.25cupunsweetened apple cider, apple juice, or water
Instructions
Place the apple wedges into the liner of your pressure cooker. Pour the apple cider over the top, then sprinkle with allspice, nutmeg, sea salt, vanilla and add the cinnamon sticks.
Secure the lid and cook on Manual/Pressure Cook at High pressure for 10 minutes.
When the pot beeps, allow the pressure to release manually for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the lid.
Remove the cinnamon sticks and puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Taste the mixture to determine if you need to add a sweetener or not.
To thicken the apple butter press the Cancel button. Next you will press the Sauté button, then press the Adjust button TWICE for “Sauté Less”. If you only press the ADJUST button once, you will see the red light under the More setting and not under Less.
Place a splatter screen or loose fitting lid over the top of the apple butter to keep it from splattering everywhere.
Simmer and stir until mixture reaches your desired consistency. This can take anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes depending on how thick you like your apple butter. The longer you simmer, the thicker and darker your mixture will become. It will thicken even more once chilled as well, so keep that in mind.
Let it cool then transfer into jars and store in the refrigerator for 2 weeks, or place in freezer containers and freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
To sweeten: .25-cup of molasses, .75-cup dark brown sugar, or a combination of 0.5-cup granulated + 0.5-cup brown sugar. Maple syrup, honey, agave nectar to taste.
Two teaspoons of ground cinnamon can be substituted for the cinnamon sticks. This will give you a darker color as well.
Freshly ground nutmeg is amazing and adds a sweetness to the apple butter, but ground in a jar will work as well.
Apple butter made with sweetener will thickener faster than the unsweetened version. That is part of the reason for the huge time difference.
This recipe makes approximately 76 ounces (9.5 cups) of apple butter. Serving size is calculated at 2 tablespoons. Nutrition calculations are just guidelines and not guaranteed to be accurate.