Apple Butter

This weekend I was able to get in what was probably the last bit of canning for the season.  I kinda missed out on a few of the things that I wanted to can when I was gone for my sister’s wedding, but thats ok…there’s always next year.  One thing I have really enjoyed is canning with other people.  It is so much fun to do canning with friends, and the tedious parts (like stirring apple butter for and hour and a half) seem to go by quickly.  I have also noticed that it is easier to mass produce jars with more people, which makes canning much more worth while.

Like the rest of the produce I have canned, I got these apples from the farmer’s market.  The farmer recommended using a combination of apple, which ended up being perfect!  There was a great combination of flavors and textures in the resulting apple butter.  An added bonus of the red-skinned apples was a beautiful pink color that turned into a rich redish brown as the apple butter cooked.  Here is the recipe I used for the Apple Butter.  If you have not come across Simply Recipes before, take a bit of time to look through it…Elise has tons of simple recipes, and even has a category for budget friendly recipes, which I have referred to often.

If you are looking for a recipe to use apple butter in, besides the basic toast, try Apple Butter Hand Pies.  I have made these quite a few times in the last couple years, and they are a real hit!  The crust is almost like a cookie, and the sweet and tart apple butter on the inside is a perfect contrast to it.