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crock-pot caramel apple-pear butter-or just apple

Linky1 avatar
Recipe by
Carolyn Haas
@Linky1
Whitewater, WI

I usually make a lot of apple sauce and apple butter. Last couple years have not yielded a very good apple crop for us. My daughter has 2 pear trees in her backyard and has had bumper pear crops, so I've combined the 2 fruits for this ap'pear butter! I just got canned a batch that had been in the crockpot for 24 hours! NOTE: Alternate method with fewer ingredients: Processed cooked apples through food mill to make approx. 2 1/2 quarts applesauce. Combined that with 1 cup brown sugar, 1 TB cider vinegar, 1 tsp. cinnamon in slow-cooker. Very caramel-y flavor. Made 11 half-pints.

yield serving(s)
prep time 1 Hr 30 Min
method Slow Cooker Crock Pot

Ingredients For crock-pot caramel apple-pear butter-or just apple

  • 5 lb
    pears - ripe or nearly ripe (no pears? use double the apples!)
  • 5 lb
    apples (i use paula red)
  • 4 Tbsp
    lemon juice, bottled
  • 1/2 c
    apple juice
  • 1 c
    brown sugar (add more for a sweeter taste - this amount will make a somewhat tart butter)
  • 2 Tbsp
    cider vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp
    cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp
    nutmeg
  • 1 tsp
    cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp
    ground cloves

How To Make crock-pot caramel apple-pear butter-or just apple

  • 1
    Rinse fruit. Cut in fourths, cutting out any bad spots. Put half of the fruit in a pot with half of the apple juice, half of the lemon juice and half of vinegar. Simmer until fruit is easily pierced with fork. (If it's too mushy, that's ok).
  • 2
    Let cool a bit, run through food mill. Repeat with other half of fruit and juices.
  • 3
    Put into crockpot. Add spices and sugar. Cook on low overnight or until a spoonful put onto a cool plate mounds without a lot of liquid running out of the sides. Stir every once in a while -especially right before you go to bed and as soon as you get up! If you don't sleep well, give a stir during the night, too!
  • 4
    NOTE: amount of fruit is approximate. Go easy on sugar, vinegar and spices if you don't have quite enough. My last batch was closer to 8 pounds before cooking.
  • Last Step: Don't forget to share! Make all your friends drool by posting a picture of your finished recipe on your favorite social network. And don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes so we can see it too!
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