Monday, Oct. 21, 2013

DIY: Roasted Apple Butter

We’ve had a surplus of apples in the house lately & I've hardly baked with them.  I am trying to remedy this, and I think apple butter is a good place to start.  Apple butter came onto my radar a couple weeks ago, and I am so glad that it did.  It’s SO good.  I love it on toast, and I imagine it would be good in a sandwich..mmmhm yum.  It’s not butter.  It’s LIKE butter, but it’s not.  It’s a concentrated version of applesauce on crack.  It’s a no brainer, right?

This recipe is quite easy to make, and this one doesn't take as long as the other recipes I looked at.  I found that when I used my food processor, it thickened up really well & had a nice consistency.  And If your using a sweet apple, then you could use water as opposed to the apple juice to ensure that it’s not so sweet.  That's all my tidbits for now, folks!  Go & make it! 

Roasted Apple Butter

Makes approximately 2 cups

INGREDIENTS

1 cup apple juice, divided into 1/4- and 3/4-cup amounts

7 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 pinch kosher salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

3 pounds apples, peeled & cored

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 pinch ground nutmeg

1 pinch ground cloves

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large metal roasting pan, cut the apples into small chunks & top with ¼ cup of the apple juice & lemon juice. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cubed butter.

Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The apples should be soft & fall apart when you test it with a fork. Remove from the oven and pour the rest of the remainder of the apple juice. Transfer the apples & juice to a large bowl & mash with a potato masher.

Transfer to a food processor & add the spices. Process until you reach your desired consistency (I like mine very smooth!), stopping halfway to check the taste of the apple butter and adjust the spices as needed.  It should thicken up into a nice spreadable ‘butter’. Cool completely.

Once cooled, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze it to keep it for longer

Source: Slightly adapted from Food52