Crockpot Apple Butter (Free of Top 8 Allergens)

I first heard about Apple Butter on my second visit to Trader Joe's. The closest Trader Joe's to us is located on the outskirts of Bellingham on Sunset Boulevard. I browsed each aisle 3 or 4 times, at least. One of the gems I picked up was Apple Butter. It was $2.99 and sounded marvelous. I purchased quite a few jars, mostly as gifts.

Fast forward to last week, while browsing Pinterest (yes, it is my official hobby), I came across a pin for Crockpot Apple Butter. As I read the recipe, I felt a little foolish for paying $2.99 for a small 250 ml jar of Apple Butter after seeing how simple it was to make it.

So off I went to Richmond Country Farms as I had two other errands to run nearby. I picked up an 8.5 lbs bag of apples on clearance for $1.99. There were 5 apples that were perfectly fine, 11 apples that had minor bruising, and 7 apples that needed a little more chopped off. The bag had a nice combination of gala apples and granny smith; perfect for my crockpot apple butter!

This is heavenly on a lightly toasted piece of homemade bread machine bread, english muffins, pancakes, you name it. It is so good that we finished most of the jar before I could get a picture!

This recipe is also great as it is free of the top 8 allergens.

Makes: 4 pints

Ingredients
6.5 lbs of apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped (I used 11 granny smith and gala apples)
1 cup granulated white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves (optional - I did not have any so I added extra nutmeg)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions
1. Place all the ingredients except salt and vanilla extract in the slow cooker. Mix everything together, cover with lid and simmer on low for 10 hours.

Plug it in and go to bed.

2. Stir in vanilla extract and salt. Cook for an additional 2 hours.

3. Remove lid and using an immersion blender (for food processor or blender - see tip below), blend everything together. If you prefer a chunkier apple butter, you can use a potato masher to mash it all together.

4. Divide into jars, let cool and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Alternatively, you can also freeze this for up to 2 months. At the rate the apple butter is being consumed, I think we will have to make another batch soon.

The recipe makes two jars of apple butter.

TIP

• If you are using a food processor or blender, allow the apple butter to cool down a little before pureeing the apple butter in batches.

Source: Slightly adapted from Brown Eyed Baker