Bill’s Apple Butter

Name: Bill's Apple Butter
Prep time: 3 h 30 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 3 h 35 min
Yield: 8 pints.
Ingredients: 15 pounds early-season apples (Gala, Jonathan and/or Cortland), peeled and quartered; 3/4 cup cider vinegar; 5-1/3 cups packed brown sugar; 4 cups sugar; 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon cinnamon extract; 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves; 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice; 1 cup red-hot candies; 1 cup boiling water

Since retiring, I have more time to tend to our 75 apple trees and to experiment in the kitchen. I came up with this old-fashioned apple butter after some trial and error. The red-hot candies make it unique.—Bill Elliott, Urbana, Missouri

Ingredients

15 pounds early-season apples (Gala, Jonathan and/or Cortland), peeled and quartered
3/4 cup cider vinegar
5-1/3 cups packed brown sugar
4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup red-hot candies
1 cup boiling water

Directions

In a stockpot, combine apples and vinegar; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 30-40 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Process in batches in a food processor until blended. Return all to pan.
Add brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, salt, extract, cloves and allspice. Dissolve red-hots in boiling water; stir into apple mixture.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 2 hours or until mixture reaches a thick, spreadable consistency.
Remove from heat. Carefully ladle hot mixture into eight hot sterilized 1-pint jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot mixture. Wipe rims. Center lids on jars; screw on bands until fingertip tight.
Place jars into canner with simmering water, ensuring that they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil; process for 5 minutes. Remove jars and cool.

Editor's Note

The processing time listed is for altitudes of 1,000 feet or less. Add 1 minute to the processing time for each 1,000 feet of additional altitude.

Nutrition Facts

2 tablespoons: 92 calories, 0 fat (0 saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 22mg sodium, 24g carbohydrate (22g sugars, 1g fiber), 0 protein.

Originally published as Bill's Apple Butter in Holiday & Celebrations Cookbook 2010

Reviews

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sstetzel

Sep 29, 2017

Hi Sara,If you look at the last line of direction it says Yield: 8 Pints. So your calculations are correct.Susan StetzelRecipe Support SpecialistTaste of Home Magazine
Sara

Sep 26, 2017

Hello, This sounds delicious! 128 servings at 2 TBS per serving is not very helpful. Generally a canning recipe is converted to the pints, 1/2 pints, or quarts. So this comes out to about 8 pints? Just making sure my calculations are correct. Thank you so much! Sara
Susan M

Sep 26, 2017

This is exactly the perfection of a apple butter recipe to be handed down generation to generation. You can smell it wafting from our fall pickings bringing back a slew of memories.
Psalm127-3

Sep 26, 2017

Bill OH Bill-love your secret ingredient of RedHots. I've slipped those secretly into many an apple pie~I cud kick myself for not buying the ultra huge bag of Jonathans I saw in market an hr ago. This is right up my alley of desired flavors especially on almost anything including a nice slice of pork tenderloin. can't wait to get crackin on this- will report when I do-saving to computer-thanks again for post
SWuebbens

May 29, 2015

My grandmother's secret was red hots! I'll have to try yours, because, alas! No one thought to keep the recipe