Apple Butter
Bring on the cool nights, crisp days, and apples! Slow cook those bad boys and that sweet freshness will become a complex decadence that will warm the soul.
The quality of commercial apple butters range widely. Good apple butter takes time to develop it’s signature flavor and color and I believe this is where some commercial brands fall flat.
Plan on cooking the apples for hours. If you do a small batch, it might only take a couple of hours. If you do a big quantity, it can easily take 6-8 hours (mostly just cooking). Every time I’ve made apple butter, my time varied pretty significantly.
The reason I want you to stick with me on this project is homemade apple butter is delicious and cheap to make. Ask your favorite dealer (produce guy) if he’ll sell you some bruised or mealy apples. They’re usually more than happy to oblige. I scored 24 pounds of apples for $10 and didn’t have to cut off any bad spots. It yielded me a legit 5 quarts of apple butter. You won’t come close to that price if you buy it already made.
You might think this recipe is a little vague but there’s a reason for that. I don’t want to burden you with weighing apples or measuring chopped apples. Use what you have and go with it. It’ll be fun — I promise!
Ingredients
apples
salt
lemon
Directions
Put a large (if you have plenty apples) heavy bottom pot on the stove on medium heat.
Wash about 4-5 apples at a time and slice them thinly. They will cook faster in a slice than a wedge. Make sure you leave those peals on … they bring flavor! Toss the apples in the pot — you should hear them sizzle.
I only work with a few of them at a time so the apples can start cooking sooner. Your apples should be releasing liquid. You want the liquid to be at a low boil. Adjust the heat accordingly. At this stage you want high heat to evaporate the liquid faster. As the apples cook, keep slicing and adding the apples to the pot.
Give your apples a quick stir every 15 minutes or so. If you’re working with a large batch of apples, go ahead and use 2-3 pots to jump start the cooking process. When the apples are soft, but still have plenty of liquid, blitz them with an immersion blender. If you did thin slices, you won’t need to do it long.
As the apples cook down, you can consolidate it into 1 pot.
Add salt. Be careful not to oversalt. The salt will concentrate as the apple weight reduces. You do need the salt to bring out the flavor, but you do not want it to taste salty.
When most of the liquid is evaporated, lower the heat to low. Stir every 30 minutes or so. The trick here is to brown your apples without getting the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. If you’re getting plenty of sticking, add some water and stir quickly (just until you feel the smooth bottom). Don’t use too much water because your apples won’t brown. When the apples are a deep milk chocolate color, remove them from the heat. You want the apple butter to be thick — if you spoon it on a plate, it shouldn’t spread. If yours is loose, just cook it a little longer. Color is the most important indicator of doneness. Add lemon juice.
Go ahead and freeze what you won’t be able to eat in in a couple of weeks. I usually freeze them in about 16 ounce portions.
Notes
For 24 pounds of apples, I used about 1/3 tsp of salt and juice from 1/2 of a lemon.
Skip the lemon if you like, but I like that it brightens the richness of the apple butter.
Add spices to your butter if you like. Cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and all spice are all good choices. The amount of spices is a personal preference. I don’t usually add spices and if I do, I go very light handed because I want the taste of apple to shine. I go with the concept that spices enhance the flavor of the apples but you can’t quite distinguish what spices are in there.
Ways to eat it
by the spoon!
on a sandwich (hello ham and swiss)
chauceterie board
on biscuits (with butter or Canadian bacon and cheese)
swirl into a coffee or yellow cake before baking
salad dressing
with pecans on baked brie
oatmeal
pancake topping
crepe filling
yogurt
butternut squash soup
mix with lemonade and amaretto or rum
