Remember this guy?
Today, he’s going to help me make up some quick, easy, yummy Christmas Treats.
I love apple butter, but the traditional recipes have you standing by the stove for a couple of hours, hours that I don’t have. Then I found a recipe for apple butter that can be made in a slow cooker. That day, my life was made complete…Just kidding, but it is pretty cool!
Apple butter, canned in a pretty mason jar, with some Christmas ribbon makes a great gift for teachers, your mailman, distant relatives…the possibilities are endless.
So, this morning I am starting my 3 day apple butter spree, and I thought I would share. Some of you will be receiving some apple butter from me…sorry if I dispel some preconceived ideas you might have about my apple butter…it really is easy to make :)
I start off with about 16 apples. Peal, quarter, and core them. Rinse them off and toss them into the slow cooker.
Next, toss in 2 cups of white sugar, 2 cups of brown sugar, 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Stir the apples to coat in the sugar mixture.
Pretty, no?
Cook on high for about an hour, then reduce the heat to low. Now, if I start this first thing in the morning, it will be finished in the evening. Right about the time that my littles go to bed. Which works out nicely, since I can my butter. However, if I start it a little later in the afternoon or evening, I let it cook all night and it will be finished in the morning. That is the nice thing about this recipe, if you get busy, it can sit in the slow cooker longer with no adverse affects. In the past I have had things come up, and it literally cooked for 24 hours, yet still tasted yummy as ever!
So, my apple butter is cooking and making the whole house smell yummy. Now, I am off to tackle Christmas decorations.
does it matter if you use red or green apples? also, by the time they are done, are they mush, do you have to mash them or what? I have never eaten or made apple butter but you make it sound so yummy – i def want to try it!
I used red, but I bet green would be yummy too. At the end they are mushy, but I like to go ahead and blend mine with a hand-held blender.