Sweaters, pumpkin spice e’rythang,  leaves falling, footie footie football, human quilt blanket burritos and Ah-ha-allll the new shows premiering on TV! You can’t not love fall. Oh, and did I mention Pumpkin Spice lattes? Just covering my bases here. Twice.

There’s one other sure sign of fall – things with bourbon in them. Like apple butter, yo.

Between NCIS, Vamp Diaries (yes, I am ashamed to be admitting that right now.), HIMYM, New Girl, Big Bang Theory (naturally) and mine and Ben’s newest fave show Hell on Wheels – my weeknight sit-on-my-can time if filling up quite nicely!

I can not comprehend fall being anything other than tippy top of my year.

I mean I have been celebrating the start of fall since September first – with that first beloved pumpkin spice latte that I conned out of the dear blessed over-caffeinated and under-rested barista that had been at work since 3 that morning. And that obsession hasn’t stopped since. Well there was that one moment when I bought a small bottle of Peppermint Mocha coffee creamer and had a serious lapse in judgement and a moment of seasonal-identity-crisis – but I’m over it and back on track. Whew!

And will continue to load up on all things fall until Christmas is officially upon us. And no, it’s not Christmas season yet – stores putting out Christmas wear in stores does not give us license to celebrate THAT holiday just yet. Fall we can celebrate ahead of time, but I put my foot down on celebrating Christmas until December 1st. That’s an order.

The line for celebrating all the fall things is always arbitrary. Hooray for arbitrary lines and women’s prerogative to celebrate whatever the heck she wants, when she wants – as long as it has bourbon on the side. Apple butter. It’s a fall staple. And it’s even better with bourbon. I swears it.

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Bourbon Apple Butter spread on an English Muffin on a plate

Bourbon Apple Butter

  • Author: Country Cleaver
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 2 hours
  • Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
  • Yield: 3 pint jars 1x
  • Category: Condiment
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: American
Print Recipe

Description

This warm fall staple is made even warmer with a hefty dose of bourbon.

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 4 lbs of Apples
  • 2 cups Water
  • 1 cup Bourbon
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • Salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

Apple Butter:

  1. Core all apples. Do not peel. Dice apples into small pieces, place into large pot with steaming water.
  2. Soften apples for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat.
  3. Put softened apples into food processor and puree until smooth.
  4. Place sugar, salt, cinnamon, gloves, all spice, lemon zest, lemon juice and bourbon all into a heavy bottom saucepan. Stir to combine.
  5. Over medium heat, stir the mixture to prevent burning. Reduce the mixture by about half – or until the mixture is thick and no longer runny. Make sure to stir constantly to ensure as much moisture is evaporating as possible. The thickening time will take anywhere from 1 to 2 hours depending on the liquid content of the apples.

If canning follow the following procedures:

  1. Pour finished hot apple butter into three hot, sterilized canning jars, wipe the rims of the jars before placing lids on top of the jars and sealing.
  2. Place the sealed jars into a boiling water bath and cover with 1 inch of water – boiling jars for 10 minutes to ensure a good seal.
  3. Remove from water with canning tongs and allow to cool. Popping on the jar lids will signal the jars have sealed properly.
  4. To learn more about canning and safe canning procedures visit Freshpreserving.com where you can find everything you need from Ball canning.

Notes

Adapted from Simply Recipes Apple Butter

Keywords: canning apple butter, homemade apple butter, apple butter recipe