Shaina’s Better Apple Butter

Recipe by Shaina White

Heat: Slow cooker
Time: 24 hr + chill
Makes: 6-7 pints of apple butter

Every ~12 lbs of apples yields 6-7 pints of apple butter. 1 pot full of apples = ~24 apples. You can use any kind of apple, usually I use Fuji or galas, can use up to half Granny Smiths but not all. Can save juice after boiling and drink it.

Ingredients

1. Peel, cut, and core a pot full of apples, with 1 inch of water in it
2. Simmer pot on stove ~1 hour, till all apples are soft and tender
3. Drain of juice (can use a strainer to get more out)
4. Fill the crock pot with soft apples
5. Add (to taste): a. 1 cup brown sugar b. 2 heaping T cinnamon c. 2 T balsamic vinegar d. ½ tsp (heaping) ground cloves
6. Blend it all in the crock pot with immersion blender
7. Put 2 wooden spoons on top of open crock pot then place lid on top so minimize splatter but must leave space for moisture to escape. Bubble until desired thickness - usually 6-8+ hours
8. Ladle it into hot jars + let ‘em seal (stand jars on lids upside down 10+ minutes,
or boil filled jars in water bath, or skip the sealing and just put the filled jars in the freezer.)
9. TASTYUMMYAY!

Method

01
Note on water bath canning - MUST WASH EVERYTHING FIRST. Wash all jars in dishwasher. Buy new lids. It’s better to keep the jars hot if you can, to minimize risk of a cracked jar. Take lids with rubber around the edge, boil them in a pan to sanitize them. Keep those boiling in a skillet. Ladle hot apple butter into jar, pick up hot lids with tongs, place on and screw on top until fingertip tight (as tight as you can go with just a finger and a thumb). Once all jars are full, place into water bath (don’t have to use water bath canner, can use biggest pot on stove, but it is much better with a water bath canner). Fill water bath around half full, then get the water boiling before you put in jars. Put all jars in the little carrier then lower down into pot. Cans should be totally immersed in boiling water (about 1 inch above the lids of the jars). Water bath boil the jars for 15 minutes. Important note - once you take the jars out, the jars will seal within 24 hours, but usually it seals within an hour. If it doesn’t seal within 24 hours, put it in the fridge and eat it immediately, don’t put it in your pantry.