Homemade Apple Butter For Canning

Recently I've had a few people interested in my recipe for apple butter. I haven't made any this year, but if I do start craving it, I might just go pick some more apples and whip up a small batch. I don't have many pictures for this tutorial, but I will update this post as soon as I make some more apple butter this year. To see a more pictured tutorial please visit The Scraps of Life blog. My recipe is adapted slightly from hers.

To make the apple pulp, I use my apple peeler, corer, slicer. Like this one. I slice them into smaller pieces. I cut enough apples to fill a large stock pot.

Then you will add about 1/4 cup of water or apple juice to the apples (just enough to keep them from burning) and cook them over medium heat until they are very soft. About 20-30 minutes. Then you can either use an immersion blender or food processor to blend the apples into a pulp.

In a large bowl, you will then combine 6-8 cups of the apple pulp with white sugar, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract.

Transfer to a deep baking dish and bake uncovered in a preheated 350 degree oven for at least 2 hours, stirring every half hour. The longer you cook it, the darker and thicker it will become. Be careful not to burn it. I've made that mistake. It's salvageable but its just not as good. If you don't have any children running around, you can crack the oven door slightly with a metal spoon or spatula. Ultimately you are trying to get the moisture out of the apple mixture and infuse the flavor.

If you are going to can the apple butter, you will want to wash and warm your canning jars, and put your lids in a small pot of boiling water. When the apple butter is done, ladel it into your hot jars, and place the hot boiled lids onto the jars. Screw on the lids and process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes. If you aren't going to be giving your apple butter as gifts, you can also forego the water bath. If your jars are hot and so is your apple butter, the jars should seal themselves. You probably will have no problem with them, but if I give them as gifts, I want to make sure they are boiled to kill any bacteria that may be inside the jars before storing.

Then comes the waiting.... POP........POP.. POP! Make sure all your jars seal. If any do not seal, I will usually change the lid out and process again. Now you can store them in a cool dark place, or... pop it open and eat it immediately! Sometimes I keep a jar to the side just to cool enough that I can dig in! YUM!

Homemade Apple Butter

Ingredients

6-8 cups apple pulp

2 1/2 cups white sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and put in a deep baking dish. Bake for at least 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Ladel into hot canning jars and process in a water bath canner for 15 minutes. Makes 4-6 pints.