Maple Apple Butter - no canner required!

As much as I love strawberry jam, I REALLY love apple butter. I grew up eating my grandmother's homemade apple butter and there's just something so wonderful about it. It has an apple sauce-like texture, the cinnamon counters the sweetness of the apples, it's not at sticky as traditional jams and jellies, it's just perfect.

So of course I wanted to make it. Well I did, but with a twist -- I added real maple syrup from Vermont. The other great thing about this recipe is that it doesn't have seven cups of sugar in it like our Blue Ribbon Strawberry Jam.

And with this recipe, if you don't want to can it, you don't have to. But if you're a queen of canning like me, I'll include the directions for canning below with the recipe.

We sell this jam in a storefront in Dayton, Tenn., and it's one of our customer's favorites. I hope you enjoy it, too! Drop a comment if you end up making it!

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Maple Apple Butter

Prep time	15 minutes
Cook time	8 hours, 5 minutes
Servings	4 cups
Calories	385 kcal

Equipment

Slow cooker

Blender, food mill, food processor, or an immersion blender

Ingredients

7 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced - about 6.5 pounds

This is best made with firm, tart apples - I use Honey Crisp; but Courtland will work well

1/2 cup PURE maple syrup - we love Anderson's from Vermont

1/2 cup apple cider

2 TBSP lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 cup light brown sugar

Instructions

1. Place sliced apples into your slow cooker and add maple syrup, apple cider, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and ground cloves. Stir it gently to combine ingredients.
   

2. Turn your covered slow cooker on low and cook for 8 hours. Your house is going to smell AMAZING.
   

3. After 8 hours, use an immersion blender to puree the apple butter. If you don't have one, ladle the apple butter into a blender and puree until smooth.
   

4. Pour the pureed apple butter into a medium sauce pan (or cast iron!), sweeten with the maple/brown sugar to taste and cook for additional 15-30 minutes on low, stirring often.
   

5. Cool and store apple butter in refrigerator (up to two weeks) or freezer (up to one year). Or you can water bath can it -- see below!
   

Canning Maple Apple Butter

1. Ladle warm apple butter into clean jars with 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims with vinegar and place seals and rings (finger tight) on the jars.

2. Add jars to boiling water bath canner. Make sure you have at least one inch of water over the top of the submerged jars.
   

3. Process jars for 10 minutes.
   

4. Remove the jars from the canner and allow to cool. Listen for the pop of the lid to ensure it's sealed and shelf stable for an extended period of time.