Crock Pot Apple Butter

Growing up in Ohio apple butter was a staple in our home. In Los Angeles it is much harder to come by. So I decided while I was off work for Christmas to make my own. It was so much easier than I imagined and it made the place smell great! This recipe isn't set in stone so feel free to play around with it. Here's what I did:

Ingredients

4.5 lbs of apples (I used gala, and granny smith)

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp nutmeg

2 cinnamon sticks (I used some ground cinnamon too)

1/4 tsp salt

7 Tbs sugar (to taste)

First peel all the apples and then core. If you have one of those nifty machines then this will be a breeze for you!

 

Put all the chopped apples into your crock pot. Add nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon sticks, salt and 3Tbs sugar. Turn the crock pot to high and cook for 1 hour, covered, stirring occasionally. After the hour turn to low, keep covered and let it go.

I checked mine after four hours, and did a taste test. I stirred it and added 2Tbs of sugar and 1 tsp of ground cinnamon. Then recovered and left it. Six hours later I checked again and tasted again. I took out the cinnamon sticks and added the last 2 Tbs of sugar. By this time the apples were cooking down nicely but still very coarse. Feel Free to check and stir as many times as you want! I stirred more than I am documenting, just because I was curious. This was the point I went to bed. Guess I forgot to take pictures of it cooking, oops.
Next morning everything still looking good but I wanted it to cook down some more. 15 hrs after the last check (when I took out the sticks) I took off the lid and turned it to high to cook off some of the extra liquid and thicken it up. During this time I used my silicone whisk to smooth it out even more. After 2 hours on high I turned off the crock pot and used my Cuisinart mini prep to puree the apple butter, since I like mine smooth. Now, I canned mine but if you plan to eat it soon or give it away you can just put it in containers and store in the fridge. Mine made enough for three jars plus a little extra to use now. Here is a quick breakdown of cooking times:

Cook time

1 hour on high

4 hours low and check

6 hours low and check

15 hours low and check

2 hours uncovered on high

total cook time: 28 hours

Enjoy!