can I make pear butter this way instead of apples use pears..I made pear butter years and years ago but with age my mind has lost the way to do it..thanks for any help that you can give me...

Hi,

I am going to try the apple butter, but was wondering if I needed the sieve or not. I just bought an apple peeler, corer and slicer. Do you think if I cooked them long enough I could get away without it?

could you use crab apples for this recipe and do you have to use apple cider vingar?

I have a silly question... can you use green tomatoes to make "apple butter"? I've read that you can use green tomatoes as a pseudo-apple substitute in pies. Was just curious, I'm starting to collect green tomatoe recipes and expecting to be inundated with far too many with the unstable Calgary climate.

I have researched many recipes of apple butter. I don't understand why some call for apple cider vinegar and others use apple cider. Once when I tried the vinegar, mine came out too bitter and thin. I want my end result to have a deep brown color that is thick and rich in flavor.

I moved to the country and inherited an apple tree. I just made my first batch of homemade apple butter using your recipe but was sorely disappointed in the result. Not from your recipe but from my childhood memory bank. I remember apple butter as much deeper in color and with a nutty flavor. What I got was sort of a sweet applesauce. Plus the most labor intensive (and boring) part of the making was pushing all that thick cooked apple mixture through a sieve. Why can't I just peel and seed the apples and avoid this step?
Thanks for any advice you can throw my way.

This may sound like a silly question but, how does one eat apple butter? Do you use it for spreading? On what? Or is it just to eat like applesauce? I have never heard of it but am always looking for new ways to use the wild apple trees in the area.
Thank you very much

Thank you very much Elise. I will try this. I am a diabetic and I am looking for natural sugar recipes to keep my levels balanced.

I don't have a sieve or food mill. I'm wondering if I can blend the applesauce in a food processor before making the butter.

Has anyone used dark brown sugar in place of the sugar? If so, what did you think of the results?

Hi,
?I really enjoyed your apple butter recipe. But I have I question for you. Where can I purchase the sieve and pestle ? Help ...from California

Thanks

Nhutalu

My apple butter is runny!! Any suggestions to thicken it up. I hate to throw it away.

I was wondering if instead of a sieve can I use a fine mesh strainer?

I used a mesh strainer. It was a bit labor intensive but I smoothed it all out with a hand blender. The butter came out well.
Also, I use cider and some cranberry/raspberry juice for liquid. Light brown sugar worked well. I like a tart apple taste so I used less sugar than called for in the recipe.

Has anyone used Splenda instead of sugar for Apple Butter? Does it work as well?

I found this recipe after I began the process of making my own (small) batch. After eyeballing several recipes, I just got so weary! I just went with what seemed intuitive and what I had on hand. I used dark brown sugar, some apple juice and a dash of cinnamon, cloves and allspice. After boiling it on the stove top, I threw the whole thing in the oven--300 degrees--for three hours.

After reading these posts, though, I decided to push the cooled potion through the mesh seive, rather than the food processor. The sieve was VERY tedious, but my apple butter is just what it ought to be: thick, sweet and dark. Perfect.
To anyone using the mesh seive, try using a sturdy rubbber spatula (calphalon, if you have one). I used a huge seive, and gently pushed the apple butter back and forth around the bowl of the seive. This seemed to get the job done a little faster than with a wooden spoon and hard pressing motions.

after reading hundreds of AMISH books I tried your recipe.It turned out dark,rich and this years Christmas presents!Thank you very much for this Family heirloom,regards,carol

I have not made apple butter for years, but plan to this year. What I did after cooking the apples was to first strain any excess liquid off the apples. Then I put this liquid through some cheese cloth, then made apple jelly with it. Then I put the heavier, pulpy stuff, through the food mill and used it for the apple butter. That way I got apple jelly and apple butter too, and didn't have to cook the pulp for hours and hours for it to thicken.

