Crockpot Apple Butter

I came across a recipe last week for apple butter and it looked so easy so I had to try it. It turned out really delicious and the house smelled wonderful for the 24 hours that it simmered away in my crockpot.

Crockpot Apple Butter
7 cups applesauce (use a good quality commercial kind that is unsweetened) I used Tree Top Organic unsweetened from Costco.
2 cups apple cider (I used a bottle of Knudsen's Cider & Spice)
1 1/2 cups honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon allspice
Mix all the ingredients in a crockpot, cover and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally for 15-16 hours or until the mixture is a deep brown and a thick consistency. Pack into 4 hot pint jars and process in a hot-water bath for 10 minutes counting the time after the jars have been immersed and the water comes to a rolling boil.
OR: Cool and pack into clean freezer friendly jars and freeze! When you are ready for another jar remove  from the freezer and defrost in the refridgerator. I used Ball canning jars that can go into the freezer! Of course I kept one out to enjoy right now! The recipe says it only makes 4 pints but I got 5  eight ounce jars from the recipe.

After 15 hours my apple butter was brown but not thick enough so I raised the temperature to high and kept a close watch on it - stirring occasionally until the apple butter was condensed enough to stay mounded on a spoon and the consistency that looked right to me! My apple butter took about 24 hours to cook in my crockpot. Crockpot temps might vary a little so yours could be ready in more or less time. Removing the lid during the final hours of cooking speeds up the condensing process considerably.