Apple Butter

I finally figured out how to use up all of apples my inlaws gave us - apple butter. I've never made apple butter before but it was super simple. I even took the time to can it so I can have homemade apple butter all year long (or give it as gifts). I always thought canning was hard but Mary from Owlhaven is constantly talking about how easy it is so I finally gathered the courage and gave it a try. The basic recipe is:

crockpot full of apples (peeled and diced)

4 cups sugar

2 Tbsp cinammon

1/2 tsp cloves

Put all of the ingredients in the crockpot on high for one hour and then move it low and cook overnight. Mine was still a little chunky when I woke up the next day so I took the potato masher and broke up those pieces. It was a little soupy too so I took the lid off for about an hour to take care of that. I looked at many recipes on the internet and all were similar, with many people suggesting taking the lid off at the end. Here is what my apple butter looked like in the crockpot.

The image at the top is my finished product. I used 1/2 pint jars and had enough for five jars, plus a small container full to use now. To can all you need to do is wash jars, fill, and boil for 1o minutes. I'm proud to say that all five sealed. Since it was my first experience, I was fully prepared for at least one not to seal.