I gotta have my orange juice.

This recipe is from a friend of ours at church. I love apple butter, and we have made this recipe multiple times; it tastes great. I recommend making a double batch in a large crock pot.

Ingredients

• 5 lbs. tart cooking apples, unpeeled, cored, cut up (enough to fill cooker).
• 2 c. sugar
• 1.25 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 0.25 tsp. ground cloves
• 0.25 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 0.25 tsp. ground allspice
• pinch of salt

Directions

1. Coat slow cooker with non-stick spray. Fill with the apples, almost to the top; the exact amount is not critical. Sprinkle with sugar in layers while loading. Cover and let stand at room temperature all day; the apples will exude juice and collapse.
2. Add spices and salt and toss the apples with a large wooden spoon. Cover and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours, or overnight.
3. In the morning, remove the lid and let the apple butter cook an additional 2 to 8 hours on low to reach the desired thickness.
4. Turn off the cooker and let the butter cool to room temperature in the crock pot. Transfer to a blender or food processor, or use a handheld immersion blender in the crock pot and purée the butter until completely smooth. Scrape with a rubber spatula into spring-top glass jars (or screw tops with new lids). Store, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 months or transfer to small plastic containers and freeze for up to 3 months.