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Delicious Maple Spice Crab Apple Butter

August 17, 2019

Do you have a favourite smell?  One that brings back all your favourite memories?  Of crisp Autumn days or happy times in the kitchen?

If I could pick one smell, it would be crab apples.

Their pretty red-pink might also win for best colour too.  I digress.

Lessons in Crab Apples

I vividly remember picking crab apples growing up on the family farm.  I would pick all the apples as high as I could reach while my mom or grandma got the taller ones with the ladder.  My grandma’s voice still rings in my head, gently lecturing me to not waste a single apple.

Any apples that fell while picking could still be collected for juice.

At the time I thought it was silly.  There were so. many. apples.  Surely one or two going to waste wouldn’t be a big deal?

While I haven’t heard of anyone dying from lack of crab apples, the lesson still sticks in my mind.  Now that I’m older, I confess that I take a certain amount of pride in being able to make my own crab apple pies, juice, and sauces.

Related: How to Organize an Apple Pie Making Day

Have a crab apple tree full of apples and no idea what to do with it? You'll want to make this maple spiced crab apple butter! All the smells and tastes of autumn. Spread it on toast or fresh bread, use it as a pancake topping, or use it to flavour plain yogurt.

Use Early Autumn Apples to make Delicious Crab Apple Butter

Every year I like to try something new.  This year crab apple butter was calling my name.

Despite having the word butter in it’s title, there is actually no butter in apple butter.  Think of it as a thick jam, or a jazzed up version of apple sauce.

Did you know there's no butter in apple butter? It's still delicious.Click To Tweet

The ingredients are simple: crap apples, lemon juice, maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon, and allspice.  Cook, blend, cook again, and serve.  Don’t worry, I’ll go into slightly more detail below and provide the recipe in an easy to read format at the end.

Related: How to Make Crab Apple Juice 

Have a crab apple tree full of apples and no idea what to do with it? You'll want to make this maple spiced crab apple butter! All the smells and tastes of autumn. Spread it on toast or fresh bread, use it as a pancake topping, or use it to flavour plain yogurt.

Use it up!

I can hear you already, “That sounds great, Kristen, but what will I actually DO with this marvellous crab apple butter?”

Eat it like you would apple sauce, serve it over pancakes, serve it IN pancakes, or add it to your plain yogurt.  You can even serve it on top of crackers and cheddar cheese.  Whatever you do, I know that you’ll be coming back for more.

Related: How to make a Simple and Impressive Charcuterie Board

Yield: 6 250ml jars

Slow Cooker Spiced Crab Apple Butter

Slow Cooker Spiced Crab Apple Butter

A delicious apple sauce to use up crab apples.

Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 4 hours
Additional Time 1 hour
Total Time 6 hours

Ingredients

  • 5 cups apple sauce,
  • 1 cup apple juice,
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup,
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice,
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon,
  • 1 tsp allspice.

Instructions

1.Clean and cut your crab apples, removing all stems, cores, and blossom ends.

2.Fill a large pot approximately 1/2 full of crab apples. Add four cups of water and boil. You may need to add more water as your apples cook so they don't burn.

3.When the apples are cooked through and mushy, remove from heat and put them in a blender. Blend on medium low for 30 seconds, or until smooth.

4.Measure out five cups of crab apple sauce and return to the pot. Add apple juice. I use the crab apple juice I make, but apple juice from the store is fine too. Add maple syrup, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and allspice. Feel free to adjust the spices to suit your tastes.

5.Heat and cook until boiling. Set heat to medium low and simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Transfer to sterilized jars and process in boiling water for 10 minutes, or let cool and store in freezer-safe containers. If canning, it is recommended to follow the procedure and guidelines as outlined here.

© Kristen Raney
Maple spiced crab apple butter is an easy canning recipe to cook up in the slow cooker or crock pot.  Yes, it's glorified applesauce, but it's so delicious you won't care. #crabapple #applebutter #slowcooker #crockpot

Want more recipes like this and a behind the scenes look at the blog?  Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram.  Sometimes I post things on Pinterest before I share them anywhere else, so be sure to follow me there too!

Kristen Raney

Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots.  She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden.  She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.

https://www.shiftingroots.com

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Filed Under: DIY, Fruit Season, Recipes, Simple & Easy Tagged: apple butter, apple sauce, Autumn, Cinnamon, crab apple butter, Crab Apples, maple spice, maple syrup, Saskatchewan, Saskatoon

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Welcome!

Hi, I'm Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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Welcome!

