Homemade Apple Butter

And the mini-fall series continues ....

Thus far we've made -
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Pumpkin Puree
Pie Crust
Pumpkin Pie
and now apple butter

It's not too often that I can get a morning post in but since today is a celebratory vacation day so I could support our high school at the state volleyball tournament, it allowed for a few extra hours this morning to finish up my apple butter and enjoy some with my breakfast!

After the debacle of coming home from work to an unplugged crockpot yesterday <insert facepalm>, the Mr. and I spent the later hours of our evening surrounded by the AMAZING aroma of this deliciousness simmering ... talk about the feels of fall! And although I didn't need to rush out of the house this morning, I had that 'Christmas Morning' moment ... when for a split second I wanted to roll over and go back to sleep and then I remembered what would be waiting for me in the kitchen!

after 10+ hours in the crockpot

After a quick spin through the food processor, we had ourselves some warm and fresh apple butter. The taste ... well lets just say if you could eat apple cider this is pretty much what it is like AND for somebody that pretty much loves all things apples, this was exactly what I had been hoping for!

The recipe was straight from Lynn at fresh april flours. The only change I made, other than the amounts do to what fit in my crockpot, was by using all fuji apples instead of the variety she called for. Although I don't think you could go wrong with this recipe no matter what variety of apple, I would love to compare how her version would taste. The next time I will be making a much larger batch and will definitely be trying it with a combination of apple varieties. 

Homemade Apple Butter

9 fuji apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon groung cloves

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 tablespoon molasses

Mix all ingredients except apples in a small bowl. Place 1/4 to 1/3 of the apples in crockpot. Sprinkle with about 1/4 cup sugar mixture. Continue to layer in crockpot. Top with remaining sugar mixture and molasses drizzled on top. Cook on low for 10 or more hours. Use blender, food processor, or immersion blend to process until smooth. If the consistency is not thick enough, continue to cook in crockpot with lid off to remove some excess moisture.

Cost Comparison
Homemade Cost - about $5 for 34 ounces (apples purchased ... image if I had my own tree!)
Store Bought Cost - $3.25 for 28 ounces, Musselman's brand

Time - 20-30 minutes active participation
            just over 10 hours of total time

Homemade Pie Crust

... and of course then some pumpkin pie! 

This recipe originated from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook but was then completely perfected by my amazing sis that lives halfway around the world! She has been the source of my inspiration on more than one occasion and she NEVER ceases to amaze me. A few weeks back I was running low on ideas and quite frankly motivation, in need of a little extra help plugging away at my 365 list, I was chatting with my her on our almost weekly chat {this can definitely be a challenge due to the 10 hour time difference} and had the idea to do some collaborative thinking! Best idea EVER!

So we started brainstorming and before you knew it we had birthed this mini-fall series with all this pumpkin deliciousness and THE absolute best pie crust recipe I have ever used {credit goes 100% to her for perfecting this pie crust}. Back in the days {like pre-kiddos} when I had time to bake pies, I had a go-to pie crust recipe that was 'good', but this my friends is AaH...MAZING! Some absolutely, completely flaky goodness {so good I am thinking about taking this dough outside of the pie world ... croissantish even maybe}. But what's even more awesome than that ... is that my sister rattled off exactly how she made her pie crust is if it were an everyday conversation!


So here you have it, straight from the source-

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Homemade Pie Crust

Iced water

½ cup cold butter

1 ½ flour

½ teaspoon salt

Fill liquid measure cup with ice water and let it sit. Add flour and salt to a bowl. Add butter, cubed (cut stick lengthwise in quarters, then cube). Use hands to mix quickly (you don’t want butter to melt) until mixed thoroughly and the butter is pea-sized  or smaller. Using rubber spatula, mix 1 tablespoon at a time of cold water (up to 8 tablespoons). Mix until it sticks together with no flour left in the bowl but not too moist. Transfer to saran wrap and form into a hockey puck shape. Place in fridge for 10 mins or 10 min in freezer. With a rolling pin, round out with a little bit of flower. Put it in your pie plate and crimp edges. Put in freeze to shock for 5-10 minutes (you want the butter to be nice and cold when it goes into the oven). While the crust is getting chilly, prep your pie filling. 

For starters, I used Mrs. Sigg's Fresh Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Filling 

2 cups of pumpkin puree

1 cup brown sugar

12 ounces evaporated milk

2 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

2 eggs

½ teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, beat all ingredients together. 

And now for the pie!

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

Remove pie crust from freezer. Pour in pumpkin pie filling. Bake at 400 for 45 -50 minutes. 

However, next time I am going to try as Mrs. Sigg's recommends and start at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 for an additional 40-50 minutes. 

Additional Pie Info - for future reference and fun facts. 

Also from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook for pies that use pre-baked pie crust. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Follow the pie crust recipe as detailed above. Cover the pie crust with a double layer of tin foil. Push it down (this will keep it from rising OR you could use pie weights). Make sure oven is hot and ready to bake the crust quickly so that your crust doesn’t get soggy. Bake for 8 minutes or until the pie crust looks dry and not moist. Remove the tinfoil and continue to bake for 6-8 minutes to make sure it’s cooked completely. Then use your freshly baked pie crust "aaaas yoooou wiiiiish." :) 

Random, I know but there are some phrases that NO matter how they are used, my brain only hears them one way and then gets sidetracked thinking about the movie it's from, like this one from The Princess Bride. And I think this is where I need to call it a night ... before my tangents get WAY to far off course! heehee.