars in the fridge.  I love it on a piece of buttered toast or a biscuit fresh from the oven.

Start with some good apples.  I was lucky to have family from Michigan provide the apples.  These are Northern Spy.

For this recipe I used 4 pounds of apples, brown sugar, white sugar, apple cider, lemon zest and juice, plus spices.

I set up my apple machine.  I cored the ends of the apples to make it easier.

The apple machine peels, cores and makes spiral slices.

This is so much faster than trying to peel by hand.

A few turns of the handle and it’s done.  You may need to peel a little off the ends.

This is how they look once all peeled and cored.

Dice them up in a small dice and place in the slow cooker.

Add your sugars, lemon juice and zest, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.  Some people add cloves, but I’m not a fan of cloves so I left it out.

Pour a cup of apple cider over the apple mixture and stir it all together.

I placed the lid on and put the slow cooker on the lowest setting.  I cooked it for 14 hours overnight stirring every few hours and it was perfect in the morning.

To get the texture, place a few cups of apples in the blender at a time and puree.  You’ll need to do this in batches.

Imagine popping the lid off the blender and smelling the aroma of fall and apples and spices.

This would be great to can and put away for the winter.  Sorry to say, I didn’t pay attention to Mom when it came to canning and I freeze almost everything these days.

I put 4 (2 cup) bags through the seal a meal to put in the freezer.

I was craving a biscuit with apple butter so I tried out a new biscuit recipe (courtesy of Chuck) that turned out great.  Definitely a treat with my morning coffee.


Apple Butter

4 pounds apples (I used Northern Spy)
1 1/2 cups Brown Sugar
1/2 cup White Sugar
1 cup Apple Cider
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Allspice
Zest of 1 Lemon
2 teaspoons Lemon Juice

Peel, core and dice apples into a small dice.  Place in a slow cooker on the lowest setting.  Add remaining ingredients and cover with lid.  Cook on low for 12 – 14 hours stirring every few hours.

Place cooked apple mixture into a blender and puree.  Makes 10 – 12 cups of apple butter.  Can, freeze or refrigerate up to 2 weeks.