What is apple butter, exactly? It’s the spiced in-between of jam and compote that’s perfect as a spread for toast,
pancakes, or muffins, or you can even add a spoonful to scone dough. This recipe is the best-ever winter weekend project: Head over to your local farmers’ market and pick up a few pounds of apples and apple cider for the most flavorful apple butter. Stew apples with aromatic spices like cinnamon and cloves, and your kitchen will be cozy in no time. Here is everything you need to know.
The apples:
Any seasonal apples will yield great apple butter, but we recommend utilizing a mix of sweet, floral, and tart varieties. Go for a mix of apple varieties like Gala, Cameo, Empire, Honeycrisp, or Macoun.
How to make apple butter:
Apple butter has a thick consistency achieved by long-cooking the apples in apple cider. Use a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven. First, stew the apples in apple cider and brown sugar. When the apples begin to resemble applesauce, remove from heat and puree until smooth with an immersion blender. Then return to low heat, add the cinnamon and nutmeg, and sit back (but not too much!). As the apple butter cooks, it will mostly look like applesauce, but after about 90 minutes, the apples and brown sugar will caramelize to create a consistency that’s saucy yet similar to jam.
As the cider evaporates out, the mixture will begin to boil even on low, so be sure to stir every few minutes to prevent burning. The mixture will have reduced by more than half and should be thick and be a dark golden color. Like other jam recipes, test for doneness when the mixture no longer slides off a wooden spoon.
If you don’t have an immersion blender, no problem! Use a potato masher instead and break up the apples as much as possible.
Storage:
Store the apple butter in a glass jar with a tight lid in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
Made this recipe? Let us know how it went in the comments below!