Spiced Apple Butter

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.

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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.

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Updated on April 13, 2022

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