Slow-Cooking Apple Butter

This recipe is originally called "Overnight Apple Butter", but I recommend doing it during the day, if for no other reason than to be able to enjoy the aromas that fill your house more actively. This is so good. I remember my dad raving about apple butter when I was little but always thinking it sounded gross. But I'm glad I finally tried it. It's delicious and super easy to make. Which is why my dad will be getting a whole jar of it for Christmas.

The only change I made was to use nutmeg instead of mace. Before doing the grocery shopping for the ingredients, I read that mace is just the outside casing for nutmeg and is kind of expensive. So I went the cheaper route, and while I don't know what it would have tasted like with the mace, it tasted great this way.

Slow-Cooking Apple Butter
A variation on this recipe from Cooking Light

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup apple cider
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
10 medium apples, peeled, cored, and cut into large chunks (about 2 1/2 pounds)

Combine all ingredients in a 5-quart electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 10 hours or until apples are very tender.

Place a large fine-mesh sieve over a bowl; spoon one-third of apple mixture into sieve. Press mixture through sieve using the back of a spoon or ladle. Discard pulp. Repeat procedure with remaining apple mixture. Return apple mixture to slow cooker. Cook, uncovered, on high 1 1/2 hours or until mixture is thick, stirring occasionally. Spoon into a bowl; cover and chill up to a week.

Stovetop variation: Combine all ingredients in a Dutch oven. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 1 hour or until apples are very tender, stirring occasionally. Strain through a sieve as recipe instructs in Step 2. Return mixture to pan. Cook, uncovered, over medium-low heat 15 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently.