If you like this tasty twist on jam, but can’t find it in your area, try making apple butter yourself. It used to be extremely time consuming, but if you use a slow cooker, you can be eating apple butter in a day!

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[edit] Ingredients

4 1/2 lbs. cooking apples, washed and quartered
4 cups of white sugar
1/3 of a cup of apple cider
1/2 a teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 a teaspoon of ground nutmeg

[edit] Steps

Quarter the apples.

Quarter the apples. Peel the apples first if you prefer them without the skin. Put the chopped apples into the slow cooker, then slowly add the sugar. Stir to coat.
Add your spices.

Pour the apple cider in the slow cooker to prevent the fruit from sticking to the bottom. Add the spices and stir.
Cover the slow cooker.

Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 3 hours. Turn down the heat, and cook on low for about 9 hours.
- The apples should be mushy after 5 hours.
  
  Check the apples at the 5 hour mark. They should be very soft and there should be a large amount of juice.
Pour the processed apple into a container as you go.

Place some of the apples and juices in a blender with a ladle; don't fill more than halfway. Process fruit until smooth, stopping every few seconds to allow steam to escape. Continue blending until all apples have been processed, putting the processed fruit in a bowl as you go.
After 15 minutes on the stove

After 3 hours on the stove, spiced further with cinnamon and a teaspoon of molasses.

Pour the mixture back into the slow cooker. Cook uncovered on high anywhere from 1 to 4 hours; if you want to add any more spice to the mixture, do it now.
Bottled apple butter, ready for eating!

Preserve the apple butter by canning or skip the canning procedure and place the hot butter in jars, bottles, or smaller containers to give promptly as gifts.

[edit] Tips

You might want to experiment with flavors:
- Add ginger or ground cloves along with the cinnamon.
- Try adding a type of syrup to the apple butter, like molasses or maple syrup.
- If you're a fan of the "Red Hot" cinnamon candies, try dropping a couple into the batch to melt during the first 3 hours of cooking.
- You can try adding a packet of powdered drink mix (like Kool-Aid) during the first 3 hours of cooking.
- If you like, add 1/4 cup of your favourite fruit juice during the first 3 hours of cooking.
- Brown sugar gives an interesting flavour; try replacing the white sugar with it.
You can make apple butter in a regular soup pot, as long as it's big enough.

[edit] Warnings

Make sure you've got some time to spare before starting this recipe; at least 16 hours.
Do not let young children near the slow cooker, as the apple butter is extremely hot.
If you do not use proper canning procedures, you MUST refrigerate the apple butter. You should also tell whoever is receiving this as a gift that they must keep the apple butter refrigerated even before it is opened.