Food and Recipes Recipes Spiced Apple Butter 5.0 (1) 1 Review If you've only experienced store-bought apple butter, this homemade version will blow you away. The recipe, from Kaley Laird, the executive pastry chef at Asheville, North Carolina's James Beard Award-nominated restaurant Benne on Eagle, requires just five ingredients (including apples) and requires little effort beyond occasional stirring and getting out your blender. But you'll be rewarded with a not-too-sweet, deeply flavored spread that you can enjoy on your morning biscuit or toast, swirl into a bowl of oatmeal, or use as a topping for Laird's decadent Parsnip-Buttermilk Tart. Like most apple butter recipes, this one contains apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon. But Laird's secret ingredient is ¼ cup of bourbon, which cooks down along with the apples and adds a subtle kick and depth of flavor. If you'd rather skip the alcohol, substitute 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract. Once the apples have cooked down, the mixture is processed until completely smooth in a blender. If you prefer apple butter that has a little more texture, you can leave it on the chunkier side. The recipe makes 4 cups of apple butter, and it can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a month—although we're pretty sure it won't last that long. By Southern Living Test Kitchen Southern Living Test Kitchen The Southern Living Test Kitchen has been publishing recipes since 1970, four years after the first issue of Southern Living Magazine appeared on newsstands. The Southern Living Test Kitchen team includes a team of professionals with deep expertise in recipe development, from pastry chefs and grilling experts to nutritionists and dietitians. Together, the team tests and retests, produces, styles, and photographs thousands of recipes each year in the state-of-the-art test kitchen facility located in Birmingham, Alabama. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on April 13, 2022 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Peter Frank Edwards; Prop Styling: Kendra Surface; Food Styling: Anna Hampton Active Time: 2 hrs 15 mins Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins Yield: 4 cups Ingredients 6 medium-size (about 3 lb. total) Honeycrisp apples, unpeeled, cored, and diced (about 10 cups) 1 ½ cups packed light brown sugar ¼ cup bourbon 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon kosher salt Directions Stir together all ingredients and 1 ½ cups water in a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Bring to a simmer over medium-high, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until apples break down and become very soft, 1 hour, 45 minutes to 2 hours. Remove from heat; cool 10 minutes. Transfer mixture to a blender. Secure lid on blender, and remove center piece to allow steam to escape. Place a clean towel over opening. Process until smooth, 1 minute. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 1 month. Rate it Print