I also had a question. Is it necessary to use a boiling water bath to seal the jars? I stearalized the jars and tops, kept them in boiling water until ready to fill. After cooling, the jars sealed. But I was watching the food channel, and they used a boiling water bath to seal jars for jelly. Is that necessary?

Hi Mary Ann, what a great idea - to make apple jelly first! Regarding the boiling water bath, I am no expert on canning. Every set of instructions I see says you need to do a boiling water bath. In the case of this apple butter batch, I did not, but then I stored this batch in the refrigerator.

Hi,

What is the purpose of adding apple cider vinegar..? can we substitute it with tamarind ..? Thanks..

i have 2 questions. ok the first is this.....can i use fuji apples? i live in japan and have not found any of the other apples you mentioned. now for the second question....can i blend the apples after i cook them in my vitamixer(which is a blender)?
thanks for your time

I was also wondering what was the purpose of using cider vinegar? I noticed a lot of recipes dont call for it .

Melody - a Google search reveals this information regarding Fuji apples. We eat our fujis because they are so wonderful raw and cook our granny smith and gravensteins. Regarding blending in a blender - that will give you apple sauce, not apple butter. Apple butter has a particular smooth consistency which you get from pressing the pulp through a sieve, chinois, or food mill.

Lopa and Myava - the vinegar is useful for creating the unique tart flavor of apple butter. Cider vinegar is preferred because it comes from apples and helps to enhance the apple butter flavor. You can substitute apple cider for apple cider vinegar, but the result is not quite as tart. I haven't yet cooked with tamarind so I don't know how that would affect the result.

Hi Elise,
For those with a Farmers Markets in the area, I have found Apple Cider Vinegar that is of high quality and bright flavor available from the apple farmers. It should be wonderful in something like this. If you're going to go to the trouble, get the best you can find. I have a book suggestion for people interested in pursuing preserves and jams, "Fine Preserving" by Catherine Plagemann (forward by M.F.K. Fisher). Fun to read. She has a recipe for a cherry tomato jam, but not green tomato jam. Green tomatoes are made into pickles to go with hamburgers. My favorite recipe in the book is the Sunshine Strawberry Jam. As the name implies, you make it with sunshine. As for Splenda, I would send them an email and see what they say about using it to make jam. I have used it a little for my parents who are diabetic and could see using in a freezer jam recipe. I just don't know if it holds up to long cooking as in this recipe. Happy cooking everyone! By the way, I love Elise's recipes. I've made several, and she is extraodinary.

I use Splenda on all my Jam recipes. I cook everything first then remove it from the heat and stir in the Splenda. When making jam it foams a little. I scoop the foam off and start bottling. It tastes great. I can’t see why you can’t do the same with apple butter.

When I do my canning I do not use the boiling bath to seal them. I sterilize my jars in the dishwasher. Put Jars on a cookie sheet and put in oven when you are getting closer to can at 200 degrees. I put my lids in a pan of water and bring to a boil then turn the burner off. I remove one jar at a time fill it and leave 1/2 inch from the top. Wipe the lip of the jar to make sure it is clean. Put the lid on there and as they cool they will seal. There have been some that take a little longer and I was wondering if they weren't going to seal. My husband said they just needed to cool some more. He held them under cold water from the tap and they popped right away.

I just opened up a jar of the apple butter that you left for us at the Food Bloggers Picnic. And I have to say this about it: "Mmmmm..."

Thank you, again!!!

I purchased a food strainer & sauce maker for the Cook's Garden on line. It is great to use to make applesauce that is necessary for the apple butter. Also it can be used for tomato paste, juice, grapes, pumpkin or about any type of fruit or vegetable you want to use it for. It works great and I would highly recommend it. It takes a lot of the work out since it works as a seive and puts all the peel and seed out another port that where the sauce comes out.

I have a recipe that calls for apple butter however I do not have the time or equipment in order to make my own, and cannot find any at the local store. Do you have any substitutions. The recipe is for banana muffins.
Thanks.

