Apple Butter Recipe for Canning

Looking for something to do with your apple harvest? Maybe you just need something yummy to enjoy for breakfast. This apple butter recipe is great for canning or eating right now! Plus it couldn’t be easier to make.

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That’s Not Apple Butter!

Growing up apple butter was a special treat. My mom would break open a can and serve it with star shaped biscuits for Christmas morning. Sometimes on a Saturday morning, she would wake up early and make biscuits. They were always topped with her homemade apple butter. The smell takes me right back to childhood. 

When my step dad and mom got married, he had store bought apple butter. During apple butter season, he asked why we spent so much time making apple butter that we could buy at the store. He pulled the jar out of the pantry and I stared in disbelief. I had no idea you could buy apple butter from the store. Immediately we defended our homemade apple butter. We told him it tasted better and had only the good stuff in it. 

When fall rolls around, it’s apple butter time. After getting married, I wanted to make my own apple butter. It didn’t feel like fall without it! And even more importantly, my sourdough biscuits needed a little apple butter on top.  I was sure it would be the perfect combo. I called up my mom and when I went over she taught me how to make apple butter for canning. That way I could enjoy it now and later. 

Boy was I right! Sourdough biscuits and apple butter are a match made in heaven!

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Apple Butter Recipe for Canning

Ingredients

9 lbs apples

3 cups white sugar

3 cups brown sugar

3 teaspoons cinnamon

1 ½ teaspoon ground cloves

1 ½ teaspoon allspice

1 ½ cups apple cider vinegar

7 ½ cups apple juice

Instructions

1. Before beginning, preheat the oven to 325.
2. First fill the sink with water and a splash of apple cider vinegar. 
3. After the apple soak for a few minutes the waxy coating will come off.
4. Rub each apple with a towel as you pull it out of the sink. 
5. Now core and quarter the apples. 
6. Then toss them in a roasting pan with 7 ½ cups of apple juice and 1 ½ cups of apple cider vinegar. 
7. Put the lid on the roasting pan and put the apple in the oven for about an hour and a half. The apple should be squishy when they are done. 
8. Next ladle the squishy apple and all the juices into a food mill. . 
9. Squish everything through the food mill. Occasionally pause and remove the leftovers from the bottom. This will help the new stuff to go through. When you can’t get any more good stuff to come out, it’s time to remove the stuff in the mill.
10.  After you are done, put all of the apple butter back into the roasting pan
11. Then add 3 cups of white sugar, 3 cups of brown sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons of allspice, 1 ½ teaspoons of ground cloves, and 3 teaspoons of cinnamon to the apple  butter. Mix it all together.
12. Now it goes back in the oven uncovered for about 3 hours or until it is the consistency that you want. Remember to stir it occasionally. 
13. Finally you can eat, can, or freeze the apple butter. 

Canning Apple Butter

If you wish to can the apple butter follow the directions below, after you complete the recipe above. I find it easier to make the apple butter one day and can it the next. If you run out of time like me, then put the apple butter in the fridge overnight and reheat it the next day before canning it. 

1. First sanitize the jars in the dishwasher. You want the jars to be hot when you put the hot apple butter into them, so it’s best to wait until near the end to run the dishwasher. 
2. Then put the lids in some simmering water for 10 minutes. This sterilizes them.
3. Now it is safe to spoon the hot apple butter into the hot jars. Leave ½ inch at the top. 
4. Next wipe the rim clean and place the lids and rings on the jar.
5. Put the jars in a pot of water. If using pint or half pint jars you will boil them for 10 minutes. The water should be about an inch over the top of the jars. The time starts when the water boils. 
6. Finally, remove the jars and allow them to cool. You may hear the lids pop, which is totally normal.

Storing Canned Apple Butter

Once the apple butter is canned it can be stored in a pantry or cabinet. Any cool, dark place will work. At our old house, I kept it in a closet because we had no pantry. I store my jars upside down without rings. This lets me know that the seal is good. 

The jars will keep for at least 12 months if stored correctly. Once you open a jar make sure to keep it refrigerated though. You can’t screw the lid back on and put it back in the pantry. The seal has been broken, so it needs to be in the fridge.

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