Recipe for Naturally Sweetened Apple Butter

So get out the butter and put away the sugar, we're going to make apple butter, real apple butter, the "slow food" approach to homemade apple butter. In this recipe, the apple butter is naturally sweetened with apple cider, dotted with a little butter for richness and spends a long (loooong!) time in the oven or in a slow cooker.

So yes, this apple cider is "sugar free" – or better put, has "no added sugar" and "no sugar substitutes" like Splenda and the like. It's just gorgeous, very apple-y, what apple butter is "supposed to taste like" – I hope you love it!

My two burning questions about apple butter.

First, why doesn’t apple butter call for – um, well, you know – butter? My recipe does, just a touch, which gives this lovely butterscotch-colored apple sauce, an unctuous mouth feel. After several hours in the oven at low temperature, it’s so smooth, so creamy, it’s on the verge of something akin to custard, albeit it egg-free, cream-free and sugar-free.

Second, why do apple butter recipes include, without fail, cups and cups and cups of sugar, which turns already-sweet apples into, well, just a sugar-sweet apple mess?

So get out the butter and put away the sugar. We’re making apple butter, real old-fashioned apple butter, apple butter so delicious you’ll sit up straight to ask, "Why is it that there’s no butter in apple butter? And why does apple butter need sugar?"

Spread the word. This is apple butter the way it’s meant to be.

UPDATE: APPLE BUTTER in the SLOW COOKER When I first posted this recipe, readers asked whether it could be made in a Crockpot. It can, with some caveats. Start by cooking the apples in the apple cider on high in the slow cooker for four hours, then blend til very smooth with an immersion blender or in a blender. After that, cook on high for nine to twelve hours, stirring every hour or so. Yes, even the Crockpot will require hourly attention to make sure that the mixture doesn't darken too much along the edges and not enough in the center. Unfortunately, the 'low' setting just isn't hot enough to create the dark caramelization that makes this Naturally Sweetened Apple Butter special.

Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. In 2009, Kitchen Parade celebrates its 50th anniversary with a special collection of my mother's recipes. Do you have a favorite apple recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. Follow Kitchen Parade on Facebook!

RECIPE for
NATURALLY SWEETENED APPLE BUTTER

Hands-on time: 30 minutes plus occasional attention for 6 – 9 hours
Time to table: 7 - 10 hours
Makes 3-1/2 cups

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 pounds Jonathan apples (or another baking apple), peeled and cored, cut into quarters
• 3 cups apple cider
• Zest and juice of a small lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a large oven-proof pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter on medium. Add the apples as they’re prepped, stirring occasionally to coat with fat. Add cider, cover and let gently simmer for 30 minutes or until soft but still intact. Process until smooth with an immersion blender or a food processor. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Set oven to 250F and place the pot, uncovered, inside. Stirring every 30 minutes, let cook for 5 - 6 hours for a butterscotch-smooth apple custard and another 2 - 3 hours for a cinnamon-dark apple butter.

Refrigerate and use within two weeks.

ALANNA's TIPS Be careful to keep stirring the apple butter (try setting a timer as a reminder), especially toward the end of the slow-slow-slow oven time. If it's left unstirred, it will turn, fast, from golden apple butter into a gooey apple gunk, just like that. If that sounds like the voice of experience? It is.

SERVING IDEAS Drizzle with cream or kefir, top with toasted walnuts (pictured). Stir into Greek yogurt or spoon over vanilla ice cream. Make an apple butter smoothie, just a few spoonfuls mixed in the blender with milk and an ice cube or two. Spread on muffins, toast or bagels. Stir into your morning oatmeal. Substitute for Crème Anglaise in the lovely Estonian Apple Cake. Just see if you can keep your spoon out of this apple butter! What would you do with it?

NUTRITION ESTIMATE Per Tablespoon/Half Cup: 25/204 Calories; 0/3g Tot Fat; 0/2g Sat Fat; 1/8mg Cholesterol; 0/3mg Sodium; 6/46g Carb; 0/4g Fiber; 5/38g Sugar; 0/1g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS WW Old Points .5/3.5 & WW PointsPlus 1/6

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living.

---

An Apple a Day ...

(hover for a description, click a photo for a recipe)

~ My "Best & Favorite" Apple Recipes ~
~ Favorite Recipes for Fall Baking ~
~ more apple recipes ~

---

Shop Your Pantry First

(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ apples ~
~ apple cider ~
~ lemons ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
~ How to Save Money on Groceries ~

---

© Copyright 2009, 2014 Kitchen Parade