Regarding the question of substituting apple butter in a recipe that calls for it, if I were to make a substitute it would be apple sauce.

I just started canning now I'm 62 made the best apple butter in my crock pot. Sooooo easy and I use apple pie spice,sugar, and apple juice It'S GREAT

I can say from first-hand experience that this was absolutely delicious.

Thanks so much,
Pim

Wonderful - I have been intending to make apple butter for a long time - I have never tasted it and I presume it is the same as " appelstroop " that is made in Holland - for slow cooking I also read a crockpot on low for eons

I was wondering if I could peel and slice the apples before cooking them, and then use a food processor instead of a food mill. I tried apple butter one other time, and you could have used it as tar to seal a leak in your roof. I don't want to do that again. Thanks

Hi Lisa - the peel and core are important sources of flavor for the apple butter. If you peel and core and then put through a food processor after cooking, you will have apple sauce, not apple butter. If you don't have a food mill, try pressing the pulp through a fine sieve.

I was wondering if the sugar in the Apple Butter recipe, is mainly for sweetness, or for the texture and thickness, for it to set it that is?
Thanks.

Can I freeze apple butter and do you have a recipe for it?

A couple of notes for several posters... If you use a food processor, blender, or other such tool when processing apples or other fruit, you will break down the fiber in the fruit... This not only destroys a lot of the nutritional value, but also affects the gel "set" of your Jam, Jelly, Butter, Chutney or other item... You will find you have to increase the amount of Pectin or Cornstarch in the recipe, which will adversely affect the taste... You could just cook the butter longer, but that is very tedious... Try shopping online for your sieves, Ebay, etc... Use keywords such as "home canning equipment", etc... Do not get your sieve at Williams-Sonoma unless you like to pay $120 for a $19.95 item... If you have "Smart & Final", they sell several conical sieves that will work...

My apple butter has too much of a vinegary , tart taste. I went exactly by the recipe. Do you think I didn't cook it long enough?

I have just tasted a cranberry apple butter at the Flying Biscuit in Atlanta and thought this would be a good Christmas gift for friends. How would one adapt this recipe to include cranberries?

I have tried Elise's apple butter, and I loved it so much I had to come here and get the recipe. It is the perfect balance of tart and sweet, with a lovely consistency. Taste your produce first so you know how tart your apples are, and adjust accordingly if necessary.

I truly appreciate this page with so many comments that address my own questions. One concern about the canning question--whether it will keep after a b-w bath depends on how acidic it is. You might want to consult the book Putting Food By, although the USDA probably has info too. Since apples are naturally low in acid, I am guessing the vinegar and lemon juice are to make it acidic enough for safe preserving. You probably don't want to change those if you are going to can it. Storing in fridge should be OK for low-acid version though. Thanks for all the helpful tips!

Can you either give me a site for the history on apple butter?

Hi Savanna - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_butter

You can get a fine chinois sieve, stand and pestle at http://www.lehmans.com/ Mine cost 37.90, complete, incl. shipping. It is made by Mirro and has a 5-yr warranty.

I have never even tried the apple butter, but I definitely will make it in the fall. Thank you for for sharing this recipe.

I know that you've said several times not to use a food processor, but what about one with a food strainer attachment? It works just like a food mill...

Is it possible to use Stevia for this recipe? If so, what would be the conversion from sugar to Stevia. Would I use the same amount of apple cider vinegar? Thanks so much for your help!

I made this yesterday with european wild apples (miniature apples of 1 inch in diameter). When still warm, it was super delicious. But now... A thick crust formed on top and it's a bit like there's wax through it!

So a silly (I guess) question: do you keep the water/vinegear boiling juice in the recipe or do you scoop the apples out before pushing the pulp?

Lloyd, i'm not real sure what you're meaning. The water and vinegar should be mostly gone once you cook the apples down. It should be like applesauce, with peels. If you've got much water left in the pot my guess would be you didnt cook the apples long enough. Once it has a chunky applesauce appearance is when i run it through the food mill.

