It is that time of year again. The time when the smell of slow cooking apples fills the house. First, recipe of the fall for me is always Apple Butter. This becomes the starter for so many other things. This is a slow all day cook in the slow cooker for me, so plan ahead as well. YMMV
Ingredients
1 bag of apples.
1 tablespoon of vanilla
2 tablespoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of nutmeg, cloves
2 tablespoon of honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
juice of one lemon
1 cup water, juice, cider, etc.
Directions
I like the peels on my apples, but you can certainly peel them before you get started. Wash all of then really good before getting started. I cut up my apples into smaller sized chunks, and take the seeds out as I go. I was given an Apple Corer as part of a kitchen set, and it is just more of a PITA for me to use, than just doing the cuts and grooming with my knife. As always, YMMV,
I have used water, just about any type of juice, and traditional apple cider as my liquid. TBH, i don’t really taste the difference, except in the traditional apple cider case. This is the type of press I am talking about. For everything else it is just the liquid you need. Now one caveat to that, if you end up using a really strong citrus juice (orange, pineapple, lime, lemon, etc.), leave the “juice of one lemon” out
So pour the liquid into the slow cooker, add in the lemon juice (maybe), and then all of the spices, sugars, honey, etc. (Everything else except the apples). I like to mix everything up with a wooden spoon a bit, and then place the apples in the cooker. I cook for at least 6 hours, and stir every 30 to 45 minutes. About 4 hours in, i get the hand mixer out, and start to pure the mixture. Cook the next 2 hours, and then it cool slowly on its own, on the counter.
You can freeze portions if you want, to use later. I like to freeze a couple servings so that we can make Apple Butter Bread.
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