what is it? has anyone ever eaten it?

How can you be a citizen of Michigan and a member of a fife & drum corps and not know what apple butter is???

anyhoo....

This should answer your questions

oh, and it's really really good.

have I eaten this and not known what it was?!??! Sheesh. That sounds awesome. I must make this.

Oh man I love applebutter. Especially homemade. Mmmmmm.

It's fantastic on toast or even sandwiches.

well, here you go rachel...

Apple Butter Recipe and Directions
Step 1 - Make unsweetened applesauce!
That's right, apple butter starts with applesauce! You can use store bought applesauce, but the apple butter won't taste nearly as good. It's better with your own applesauce (either previously canned or fresh made). So if you haven't made some applesauce yet start here with how to make applesauce. Otherwise continue to step 2.

Step 2 - Fill the crock pot
Fill the crock pot to within an inch of full with applesauce, mine takes about 5.5 quarts. Now, you CAN do this using a regular large pot on very low heat on the stove, but the crockpot works much better, because its heat is very low. I've never had a batch burn in the crockpot.

Step 3 -Add the spices
Add:
2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon of allspice
2 cups sugar

Step 4 - Cook the Apple butter
Set the crock pot on low or medium heat.

Cover it loosely or use a large pot splatter-guard. It will spatter as it boils slowly, so I also cover nearby surfaces with towels. You don't want to seal it tightly because you want the steam to escape so it can reduce in volume and thicken.

Leave it to cook for 6 - 12 hours. How long depends on the size and power of your crockpot, and how thick you like it, If you want to stir it occasionally, that's fine but not necessary. I let mine go overnight.

It will reduce in volume by about half overnight. As it cooks down (the next morning), add the remaining applesauce (about 2 or 3 quarts) and 2 more cups of sugar. Then let it cook a couple of hours more to mix the flavors.

Step 5 - Wash the jars and lids
Now's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars, the water bath processing will sterilize them as well as the contents! If you don't have a dishwasher, you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, then sterilize the jars by boiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hot water until they are used.

Leave the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot apple butter.

Put the lids into a pan of boiling water for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out.

Step 6 - Blend the apple butter (optional)
You want a smooth, creamy texture, right? The easiest way is to use a hand-held drink blender. It does a great job of making it smooth. You can also put it into a regular blender, but if you are going to do that, you might want to blend the apple sauce before you put it in the crock pot (it will be much thicker afterwards and won't move in a regular blender).

Tips:
Too thick? if the apple butter cooks down too much or is too thick for your liking, just add a little bit of apple juice and blend it in.
Not thick enough? Just let it cook some more, with the lid off so the steam can escape!
Step 7 - Fill and seal the jars
Fill them to within 1/4 inch of the top, wipe any spilled apple butter of the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them.

Step 8 – Process the jars
Process means put them in the canner and keep them covered with at least 1 inch of water and boiling. if you are at sea level (up to 1,000 ft) boil pint jars for 5 minutes and quart jars for 10 min. If you are at an altitude of 1,000 feet or more, see the chart below.

Recommended process time for Apple Butter in a boiling-water canner.

Jar Size
Process Time at Altitudes of
0 - 1,000 ft
1,001 - 6,000 ft
Above 6,000 ft

Half-pints or Pints
5 min
10
15

Quarts
10
15
20

Step 9 - Done
Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight) You can then remove the rings if you like.

Cold apple butter on good toast...mmmmm.

whenever we stop at the "cherry pie" place on the way home from Charlevoix, it's the stuff all the fife & drum moms buy in the jars.....

Bill, you are just so handy! Thank you

I'm totally making some.

oh. der.

yummy goodness on toast with a little real butter...

if you are southern:
with a side of grits

::slurp::

peace,
zayne

when we go to bayfield for the applefest in october we always come home with jars of apple butter. lots of jars.
yum......in fact we just had some this morning on toast....yum..........

When I read the first post, I had to laugh as I ate an applebutter and peanutbutter sandwich about two hours ago.

Mt. Vernon is about 35-40 miles from my house. They have a annual festival there for making homemade applebutter:

Applebutter Makin' Days

If you're ever in this neck of the woods, this is just one of the many festivals that are celebrated in the fall in the small towns in Southern Misery...

Another of the well known ones is Nixa Sucker Days

Black Walnut Fest in Stockton, MO. Stockton Lake is an excellent sail boat lake.

Ernte Fest in Freistatt, MO.

And more than I care to mention in and around Branson, MO or connected with Silver Dollar City.

However, my personal favorite is the Greater Ozarks Blues Festival!

Apple Butter on a baked sweet potato is sooooo good. Or ... make sweet potato fries and dip 'em in it.

Now... throw in some pumpkinbutter too... good stuff!

Both applebutter and pumpkinbutter are good for you and you must eat them as much as possible.

anybody wanna make a batch with me?

I bet I can get pailblue to do it with me how about it boo?

I do love applebutter but I have found a good source of some that is home made by the Amish--not too far from my lake house in west central Ohio--we have several concentrations of Amish----in one of the communities--they have a great Amish country store---all kinds of bulk foods--gas lanterns light the place---hitching posts outside to tie up horses-----

They have all kinds of fresh made Amish baked goods and other products--they also make some mean applebutter.

Perhaps when spring comes--I will go there and take some pics and post them on here---providing the owner doesn't mind me taking some photos---

I have not tried making applebutter---I do some canning and like to make a batch of my own green pepper jelly each year when my peppers come in....

I have not made my own applesauce as yet but since one of my neighbors planted some apple trees a few years ago---they are starting to produce some nice apples--I want to make apple sauce and press cider--I guess I will have to try applebutter too.

apple butter takes me back to my childhood. I have not eaten it in years but I so loved it as a child. My grandmother made it for us and gave us jars that would last until next apple season if we rationed it well enough.
Apple butter? Yummy!
I liked it best on pancakes.