Hi, do you think I can freeze the apple butter in freezer-safe containers? I'm not very good at canning.....

Thanks!

"Hollyhocks and Radishes" by Bonnie Stewart Mickelson has a WONDERFUL Apple Butter recipe, but it calls for baking the resulting sweetened puree for as much as 8 hours in the oven (albeit at an extremely low temp of around 150 or 175) to evaporate.

The resulting apple butter is a bit darker than you may be used to, but the long baking time serves to blend the flavors completely, as well as making your entire house smell like apple butter!

Also, this will freeze well.

Hi all...say, I've always made my apple butter this way...peeled, cored quarters, dribble of water, depending on type of apples, tea strainer full of whole anise seed (black licorish smelling/flavor), in a covered crock at 200degrees for three or four days... I stir each morning. After a couple of days, I use a potato masher if necessary, and add a little lime juice (the refrigerated type), a little cinnamon, and I go easy on the sugar...sorta taste each day, stir, add what I feel it needs...if it's not totally cooked down by the fourth day, I'd probably blend it...
Now, here's my question:
I've always canned it...but can I freeze it? and for how long?
Thanks,
Granny

Yesterday I made and tasted Apple Butter for the first time. I had searched the web for recipes and "winged" it as far as choosing the ingredients. What I did with my apples was peeled them, then used the apple corer to cut out the core and pre=slice the apples. I put in about 3 cups of water with about 60 apples total.
Yielded about 28 cups of "Applesauce" after boiling down. I then took my hand blender and pureed the recipe til smooth...then added my sugar (1/2 cup per cup of apples,) and then added Allspice, Cinnamon, Cloves and Nutmeg to taste/color. Brought it to a boil on the stove and then it simmered for about 6 hours on "medium" til it was dark brown with a very buttery smooth velvety texture.

I then did a hot water canning process and processed the jars for 15 minutes.

Being disabled I don't have the hand strength to push things thru a sieve. Being a "newbie" at making this (I did it for friends who gave me the apples), I didn't have the "equipment" everybody else has mentioned in this forum. So, I have no Sieve, no Food Mill,...but the hand held blender took care of smoothing it out, especially since I had already gotten the skin and seeds out.

Hopes this helps everybody!!

I am anxious to try this recipe, but I do not have the equipment to process the apple butter in a hot water bath--can this be frozen?

I've used a food processor to chop my cored apples, mainly to speed up the prep time when a large batch of apples must be dealt with. (Also did pear butter the same way.) After running the cooked apple mush through a food mill, I add sugar and spices, then pour the mixture into 9 x 13 pyrex casseroles (or cake?) pans. I set my convection oven at about 275 degrees, and put the pyrex pans into the oven for about an hour. It is necessary to stir the mixture approx. every 10 minutes so that evaporation and thickening can be monitored. Rotate and/or reposition the pans as necessary.

Works well for me; the result is a thick, rich, mahogany-colored butter.

When you said:

Cook until thick and smooth when a bit is spooned onto a cold plate and allowed to cool (1 to 2 hours)

Do i have to cook for 1-2 hrs or cool it for 1-2 hrs?

Hey there
I have never canned before and I am going to be making my first batch of Apple Butter in the next couple of weeks. My question is, when canning with the boiling water technique, how long does the apple butter need to be cooked in the jars?
Any help is appreciated.

I canned some apple butter in the fall of 2000. While cleaning my basement, I discovered 8 jars I didn't know I still had. What are your thoughts on eating this? The seals are all still in place, as are the rings. And I used sanitary, accepted methods of canning when I processed it. I love applebutter and I hate to waste it, but...

Some many years ago, we had a concord grape vine that produced many grapes that my relatives took to make grape jams & jellys of. One year I had over a bushel of grapes left that no one wanted. I wasn't anxious to go through the toil I'd seen the relatives do, so I experimented.
Concord grapes have a very thick skin that needs to be sieved out, but I tried throwing whole grapes into a blender. Boiling it down, the results looked like applesause but wasn't the right flavor. Remembering that apple butter had flavors that might disguise the taste, I added those spices. The result was successfully passed off as "apple butter" and no one (excluding two apple butter experts) was the wiser.

