Homemade Apple Butter

I saw this recipe for homemade apple butter on Pinterest--I had never tried apple butter, but the pictures make is look delicious--and I've been craving it ever since. I've got an apple tree right in my backyard, so there really was no excuse for me to not make it. The whole process is very time consuming--but well worth it. 

First, grab your apples. As you can see here, I used half store bought Fugi apples and half of some apples off of the tree in my backyard.

Peel, core, and chop up your apples. 

Toss all of the ingredients into the crock pot and stir them up so that all of the apples are coated nicely.

And viola! Homemade apple butter! 

Adorable, right? I'm thinking this might make a great gift around Christmastime ;)

Ingredients:
5 lbs of peeled apples (about 18-20 small apples), cored and chopped very small
4 cups of sugar
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/4 tsp. of ground cloves
1/4 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp. of salt

Directions: First peel and core your apples. I used a peeler and peeled each apple, then used my apple cutter to take the core out. This process took me around an hour--this process could have gone a lot faster if I had one of those counter top apple peelers that takes the core out--if you have one of those, then you're one step ahead of me ;). 

Once you're done with that, toss the apples into a food processor using the chopping blade and pulsate until the apples are in small pieces. Next, you'll put all of your chopped up apples into your crock pot, toss all of your ingredients in, then stir until the apples are all coated.

Then turn your crock pot onto high and leave for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. After the three hours are up, turn the crock pot onto 'low' for 5 1/2 - 6 hours, stirring occasionally.

Finally, spoon the apples into the food processor and puree them. Once its pureed, you can put them in jars and refrigerate them. A lot of sites say that apple butter stays good canned for 18 - 24 months--if you don't eat it before then!

This may be my new favorite Fall-time recipe; my house smells amazing and the apple butter itself is delicious! Enjoy!