Recipe: Apple Butter

I made apple butter for the first time this year and we thoroughly enjoyed the heavenly aroma that took over our home for a few days thanks to the making of this delicious spread.

Here's the recipe:

Apple Butter

Apple sauce (6+ cups)

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp all spice (optional)

1 cup raw honey or raw, organic agave

Apple Sauce:

First, if you need to, make your apple sauce. A mix of naturally sweet apples such as Jonathon, Gala apples, Yellow Delicious, Red Delicious, McIntosh and Fuji apples are what makes the best apple sauce. Simply core and slice your 20 (or more) apples. Place the sliced apples in a large cooking pot, placing one inch of water in the bottom, stirring 1 tbsp of cinnamon into the apples.

Place a lid on the pot and heat it on high until the water boils. Then turn the temp. to medium and allow the apples to cook until they are soft. Allow the apples to cool some.

You can either blend up the apples in a blender or put it through some kind of food mill or grinder and you've got the apple sauce!

Apple Butter:

Simply place your apple sauce into a crock pot and add the cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and honey or agave and mix together.

Set the crock pot on high heat until the apple butter begins to boil (about an hour). Turn the crock pot to a low or medium setting. Set some kabob sticks, butter knives or whatever under the lid so the steam can escape. You can scrape the sides if you'd like to, some burning will probably occur.

If you have extra apple sauce that won't fit into your crock pot simply add it to the crock pot after the apple butter has cooked down some. Allow the apple butter to cook down until you have a nice thick consistency that you're happy with.

Allow to cook for 5- 6 hours for a delicious apple custard or allow to cook overnight and into the next day for a more deeply flavored apple butter.

Store in a glass container in the fridge or can it for food storage.

Spread on muffins toast or bagels. Drizzle with cream or kefir, top with toasted pecans or walnuts. Stir into home made yogurt or spoon over raw ice cream. Make an apple butter smoothie, just a few spoonfuls mixed in the blender with raw milk and an ice cube or two. Stir in your morning oatmeal ...

or just eat it by the spoonful!