Ingredients
8 lbs. Jonathan Apples (Cored & Quartered)
4 lbs. Apple Juice
3 lbs. Honey
6 Cinnamon Sticks
12 Whole Cloves
Preparation
Start about noon and core and quarter the apples. Cook the apples with the apple juice in a large stock pot until the apples are soft and mushy. Process the cooked apples with a blender until the peels disappear and the result will be a pretty pink applesauce.
Put the applesauce in a 5 qt. CROCKPOT that has a lid. Add the cinnamon sticks and cloves, put the lid over the crockpot, supported by two long handled wooden spoons, and cook overnight on the HIGH setting. Stir as necessary.
The wooden spoons are used to raise the lid so the moisture can escape and also to prevent the applesauce from splattering. In the morning the applesauce will have cooked down about a third. When the applesauce has a thick, concrete type consistency, add the honey and cook a while longer to raise the temperature of the APPLEBUTTER to where it was before the honey was added. Put the APPLEBUTTER in sterile jars and immerse them in a boiling water bath for about ten minutes.
The long process of coring, quartering and cooking the apples to applesauce can be shortened and bypassed by using unsweetened applesauce from the grocery store.