Hi, I’m Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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Instagram post 2193741846005217737_2204272319 DAY 6: 12 Days of Christmas Baking⁠
⁠
Today's recipe requires a little more time, but it's the weekend, so you can do it!  This recipe is what my family lovingly refers to as Hutzelbrot.  It's some sort of combination of 3 different German Christmas breads--if you want the full story you'll have to hop on the blog and read about the research I did.  Like many of my family recipes, it's roots are German, but it definitely got North-Americanized along the way.  Anyway.⁠
⁠
It's better than fruitcake and delicious as a breakfast bread.  I didn't really like it as a kid, but now that I'm an adult I gobble it up like there's no tomorrow.⁠
⁠
Ingredients⁠
⁠
2 1/2 cups dried fruit such as peaches, pears, apples, figs, apricots, prunes, cranberries, or currants.⁠
1/2 cup of raisins⁠
5 1/4 cups unbleached white flour⁠
1/2 cup warm water⁠
1 1/2 tbsp dry yeast⁠
1/2 tsp sugar or honey⁠
1 cup liquid from cooking fruit⁠
1 tsp cinnamon⁠
1 tsp salt⁠
1 tsp grated lemon or orange peel⁠
1/2 tsp ground cloves⁠
1/4 cup honey⁠
1/2 cup melted butter⁠
Instructions⁠
⁠
Boil all fruit except raisins. Drain and set one cup of liquid aside for use in the bread recipe.⁠
Combine sugar, yeast and 1/2 cup warm water and let yeast rise for 10 minutes.⁠
Put all ingredients in a mixer and mix with a dough hook until the dough makes a nice soft ball. You can mix by hand, but it is very difficult dough to work with and don't recommend it for beginners.⁠
Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a tea towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This can range from 1-2 hours depending on the humidity level where you live.⁠
Punch down and shape into loaves. Place in greased bread pans and poke holes in the top with a fork. Let rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour.⁠
Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes, or 25-30 minutes if you use smaller loaf pans.⁠
Notes⁠
⁠
Rising times vary greatly depending on how much humidity is in the air on baking day. Even though the recipe takes a long time, most of that is spent impatiently waiting for the dough to rise.
Instagram post 2193017018314283996_2204272319 DAY 5: 12 days of Christmas Baking ⁠
⁠
Shortbread is one of my favourite Christmas treats, but whenever I made it I would always mess it up.  The first time I tried to replace the butter with margarine. . . bad idea.  Another time, I chose a three ingredient recipe that was so crumbly it wasn't worth eating.  Then I found this recipe and everything was better!! Until 2 Christmas's ago when I went to Jamaica and decided to make them for my new relatives.  Hot and humid country + different butter= cookies that were a complete disaster.  However, we didn't throw them away and someone served them when everyone came to visit the condo we rented.  I was mortified, but my brother-in-law's family loved them, as they had never experienced North American style baking.⁠
⁠
Moral of the story?  Don't make these in a tropical-weather country.  But even if they flop, they're still really delicious!⁠
⁠
1 cup corn starch,⁠
1 cup icing sugar,⁠
2 cups flour,⁠
1 1/2 cups butter, softened⁠
Instructions⁠
⁠
Mix all ingredients and spoon on to a cookie sheet.⁠
Optional: chill for 30 minutes and roll out for a cut cookie⁠
Apply sprinkles or cherries before baking⁠
Bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 to 20 minutes. Cookies should have the barest hint of light brown at the edges. Makes 48 small cookies⁠
⁠
If you want the cookies to look like this, skip the sprinkles and the cherries and bake them plain instead.  Once everything has cooled, dip cookies in melted white chocolate and sprinkles.
Instagram post 2192292281407280453_2204272319 DAY 4:  12 Days of Christmas Baking⁠
⁠
Sometimes, I feel like I am a terrible neighbour.  The Hermit and I rarely get to the communal shovelling of the winter snow for our neighbours first.  There's always some weird garden experiment going on, and it feels like we've been renovating forever.  How do I make up for it?  Fresh tomatoes, jars of jam, the odd bouquet of flowers, and finally, a box of this fudge that magically shows up on their doorstep at Christmas.  I make about 8 batches of the stuff in all different flavour combinations, cut each batch into 8 large chunks, then I package them up in little sampler packs that I give out to said neighbours, Dominic's teachers, Aulaire's babysitters, or whoever I want to give a little Christmas gift to.⁠
⁠
The recipe is super simple and it's fairly idiot-proof.  No crumbly fudge here!⁠
⁠
3 cups semi-sweet chocolate morsels⁠
1 can Eagles Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk or homemade recipe (which I used)⁠
Dash of salt⁠
1.5 tsp vanilla⁠
⁠
Optional toppings/decorations⁠
1/2 c nuts (stir in, or crush and sprinkle on top)⁠
Mini marshmallows⁠
White Chocolate chips to melt and drizzle for decoration⁠
Coconut flakes⁠
⁠
Melt chocolate in a bowl over a water bath. Stir in sweetened condensed milk, salt, and vanilla. Combine until smooth.⁠
⁠
