Recipe

Easy Way Mountain Apple Butter Recipe

Add Step-by-Step Photos	Lanacountry / All my dishes 1 year, 2 months ago FRESH ! DELICIOUS Prep:120m Cook:360m Servings:3	Lanacountry
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Ingredients

Easy Way Mountain Apple Butter

At harvest festivals all over the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains, people are making apple butter. If you like this regional gourmet delight, but can’t get it in your "neck of the woods," try the following recipe. You can make it using apples or pears, or even pumpkin!

When mountain people make apple butter, they start with several bushels of apples, peel and cut up apples all day and then cook them down in a copper pot over an open fire outdoors. It's extremely time consuming. Now, an easy version that tastes great and can be made at home with common utensils.

Crock Pot Fruit Butter

Peel and cut up into small pieces enough fruit to fill a quart canning jar 3 times (3 quarts)

4 cups sugar

1/3 cup juice so that the fruit doesn't initially stick to the bottom of pot. For pears, I added 1/3 cup orange juice to one batch and added pineapple juice to another. Apple cider is the best for apple butter. You can experiment for different flavors.

Optional Spices to add:

Apple butter is spiced with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon you might want to add a little ginger or nutmeg also. You might even add a sprinkle of ground cloves. There are some people who drop the "red hot" cinnamon candies in the batch to melt and have a cinnamon flavor. I have even heard of people adding a package of Strawberry Kool-Aid.

Put fruit, sugar and juice into crock pot and turn it on high. I usually start mine about 8:00 at night and let it cook until I go to bed on high. Then I turn it down to low and let it cook all night. The amount of fruit mentioned above (3 quarts) is all my pot will hold with the sugar added. If your crock pot is larger, you might like to enlarge the proportions.

In the morning, there will probably be a lot of fluid that has come out as the fruit has cooked. Dip the fruit & liquid out by the cupfuls and place in a blender. Blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Be careful not to put too large a batch in the blender at one time and, because the mix is very hot, do not place the lid completely on the blender, but allow for steam to escape.

As you blend a couple of cups from the crock pot, place it in another large bowl. When you have blended all the contents of the crock pot, return mixture to crock pot. Cook on high with the lid off until the fruit butter is as thick as you want it to be. Place in clean, hot canning jars and place lid on immediately. Tighten jar lid. I place the jars upside down until they are completely cool to help them seal better with all the heat against the seal.

Directions

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Comments

tippystclair 1 year, 2 months ago said:
Great! A friend of mine just gave me a huge bag of apples and I can't get apple butter here! I know what I am going to do tomorrow...
kath
:}

lanacountry 1 year, 2 months ago said:
Kath... It is LITERALLY being made all over
the mountains.. (I am in the Smokies) right NOW.
This was and is a little extra $$$ to folks that
still sell it along country roads..
so so so good..Thank you so much.
The reason I put this in is on one of my other
groups a friend said 'Lana, I gotta a bushel of
apples..can you help me?' :)

dixiediner 1 year, 2 months ago said:
Thanks for sharing.

markeverett 1 year, 2 months ago said:
I haven't had apple butter in years! Grandma used to make it. I may have to do some of my own this year!

angelica14 1 year, 2 months ago said:
Hi Lanacountry,
I went to the Georgia State Mountain Fair many years ago. It was the most beautiful mountain breeze kind of day. I loved it. That was the day I decided to learn how to weave and make quilts. I discovered Lily looms. And these fantastic old timers - the State Fair people had them come to the fair and set up their stills - as historical and cultural artifacts. Everyone was so incredibly friendly. Wow! It was the most fascinating day. I will never forget it.
I also remember all the jams, jellies, and "put up" vegetables, like tomato and corn relish. I am definitely going to make this apple butter. Thank you so much for putting this on this site for me to discover. And thanks for helping me remember one truly beautiful day.

mystic_river1 1 year, 2 months ago said:
Apple butter is a love of mine. Thanks so much for this recipe, my friend. You deserve every 5 you get for this one, including mine!

lanacountry 1 year, 2 months ago said:
Thank you all so much and for the many sweet stories
that go along with folks memories of 'puttin' back'.. LOL, this isn't just the COUNTRY.. it is everywhere now.. I am starting a group soon and I want all of you in it..you'll see why..:)
Angelica..my friend.. you went to the fair in
Hiawassee, Ga..What a wonderful place! Did you by
any chance also attend any of the country western
and ole time Gospel music shows? Some of the best
music this side of heaven.. I love all those old instruments!
You know what? My memories are no different now
(just MORE of them) then in years past, as we have
always had them..these traditions..these ways..
will they change much..I think not..
Have a blessed weekend dear friend!! :)

dagnabbit 1 year, 2 months ago said:
Both Candy and I love apple butter. Thanks, Lana and 5
Pete and Candy :)

lunasea 1 year, 2 months ago said:
Oh wow, this takes me back to my home in East TN. We used to traipse all over the Smokies, especially this time of the year through winter....and we could get our hands THE BEST apple butter, jams, jellies and honey. Oh my heavens - they'd make your eyes roll back in your head, they were so delicious.
We'd go to Ellijay almost every year. Plus, there was the fall festivals at Prater's Mill, Ketner's Mill, Nillie Bipper....we'd go to them all and snag jarred treats to take home and some pork rinds and kettle corn. Look at the crafts. Eat some breakfast. More walking. Listen to some country and gospel groups singing and playing. Eat some BBQ. Sit around and talk to friends you just met. Every second was a joy.

Thanks for the wonderful recipe - and the memories.

Hugs,
Vickie

lunasea 1 year, 2 months ago said:
And Oktoberfest in Helen, GA. We went there quite a bit too. :)

binky67 1 year, 2 months ago said:
I love love love Apple Butter and usually have to drive a good ways away to get it from the Amish at the Amish Farmers Market. Thanks for this!

lumpy1 1 year, 1 month ago said:
Wow. i never thought of using the crock pot. the last time i made apple butter it was a flop. i stood around the hot stove for hours. it would not boil down. i ended up with taffy stuff all over the place and i almost ruined my big porcelon canning pot. but be careful about making a larger batch. thats what i did. another thing you taught me lana is about turning the hot jar upside down. i thought everything had to be water processed. thanks, holly

chefelaine 11 months ago said:
FIVE
Elaine

notyourmomma 4 months, 1 week ago said:
My Great Aunt Mabel made apple butter in her big copper pot over an open fire outside the gas station/home (they lived upstairs of the garage). She would stir and stir and tell us that the "Ash adds extra flavor" when it would end up in the kettle. She also made awesome plastered peaches. She was a great gal.

valinkenmore 3 months, 2 weeks ago said:
Great recipe - can't wait to try this when the apples are ripe here in Washington. I grew up on apple butter.
Love it!
Thanks,
Valerie

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