Homemade Apple Butter {reduced sugar & perfectly sweet!}

Mmmm, fall is here!!

There are so many reasons I love fall– the crisp & fresh air, the utter beauty in changing leaves, comfy flannel all the time, pumpkin everything, hearty soups, and AMPLE AMOUNTS OF APPLES!! 😀

I grew up with an apple tree in my yard, and we used up those apples in any way we could think of. Our favorites were apple sauce, apple juice, apple pie, apple crisp, and apple leather. I suppose that’s where my deep love of apples began.

Though I no longer have an apple tree, my infatuation with the fruit continues. Luckily, this fall was no exception to having an abundance of apples! A coworker with a tree gave me an enormous bagful of tart, baking apples, and I picked up a bag of sweet honeycrisps at the farmers market.

When I finally had a Saturday off work, I seized the opportunity to peel, core, and slice my collection of apples. Most of them went into the freezer for future use (like Rob’s birthday Apple Pie Slices next month!), and some of them became this delectable recipe.

Until now, I’d never actually made apple butter before, so I pulled up a couple recipes I remembered pinning a while back. Disappointed at seeing the boat load of sugar called for in those recipes, I turned to Texanerin’s apple butter recipe that has no added sugar. Her recipe is also a quicker version; it’s made in 1 1/2 hours on the stovetop as opposed to the 6+ hour recipes made in crock pots.

However, I didn’t want my apple butter to merely taste like puréed applesauce, so I compromised and added some sugar, but not boat loads. 😉

Maybe I’m biased, but I think I got it just right with the perfect amount of sugar and spice.

Don’t take my word for it though; make it yourself, and tell me what you think! 🙂

Ingredients:
(adapted from Texanerin)

• 12 medium-sized apples
• 1/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 Tbs. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. allspice
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/3 c. water

Instructions:

1. Peel, core, and roughly chop all the apples. (This handy device works like a charm!)
2. In a small bowl, combine the sugars, spices, lemon juice, and water.
3. Add the apples and the sugar/spice/liquid mixture to a large saucepan, cover, and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Mash up the apples as much as you can, reduce the heat to medium-low, and stir in a splash of water (a couple tablespoons will do). Cook uncovered for another 45 minutes, stirring frequently (every 5 to 10 minutes) so the apples on the bottom don’t burn.
5. When the apple butter has reached your preferred consistency, remove the pan from the heat, and allow it to cool for a few minutes. Then, purée it using an immersion blender, food processor, or regular blender.
6. Let the apple butter cool off before putting in jars (or other containers), and refrigerate it for up to 5 days. Apple butter can also be frozen. Recipe yields about 1 1/2 cups.

I love to enjoy apple butter as a tasty snack on crackers or toast, and I even tried it this morning on a pumpkin bagel. YUM! My mind is dreaming about apple butter pancakes, so that’ll probably have to be my next experiment…

And now, I’ll leave you with some entertainment. I’m a clumsy chef, and one of the reasons I made this apple butter was to thank my neighbor for taking care of me when I cut myself while making dinner. Haha, I’m such a klutz! It was a deep cut on my thumb, and I didn’t know if it needed stitches or not. Rob wasn’t home, so, knowing my neighbor works in a hospital, I knocked on her door. She lovingly bandaged me up and told me how to take care of it.

Didn’t she do a great job?

We are truly blessed to have such wonderful neighbors!!
It’s not much, but I hope they enjoy the apple butter. 🙂

How do you like your apple butter?
What are your favorite things about fall??

© Milk & Cereal. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe.

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