gingerbread apple butter

The Jam: No actual dairy included! This recipe is wonderful for those Fall days when you go a little to wild at the pick-your-own apple farm or when precious farmer's market apples are aging in the back of the fridge. Here, apples are boiled down with spices to create a flavor-filled smooth spread. Leaving the stems, seeds, and peels on the apples in the first stage allows the natural pectin from these elements to create a solidified end product. Great on peanut butter sandwiches and will transform any toast instantly into gingerbread.  Any variety is fine, and unlike other jams and jellies, you *can* get away with imperfect or borderline mealy apples if you must. This recipe is based heavily on Laena McCarthy’s wonderful recipe for apple butter in “Jam On”, just even more cinnamon-y than in her rendition.

Makes about 16 4oz jars or 8 8oz jars

Ingredients:

  • 6 lbs apples (cut into 1-inch chunks with peel, stems, and seeds still in there)

  • 6 cups apple cider

  • 2 cups maple syrup

  • 2 TSP lemon juice

  • 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon

  • 1/2 tsp group cloves

  • 1/2 tsp ground cardamom

  • 3 cinnamon sticks

Making the Jam:

  • Place several spoons in the freezer ahead of time for testing apple butter consistency once hot.

  • Combine apple chunks (with skin, seeds, stem still attached) and apple cider in a pot. Boil apples for 30-40 minutes until apples are soft and peels easily separate from the flesh.

  • Once apples are soft, run the apple mixture and its liquid through a food mill. Alternatively, and with the extra bonus of a great workout for your arms, you can use a wooden spoon to push the mixture through a sieve or strainer, with the goal of removing all stems, seeds, and peels while straining through and collecting all the elements that resemble apple sauce.

  • Return the apple puree to the pot and add maple syrup, lemon juice, and spices. Simmer this mixture for 2.5 - 3 hours, until the apple butter is thick, dark, and spreadable.

A Word on Canning: In order to safely keep this apple butter at room temperature, is necessary to follow proper canning protocol, including completely sterilizing the jars and lids, adding in contents when they are boiling hot, and reboiling the filled jars, keeping only those lids which have properly sealed. If you have not canned food before, please refer to further resources on proper technique! You can also make small batches of this apple butter, and store in the fridge for a few weeks, avoiding canning entirely.

If you decide to can this apple butter, fill still-hot freshly sanitized jars with boiling apple butter, wipe lip of jar with a damp cloth, secure lid, tighten rings finger-tight, and process in boiling water for 10 minutes. Properly canned jars whose lids compress on their own while cooling can be stored in a cool room for up to 1 year.