Monday, November 9, 2009

Meal Ideas: Best Apple Butter EVER!

I know the title is misleading... I would never advocate the eating of apple butter as your meal. Except if you are me and your husband is out of town and you are too tired to make a "real" meal.

But really, this is the best apple butter I have EVER tasted. And I should know. I've eaten apple butter on TWO separate occasions, which in my mind, makes me an expert.

Seriously, you should make this.

What you need:
8 - 10 apples, or approx 900 - 1000 grams. (carb factor for apples is .13)
(I used a mix of honey crisp and gala... it was what Kroger had on their clearance fruit shelf. I paid $2.00 for 14 apples... score!)
1/2 c (or less, depending on how sweet you want it) agave nectar (carbs for that amount came to 134)

or (but not both)
2 C white or brown sugar (sorry, don't have a carb count for that)
3 tsp ground cinnamon (5.4g of carbs)
1/4 tsp ground cloves (.325g of carbs)
1/2 tsp ground allspice (.7g of carbs)
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

To Make:
*Core, peel and dice all of the apples.
*Combine all ingredients in a crockpot (at least 4 Qt). Set on high for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

*Set crockpot to low and leave for 12 hours. My big crockpot cooks a bit warmer than my smaller one, so I had it on low for about 4 hours, then set it to keep warm before I went to bed. As a added bonus, your house will smell AMAZING. You know, if you like apples and spices and stuff. And if you don't, well then you are just weird.
*Puree with a hand blender or some other similar contraption.

Why It's a Great Meal:

*The whole family can enjoy the apple-y goodness
*I like that I can use the agave nectar to sweeten it and it tastes just fine.
*Ummmm, did I mention that it is so, so good?
*I mix the apple butter in with some of my homemade yogurt and top it off with some homemade granola (recipe coming soon) for a quick, healthy breakfast.

The carb factor for the batch I just made came in at around .28. This, of course will vary depending on how many apples you use, or how much and what type of sweetener you use.


If you're unsure of what apple butter is, you can read all about it at Wikipedia, here.

15 comments:

  1. I'm all over this....especially as Christmas gifts for neighbors!!!!

    It's times like these that I wish I owned an immersion blender.

    Hmmm...SANTA???? Are you listening????

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  2. Yum! I wish I had a crockpot! Any idea how to convert to make without one?!

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  3. @ Wendy - I was thinking of doing that too. You could use a regular blender. Or amazon has some good deals on hand blenders... I just had to buy another one because mine broke.

    @ Jen - Hmmm, You could just simmer it in a covered pot on low heat for a few hours maybe?

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  4. Oh Jen I think you should go buy a crockpot they have them at wal mart for like ten dollars and they are so awesome . I love cooking with mine . and Joanne love the idea of apple butter . My husband eats that all the time . You are awesome girl .

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  5. Great recipe! I like Wendy's idea as a Christmas gift!! Thanks Joanne!

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  6. Awesome! I'm not much of an apple butter fan, but Jeff LOVES it! (all those years working for Cracker Barrel!) Christmas gift idea is great, too! We were already planning on doing something of the sort anyhow!

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  7. After spending several hours wondering how I can get my hands on this stuff without doing all the work...I finally decided I NEED some, and I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and make it.

    So, it looks like I'm making apple butter this week...thanks Joanne...thanks a lot.

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  8. I love apple butter!!! Yum!
    I like mine on toast!
    Thanks, Joanne!

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  9. applea butter can be made on the stove, keep stirring it, or you will have scorch taste. use a wooden spoon and it will not stick as badly.

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  10. and if you make it over an open fire in a copper kettle which has just been used to make a batch of moonshine, then you are making SERIOUS applebutter. :-)

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  11. sweet! It never occurred to me that having a Diabetic Daughter makes you food crazy too. Welcome to the club.

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  12. You girls have far surpassed me. I didn't know that there was more than one kind of blender! As usual, the meals that you prepare for out do my cooking. I think I am stuck in the dark ages called the '70's!

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  13. This is great I had to tell my friend Lisa about it, she loves to bake and she was just talking about apple butter the other day! It must be the season :)

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