My apple butter was great. I cooked it in a slow cooker uncovered> I just kept stirring it real often.

Has anyone ever used the little red hot cinnamin candies to make apple butter? My Aunt in ky use to make it this way it was the best never found or had anything close to it since she died I wish I could of got that reciepe...

I love apple butter! I've been looking for a good recipe and this is the one. I think back to those wonderful breakfasts my mother made with fresh baked angel biscuits with butter and apple butter. There's nothing like it. Thanks for such an awesome recipe. I'm off to buy me some apples!

If you live in Pennsylvania, you can buy excellent farm-made apple butter in the store. Wos-Wit. Or if you live near Amish or Mennonite communities in Pennsylvania, Ohio, or Indiana, they usually sell produce, canned and baked goods locally. The Old Order Mennonites here sell under a big tent every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

I recently had sweet potato butter and absolutely loved it. Does anyone have a recipe for this?

Oh, my apple butter turned out great, I made it for a special crepe breakfast ...and read all the comments, compared to other recipes, and worried...........but it's thick, dark, and the only thing that worried me initially was it seemed maybe there was too much lemon, but this morning, after being in the fridge all night, it's great. Thank you

I love any thing made with apples. I made apple butter a few years ago.It turned out like apple sause. I am so happy to see all this information on it. I know when I make it again it will turn out. I would think a little cranberys in it would make it good allso.

I make apple butter all the time and never use a sieve. Also I never use vinegar. Just apple cider. I use brown sugar to taste and way more cinnamon. If you like a nutty flavor add some nutmeg.

I cook mine for a lot longer too. It has to be cooked long enough to be apple butter and not apple sauce. Maybe that is why I do not need a sieve. If you cook it long enough the apples are buttery and quite frankly everyone tells me that my apple butter is the best they have ever had.

I know that its done when it starts to develop a crust along the side between stirring.

I never really timed it but I bet I cook it for about 4 hrs or longer on a real low heat in an open pot.

In old times they made it over an open fire and it cooked all day long in a big pot. Thats the best way to get good old fashioned apple butter.

I made this recipe this weekend, and was very worried about using vinegar. Took a jar to work today and everyone taste tested it. Now I am having a "women's apple butter day". They are all coming over to learn how to make this recipe for Christmas gifts. Thank you so much.

Instead of a sieve you can use a food processor or food chopper , it purees the apples really well after they cook and its a whole lot easier.

Note from Elise: Actually you do need a food mill or sieve for this method as you cook the whole quartered apples, including the cores and seeds. You need the food mill so that only the apple mush comes through, not the seeds and cores. The reason you cook the seeds and cores is for the pectin in them, which will help the apple butter set properly. You could peel and core the apples before cooking, but that's even more work than using a food mill, and you don't get the benefit of the flavor and pectin from the peels and cores.

I love apple butter, but it's so hard to find, and most of it has high fructose corn syrup. I'm going to have to get a food mill and try this.

Apple butter is also super tasty on Southern-style buttermilk skillet corn bread.

I used Splenda instead of sugar in my apple butter and just a very small amount of water to get apples started cooking. Used lots of cinnamon, some ginger and allspice. Cooked all night (actually about 10 hours) and in morning apple butter was thick and almost smooth; bottled and refrigerated it as that is easiest. It is very delicious; as good as any I have ever had and better than some.

I loosely followed the apple butter recipe and loved it! I didn't have apple cider vinegar on hand, but had Apple Wine Vinegar with Lingonberry from IKEA and used it instead. I used Winesap apples and put roughly the amount of sugar and spices, but no lemon zest. I reduced the apple butter for a longer time at a lower temp. Very pleased with the results. Thanks for the recipe.