Add any additional optional ingredients you want IN the fudge (nuts, marshmallows). Pour & spread evenly into an 8×8 pan lined with wax or parchment paper. This is a great time to add optional toppers.⁠
⁠
Refrigerate 2 hours, or until set, and then remove from pan & paper and cover tightly with plastic wrap to avoid it drying out. If cutting into several pieces at once (& sometimes mini cookie cutters are nice for this), set it out on the counter for 20 minutes or so to soften enough for neater, easier cuts.
Instagram post 2191567720172943549_2204272319 DAY 3: 12 Days of Christmas Baking⁠
⁠
So today's recipe isn't actually baking that you would put on your tray per se, but it is super crucial to many recipes you might want to make and will save you money.  It's. . . *drumroll please*. . . Homemade sweetened condensed milk!⁠
⁠
Seriously, this stuff is worth the extra effort and it tastes so much better!  You'll want to make a batch for tomorrow's recipe, where I share my no-fail fudge. (Well actually, it's one of reader's no fail fudges, but I feel like it's mine now because it's been my go-to for 3 years!)⁠
⁠
1 cup powdered milk⁠
2/3 c white sugar⁠
1/3 c water⁠
1/4 c butter⁠
⁠
Combine in blender until extremely smooth⁠
⁠
Also, let me know if you make any of this stuff.  I would love to see your pictures of any of your creations during the 12 days of Christmas baking.  Tag me @shifting_roots and I'll be sure to share your baking in my stories.
Instagram post 2190842732075560326_2204272319 DAY 2: 12 Days of Christmas Baking: Rice Krispie Trees⁠
⁠
Back in the day when I baked for almost 200 people over 4 Christmas recitals with 60 students, plus one choir that required some baking too, my goals were this: make things that are pretty, tasty, and kid friendly.  Because what's the point of making all this baking if the kids in my music studio don't eat it?!?⁠
⁠
That's how these Rice Krispie Christmas Trees were born.  They are a tiny bit fussy in the fact that there's melting chocolate and sprinkles, but they make the eater feel like they are getting something really special.. . and they are!⁠
⁠
If you use big enough cookie cutters (you don't have to be limited to just trees) you could even use them as a classroom present for your students, as these should be free of most common food allergens.  Just get the gluten-free Rice Krispies if you have any kids with Celiac.⁠
⁠
Ingredients⁠
⁠
6 cups Rice Krispie cereal,⁠
40 large marshmallows,⁠
1/2 cup butter,⁠
1 tsp vanilla,⁠
1 1/2 cups white chocolate melting wafers⁠
sprinkles⁠
⁠
Instructions⁠
⁠
Melt butter, marshmallows and butter in a large bowl in the microwave for approximately 5 minutes, setting the microwave one minute at a time and stirring in between.⁠
Add Rice Krispies and press into a large cookie sheet. Allow to cool. Cut Christmas tree shapes with cookie cutter.⁠
Melt chocolate wafers and dip in Rice Krispie treats. Add sprinkles if desired. Work fast, as the chocolate dries quickly!
Instagram post 2190118109285570760_2204272319 DAY 1: 12 Days of Christmas Baking⁠
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Let's start off the season with one of my favourite, easy, I-keep-coming-back-for-more-even-though-I-probably-shouldn't Christmas treats--Almond Roca.  You may also know it as Christmas Crack, or in our family, "that thing that Auntie Sandy makes."⁠
⁠
Whatever you call it, make sure you make an extra batch, because there won't be leftovers!⁠
⁠
Ingredients⁠
⁠
1 sleeve soda crackers (2 for a large cookie sheet)⁠
1 cup butter,⁠
1 cup brown sugar,⁠
3/4 cup slivered almonds,⁠
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips, melted,⁠
1/2 cup white chocolate chips, melted.⁠
⁠
Instructions⁠
⁠
Line cookie sheet with tinfoil. Spray with Pam.⁠
Layer crackers.⁠
Bring butter and brown sugar to a boil for 2 minutes, stirring often.⁠
Pour over crackers and bake in a 325 oven for 10 minutes. Turn off oven. Sprinkle with almonds and return to the oven for 5 minutes.⁠
Cool. Drizzle melted milk & white chocolate chips, alternating colours.⁠
Cut in squares and serve.⁠
Instagram post 2189707999618969478_2204272319 Get ready friends, tomorrow is the start of my 12 days of Christmas baking!  I’m sharing all my favourite recipes—most of them simple and a few of them more complicated but worth the extra steps.  Until then, what’s your favourite Christmas treat?
🎄
On a more personal note, today would have been my Grandma’s 96th birthday.  Back in the day when my voice studio involved 60 students in 4 different communities with multiple recitals, my Grandma and I baked 2 or 3 things every Tuesday from November to mid-December.  While sometimes I got annoyed that she was constantly reminding me to do this or that, I really miss her help with the recipes that are better with two people, her insistence on doing the dishes as we go, help decorating, and her silly little jokes as she loved to tease me.  Baking will never be the same, and I’ve always felt a little bit lonely every Christmas as I make my recipes.  Hopefully my kids will someday enjoy baking with me, and I’m sure that I’ll constantly make them check if the cookies are burned or not.
😉
#12daysofchristmas #christmasbaking #christmasbakinghasbegun
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