I’ve always loved teaching.
When I was a young girl, I used to play school with my stuffed animals and any friends that I could trick into being a student in my class. I made an Attendance List (the students didn’t always show up on time!) and I taught math, writing, art, and deep life lessons from a 4th grader.
Turning to my stuffed duck “Quackers”, I would often say, “Quackers, why were you late for school this morning? I’m going to have to see you after class today.”
Sighing, I marked a big “L” beside his name.
“Jonathan and Annabel, please stop talking while the lesson is being taught.”
”PLEASE STOP TALKING CLASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ANNABELLLLLLLLLLL”
It wasn’t always roses and puppy dogs.
While I didn’t end up becoming a teacher, I do like to pretend I’m one on the blog. I also know when you’re skipping class!
But today, I’d like to be the student. And I think you can help…
I’m on a fruit butter making kick.
Earlier this week, I made my beloved pumpkin butter in a slow cooker and turned out wonderfully.
I’ve been spreading it on everything and mixing it into oatmeal. As soon as I see sugar pumpkins at the market, I will be making pumpkin butter from fresh pumpkins later this Fall.
After my pumpkin butter success, I decided to make apple butter. I’ve never made it before, but I absolutely LOVE it. I researched about 10 different apple butter recipes, trying to decide the best way to make it (there are a lot of methods!). I decided to go with the most popular apple butter recipe on All Recipes with 5 stars and 525 reviews. Although, without the 4 cups of white sugar…
I added fresh ginger, ground cloves, cinnamon sticks, 1/3 cup Sucanat, and a 1/4 cup of apple juice instead.
Then I bought 5 pounds of local, sweet apples!
It took me just 10 minutes to peel 5 pounds of apples. Not too shabby!
(That picture only shows half the apples)
I diced the apples. I added cinnamon sticks, fresh ginger, apple juice, ground cloves, and a touch of Sucanat.
Mix in slow cooker:
I heated on high covered for 1 hour. I waited.
Then I turned the heat to low, still covered, and cooked for another 15 and 1/2 hours. I waited. I may have slept.
I came downstairs hoping to find thick and dark apple butter, but no such luck. I think it’s somewhere in between applesauce and apple butter right now!…
I’ve been cooking it on medium heat, uncovered, for a couple hours so far this morning.
And I’m praying for a miracle.
Anyone have any words of advice for me? Did I make it all wrong?
I think the apple butter will be delish.
I know you guys don’t have TJ’s up there but I am thinking of the TJs apple and pumpkin and mango butters…they say they are just fruit, sugar, pectin on the label but I don’t know how they get them so smooth. I would love their secrets :) No matter how much I blend them in my Vita, it never gets that perfect texture like theirs does.
Flavorwise your butter sounds amazing and I can’t wait to see the finished product! :)
Your recipes so far sounds amazing! I don’t know if this will work but you could always try adding in some arrowroot if you have any, it’s made to thicken things up and always works for me… I don’t think it has any real taste to it so it wouldn’t affect the butter!
I love following your blog and have been consistently checking in, nearly every day, for a year now. I am making some nut butters for Christmas gifts this year and was wondering where you find those cute little spoons you always photograph (see photo in this blog)??
Hey Jessi! They are from Crate & Barrel (called ‘appetizer’ spoons)
Sounds so yummy! I love making apple butter. While I know it seems terrible to add so much sugar, one of the reasons recipes tend to be so hefty in sugar is because it helps the apples break down and the butter become smooth. That’s not to say that it can’t be delicious without the sugar, but that may be why your butter seems to be taking a while. Perhaps it will continue to butter-ize after being cooked more? Best of luck, it really sounds yummy! Inspires me to make a healthier version of my apple butter this year. :)
Thanks Lauren…that makes sense to me!
It took another 4 hours, but it worked wonderfully…I was shocked! I think t was about 19-20 hours total lol
I’ve found that if I prop the slow cooker lid up on a wooden spoon laid across the top of the pot that lets off the steam as it cooks and the cooking time is a little shorter.
I’ve never been brave enough to attempt making fruit butter before so I have no words of advice for you. I hope it turns out though because it sounds delicious!
That looks so incredible!! I loooooove apple butter!
I need this. Yum!
the apple butter looks so yummy! I bet it turned out good!
I’ve had the most success roasting whole, cored apples covered in foil at 200 degrees for a few hours. No need to peel or anything. They literally liquefy. Then puree (in my old and clunky food processor) and press through a strainer (to get out the core/seeds nubs that might remain).
To make the butter a bit richer I add a knot of Earth Balance, some maple syrup and spices in the empty core before baking. It always turns out smooth and sweet and buttery.
I made peach butter recently (though I used canned because they were about to expire) and cooked it on high for a good six hours and then uncovered for another 4-5. Cooking it on low probably extends the cooking time by quite a few hours. Good luck! It look delish already!
mmm I would love to make peach butter!
I’ve made apple butter without sugar many many itmes and it came out just as creamy as the stuff from the store after blending it with my immersion blender only. If that isn’t creamy enough, you can always stick it in the Vitamix!
I can’t wait to see how this turns out. I am also interested in the pumpkin butter. sounds yummy. I’ll have to check back and see if any of the responses helped. I, unfortunately have no experience.
I’d eat it! Looks super! But try putting it in a food processor? I saw a recipe that starts out using applesauce. Other recipes using cut up apples seem to come and coarse and thicker. Still delish though!
I make lots of apple butter every fall. It’s quite easy to make sugar-free too. Just core, cut (and peel, if you want… not required but I like to save the peels to make apple peel jelly), cover in sugar-free apple cider, add any desired spices. Cook on low in slow-cooker until soft enough to mash (either with a fork, a potato masher or an immersion blender, depending on your apples and preference). Then, prop lid open for a few more hours until it is thick and brown. Even though sugar-free, it can be canned. If you can find Wellesley Apple Cider, they have one that’s sugar-free. I love it! Although Pumpkin Butter is also delicious, it can’t be canned since it is a vegetable. Enjoy!
Maybe blend it? I’ve never made it before so not sure but perhaps a stick blender might help or even adding some sugar syrup?
Hello Almond Butter…sigh. This shiz is expensive in store! I hope this tastes as glorious as it looks on a piece of toast for breakfast…..mmm
xxoo
Oh no I hope you figure it out!! Apple Butter is soo good! I’m kind of craving it now!
I made apple butter this past week in the crock pot! I’ll post the recipe sometime next week.
I actually did a rough chop on my apples, used very little apple juice, some spices, and no added sugar. I didn’t peel them, and I put them in the slow cooker practically whole. I had my slow cooker going for a good 18 hours before sending the contents through the blender.
I used to make stovetop apple butter, though without the sugar. (Apples are sweet enough when you cook them down!) I found it worked best if I didn’t add any extra liquid and cooked it super slowly, though if I wanted to do things a little faster, I’d squeeze excess moisture out of the apple pieces when they were just-cooked. And I always cooked uncovered, so that the excess moisture could evaporate. Good luck!
I hope it turns out for you! I have never made apple butter before so I can’t give any advice, but I definitely give you points for trying! :)