apple picking!
It's early autumn and after a dismal crop last year, things in the area are looking up. Judging by the fact that we ended up with a full half-bushel of Macintosh apples in record time, I'd say it was a good year.
The only question was what to do with so many apples?
I scoured The Cookbook seeking apple recipes and found several, which will likely be featured over the next few weeks, but there were also a few that called for the apples to be in a little more cooked down state (apple butter or apple sauce). My mind immediately concocted a brilliant plan: instead of buying apple butter/sauce, why not make my own? Surely, I had enough apples on hand...Couldn't be too labor intensive, right?
Right on both counts!
I found the idea for making apple butter in the slow cooker on Pinterest, which was plenty exciting. Then I ran with it, creating a recipe to suit my own needs.
The hardest part for me was peeling the apples. There are amazing people on this earth who can peel an apple in one continuous loop. I am definitely not one of those people. Eventually I got all 15 apples peeled and it was easy going from there on out.
Slow Cooker Apple Butter/Sauce
Inspired by GuruToTheOutdoors with heavy adaptations by my crazy brain
[ingredients]
15 apples (or however many you need - 15 is what filled my crockpot)
1/2 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ginger
3 tablespoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons lemon juice
[What to do]
- Peel and core apples. Cut into cubes and add them to the crockpot.
- Add lemon juice, stir. Then add dry ingredients, stir again.
- Cook on low for 6 hours. Mash up with a spoon. - At this point it is thicker and more applesauce-like.
- Continue cooking for another 2 hours. -Now we have apple butter!
- If you like chunkier apple butter, leave as is. If you prefer a smooth consistency, blend the butter before canning.
My mixture made about 2 small and 1 regular sized jar as well as about 2 cups left over, which I intended for immediate use.
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