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Homemade apple butter canned and labelled into canning jars.
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Apple Butter Recipe for Canning

Homemade apple butter recipe for canning. A delicious way to preserve apples. A thick apple butter full of Fall flavours thats perfect for toast, waffles or scones.
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American, Canadian
Keyword Apple Butter Recipe for Canning
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings 4 1/2 pint jars
Cost $2.00

Ingredients

  • 5 lbs crab apples or small apples
  • 2 cups white sugar adjust to taste
  • 2 tsp cinnamon optional
  • ½ tsp cloves optional
  • ½ tsp allspice optional

Instructions

Sterilizing Jars

  • To sterilize jars in boiling water. Place the clean jars, lids, and ring in a very large pot. Cover with water making sure everything is submerged. Bring the water to boil and boil for at least ten minutes. Its very important to sterilize your jars when you hot pack a recipe. Keep hot until the apple butter is ready.
    A large pot full of boiling water for sterilizing jars. The jars are covered in water and will be used to can homemade apple butter.

Apple Butter Instructions

  • Begin by washing the apples, really well and removing any stems. If the apples are small you can cook them whole. If your canning larger apples cut them in quarters first. You don't need to core or peel the apples, the pectin in the peels helps thicken the apple butter.
    Fresh apples for making an apple butter recipe to can. The apples are small with bright red and green skins.
  • Place the clean apples into a large pot and barely cover with water.  Simmer on medium low heat stirring often so they don't stick. Cook until apples are soft and mushy about half an hour.
    Cooking a large pot of the apples for the Best apple butter recipe.
  • Line a large colander with cheesecloth and place over a very large bowl.
    A large colander lined with cheesecloth and set inside a bowl.
  • Carefully transfer the hot apples to the large colander, squeeze the pulp and juice out through the cheesecloth. This screens out the apple skins, cores and seeds from the apple pulp. Once screened gather up the cheesecloth toss out the skins.
  • Place the screened apple pulp back into the large saucepan. Add sugar, and stir until dissolved. Add the spices.
  • Stir the apple butter to dissolve the sugar.
  • Cook over medium low heat until thick, stirring often to prevent sticking. Takes approximately an hour.
  • When still hot, spoon the hot apple butter into the sterilized jar until its about half inch from the top. Immediately place your sterile metal lid on top.
  • Holding the jar in a towel to protect your hands from the heat screw the ring onto the jar.
  • The jars will pop as the apple butter cools sealing the jars. If they fail to seal, place them in the fridge and use within a week.
    Homemade apple butter recipe made on the stove top then sealed in canning jars.