It’s that time of year again – the time when it begins to get cooler, the kiddos get ready to go back to school and the first of my apple trees starts dropping apples.

Yes, it’s time for life to stop, and time for apples to take over!

I have apples coming out my ears, and this is only the first tree… I have 2 more to go.  Granted, only 1 of them is a big apple tree, the other one is crabapples, but there’s still months of work to be done with apples.

When you’re blessed with 3 apple trees, you gotta take the time to make apple butter, jelly, pie, juice, even pickled crabapples.

I’ll be making all these things well into October, unless we get a real cold snap and all the trees decide to dump their apples at once real quick… it could happen.

Upon mentioning my project for the day – Apple Butter – I got several requests for my recipe.  I’m still tweaking it, because we can not find my GG’s recipe and I’m trying to get as close to hers as I can… but this is, in general, the recipe I use.

Apple Butter
(makes about 2 quarts)

Ingredients:
4 lbs apples (~ 16 cups cut up) – a variety can be used if you like
1 cup demerra sugar (or brown sugar)
1 cup organic raw sugar (or regular refined white sugar)
1 cup pressed unsweetened apple juice (or apple cider or water)
pinch sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 lemon (optional)

Directions:
1. If you will be canning the apple butter, you will need to get your jars, lids, and rings ready.  (This is an apple butter recipe, though, not a canning lesson, so I will move on…)

2. Peel, core, and cut up the apples.  Combine with the juice or water in a heavy stockpan or canning pot and cook until the apples are soft.

3. Add sugars, salt, spices, and (if you’re using it) the juice from the lemon.  Continue to cook over low heat, stirring frequently (almost constantly as it thickens) to prevent sticking, until the mixture is very thick. (The desired thickness will allow you to heap it onto a spoon without running off the sides or flattening out on the spoon.)  You’ll need to mash the apples as you stir from time to time to help them cook down properly – I use a potato masher.

4. For a finer (less coarse) butter, you may choose to put the mixture through a food processor, blender, or manual colander (like my GG always did!).  [this step can also be done BEFORE you add the sugars and spices.] Return to the pot to reheat and stir well.

5. Fill your jars/containers to 1/2 inch from the top with apple butter.  Then process for proper jarring/canning/preserving (water bath, freezing, whatever you choose).  We jar ours usually in quart/liter class canning jars.

6. Any apple butter you haven’t canned or frozen needs to be refrigerated and used relatively soon.  The only preservative is the lemon juice (if you use it).

The length of time it takes for this recipe varies depending on how moist your apples are and how thick you want your apple butter to be.  Regardless, it easily takes a few hours to make a batch of apple butter.  The most time intensive part is either the peeling, coring and cutting, or the cooking down of the apples.  Many recipes call for using a slow cooker for the cooking.  I’ve never tried it that way, but it might save time.  I’ve been worried about scorching the apple butter by leaving it set too long in the slow cooker, but you can likely make that work if you are careful.

You may choose to fiddle with the amount or kinds of sugar you put in, and I’m working on getting just the right mix of spices.  When I first did the recipe it called for all white sugar and no nutmeg… so I have done some substitutions.  This much sugar is still probably not the BEST for you, but using natural sugars instead of the refined stuff is hopefully a little better anyway.  And my apples are definitely organic!

I will also double or triple the recipe at a time so I can get more done.  Tripling is just about too much, though, as the mixture gets really heavy and is more likely to scorch or stick to the pan/pot.

last year’s first jars of apple butter

As the season goes on, I work out little tricks and strategies.  Right now, sweetie is running the raw apples through our Kitchen Aid food processor/grinder to see how that works in the process of making apple butter.  So, I’ll let you know how that goes, along with other modifications I make as I go.  I always get better at it with practice, and I’ll be having LOTS or practice! 🙂

I must admit, making apple butter this year is bittersweet for me.  GG just passed away on 8-9-10… she hadn’t made apple butter for several years before that, though.  Apple butter is part of her legacy in my life.  I miss her so much, but one of the best things I can think to do to remember her and honor her is to make apple butter and share it with the family.  I do the best I can, and have plenty of apples to do it with!

I will share apple jelly, apple juice and whatever other apple recipes I use later, as I use them, too!