What to do with those Apples?

Thanks to my mother-in-law (not meaning that negatively), we were blessed to receive a bag of apples last week. John loves apples and has grown up eating them. I, on the other hand, do not like apples. I enjoy applesauce but anything else to do with an apple, I do not like. Yes, people that even means the ol' American favorite, apple pie too. So I have been contemplating on what to do with all these apples since I knew John wouldn't be able to eat them all before they went bad. My visiting teaching partner also contacted my about going to visit our two ladies so of course I need a little gift to bring them too. Then an idea popped into my head!! What about apple butter! 

Apple Butter is actually super duper easy to make and makes your entire house smell like fall which I loved! The hardest part about the apple butter was peeling and coring the apples!

Apple Butter

- a dozen or more apples (depending on size)

- 1/2 cup of brown sugar

- 1/4 cup of honey

- 1/2 cup of water

- 1 tbsp of cinnamon

- 1/4 tsp of nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice

First you will need to peel and core all your apples. Because my husband and I are poor college kids, I do not have an apple peeler and corer. So I did it by hand and cutting the apples into fourths and into eighths if they were too big.

Next you need to put all your peeled apples into your crockpot along with the rest of your ingredients.

Mix the ingredients a little, place the lid on the crockpot, and let it sit for about six hours.

 After your six hours, the apples will be starting to break down so you want to stir everything together. Make sure to get all the ingredients that fell to the bottom mixed in. Then once again place the lid on and set to the side for an additional 10-12 hours. I started mine later in the day so that my ten hours was while we were sleeping. It smelled great when we woke up!

Right before the time is up, you need to pull out a large stockpot and fill it with water. Then separate your mason jars from the lids and rings. Add the mason jars you plan to fill with your apple butter into the water bath. Allow the jars to heat with the water.

You will also need to take the lids and add them to a small pot of warm water. Bring both the jars and lids to a low boil for at least 10 minutes.

While everything is boiling, you can prepare the apple butter. I removed mine from my crockpot to another bowl but you can leave it there. Here's where your preference comes into play. You can either blend the apple butter in the blender or with a mixer for it to be smooth or you can decide to leave it chunky and just slightly mix everything together. 

You can then pull your mason jars out of the hot water bath and place them on a clean towel, on your countertop. Go ahead to fill each jar with the warm, apple butter. Make sure to leave a half inch of wiggle room in each jar. With a clean towel, wipe down the rim of the jars so no butter gets between the lid and the jar. Then pull your lids out of the pot, and without touching the underside, place the lids on top of each jar. Screw your rings on the jars, making sure to not over tighten the jars.

After that then the  sealed jars need to be placed back in the pot of hot water. Process the jars for 10 minutes. After the ten minutes, you can remove the jars from the hot water bath. Wipe down the jar again, with a clean towel, to ensure no water is left on the outside of the jar. Go ahead, and then leave the jars on the counter to cool. 

If you do not can some and instead place in a container for immediate eating, do not leave in fridge for more than a week.

I hope you try and enjoy! My husband loved it! ;)