Spring Apple Butter

We may be a little past the FALL season, but that doesn’t mean your home is APPLE free.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I have a habit of buying apples for the entire week with every intention of eating them… but by Wednesday of the NEXT WEEK, I’ve still got the same amount of now nearly bad and a little bruised apples that I purchased during my last grocery haul.

I had 4 apples left this week, so I tossed them in the Instant Pot and made some Honey-Apple Butter. I wanted to share this super quick (easy and flexible) trick for homemade apple butter. The remarkable thing is that you can make this work with ANY amount of apples or any type of sugar.

What I used:

• 4 apples: washed, cored and quartered
• Cinnamon: Eyeball it or drop in 2 sticks
• *You could add nutmeg to this as well (I’d start with 1/2 tsp)
• Vanilla: 1 stick but you can sub for 1tbsp of extract
• Water: 1/2c
• Honey: 1/3c
• Light Brown Sugar: 1/4c
• *Not in this batch but an excellent way to sweeten the butter.

Instructions:

Add your apples, cinnamon, nutmeg vanilla, sugar, and water to your Instant pot and set on High Pressure for 5 minutes. Once done, let the pressure cooker self-release.

After they’re cooked, blend your apples in either a blender or food processor and add in your honey (if you chose to use it). Once your apples and honey are blended, you have two cooking options:

Your Instant Pot (Using the sauté feature)

A standard pot on Low heat

Either way, you’ll probably want to have a splash shield or lid ready.

Transfer your mixture to your pot of choice and bring to a low boil/simmer to thicken and darken until you’ve reached your desired consistency and color. If you have trouble with your apple butter thickening, you can also bring it to high heat for 2-3 minutes (assuming you’re utilizing a traditional pot), then lower back down to a simmer. Also, be sure to stir frequently.

Since my first time making this, it’s been a staple in our home. We use it on sweet potatoes, pancakes, waffles, with graham crackers, and on sandwiches. It’s pretty much a fan favorite around here and keeps us from wasting produce!

I hope you get the chance to make this, and I can’t wait to hear all about it!

-C