Autumn is my favorite time of year! We moved north of Atlanta from hot Florida 18 months ago after living in Florida for 20 years. More than anything, I missed the wonderful, dramatic season changes you experience further north. So I’m enjoying every single cool breeze, fallen leaf and opportunity to wear boots!

Apple Butter is on my ‘must make’ list every year because of it’s spicy, homey, and luscious goodness!. Just the name makes you feel like putting on an apron and stirring a big pot over an open fire! Plus, your house will smell phenomenal while it’s cooking!

Making Apple Butter just seems to connect us to generations of women taking the harvest and turning it into nourishing foods to sustain their families through harsh winters. It can be a fun, family project on a crisp fall afternoon! And best of all, it’s easy and foolproof to make.

My favorite thing about this recipe, other than the warm fragrance of apples, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves filling my kitchen, is the fact you don’t have to peel a single apple. When you’re staring 6 pounds of apples in the face believe me, you’ll be glad not to have to peel them!

This is the perfect recipe to do with your girls. It will cook on the stove for a few hours and give them an opportunity to stir every 20 minutes or so and older ones can help you measure the ingredients, wash the jars and cut the apples.

A word about apples. If at all possible, use organic apples and here’s why: apples are known to have more pesticide residue on them than any other type of produce. The Environmental Working Group‘s analysis of USDA data showed pesticides in 98 percent of the more than 700 apple samples tested. Yuck. In fact, they are #1 on the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list.This time or year, you can find organic apples pretty inexpensively and they are well worth it.

I got my apples this year from a local farmers market. She had a bunch of ‘scratch and dent’ apples that weren’t pretty to look at but perfect for Apple Butter. At $1 a pound, I was in!

Spiced Apple Butter

• 6 pounds apples, any variety, organic if possible. I like combining several varieties.

• 3 cups apple cider

• 1-2 cups organic sugar, I use half brown sugar and half white

• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 2 pieces star anise (optional)

1. Quarter and core apples. You can peel them if you like but I’ve found after boiling awhile, the peels separate and you can just lift them out with a pair of tongs. Saves a lot of time!

2. Put the apples in a big pot with 3 cups of cider.

3. Bring to a boil.

4. Lower heat and let them cook about 30 minutes.

5. The apples will be soft now and the skins will come off easily. Remove the skins from the pot with tongs.

6. Put the skins in a sieve or mesh colander over a bowl. Press the skins with the back of a spoon to get as much pulp as possible. Be careful, the apple skins are hot! Pour the pulp back into the pot and discard the skins.

7. Add the sugar and spices and bring to a boil. (Your house is about to smell really wonderful!)

8. After boiling for a bit, you can remove the star anise if you used it. Then, use a potato masher or immersion blender to smooth out the lumps in the mixture. An immersion blender purees everything quickly.

9. You can stop right here if you like and you’ll have wonderfully spicy applesauce. You can even leave out the spices all together if you prefer a plain applesauce.

10. Cook down for 2–3 hours over very low heat until thick, stirring often to make sure the butter isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pan. Use a diffuser under the pot if you have one. The butter will be a warm brown color. Leave the lid off the pot. Taste occasionally and adjust the spices.

11. I recommend using a splatter screen. Apple butter is thick and it will sputter and pop quite a bit. If it lands on your skin it will burn like crazy!

12. The apple butter is done when a spoonful dropped on a plate holds its shape for several seconds and no water separates from the butter which would form a thin ring around the mound.

13. Now, it’s time to can in a rolling water bath. Here’s a great website to check out that will give you the basics of canning. It’s called Simple Bites and you will find an easy to follow description on the nuts and bolts of canning. Or, spoon the butter into clean and sterilized glass jars and store in the fridge. Apple Butter makes great gifts!

14. If canning then pour the mixture into your perpared jars and process for 15 minutes for half pints and 20 minutes for pints.

15. Yield=7 half pints

Kate’s Tips

• You can also do this recipe with pears. No need to peel them. Or use half pears and half apples.

• You can easily double this recipe if you have a huge pot or, cut it in half.

• Feel free to replace the sugar with honey. Use half a cup to a cup according to taste.

• You can increase or decrease the spices according to your taste. I like spicy apple butter so I add a little extra!

• Slather on toast, muffins, banana bread or scones. Use as a spicy condiment for roast pork. Or, add into any recipe that calls for applesauce, especially cakes and quick breads. I use it when I make banana bread and it makes it moist and incredible.

• If you aren’t set up yet for home canning, you can still make apple butter. Just make sure you’ve boiled your jars in hot water or run them through your dishwasher so they are super clean. Ladle the hot butter into the hot jars, put the lids on, let them cool and then refrigerate. You will have plenty to give away and your friends will be thrilled!

What are your absolute, must make fall recipes?