Recipe
The first time I tasted a spoonful of homemade apple butter I knew I’d unleashed a monster. A fruit-butter making monster. The possibilities are endless; the choices loomed in front of me. Pear. Apple. Pumpkin. Plum. Cranberry.
The apple butter was just too good to stray too far from for my first variation. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it! But I did want to mix it up a little. I had some cranberries leftover from the holiday season and thought their tangy tartness would make the perfect complement to the sweet, rich apple flavor.
I was right. It’s good stuff.
And still super easy. Cranberries can be scary to quick with since they pop and explode, but stick them in a slow cooker with a lid and you’re perfectly safe from rupturing berries.
by Heather Neal
Keywords: slow-cooker snack vegan vegetarian
- ~4 apples {I used Gala}
- 1 cup whole cranberries
- 1 cup no sugar added cranberry apple juice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cloves
Dice apples- leave skins on.
Put apple and cranberries in crock pot, cover, and cook on high ~4 hours.
Add in juice & spices. Feel free to adjust spices to taste.
Cook another 4 hrs on high. When it looks like apple sauce, use immersion blender to puree apples.
Continue cooking with lid slightly ajar until apples have thickened and darkened {aka caramelized}.
Note: all slow cookers are different- keep an eye on yours as you may need more or less time, or to use high or low heat.
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Do you have a favorite fruit butter? What should I make next? 
Recipe
There’s something about the onset of cooler weather that has everyone scrambling for their first can of pumpkin.
I, of course, am often one of them. But there’s another fall flavor that so easily gets neglected. Apple.
The smell of hot apple cider, homemade applesauce, or apple cobbler is enough to put a smile on your face. Add apple picking and caramel apples, and how could you not love the season?
The cool weather has paid us a visit this weekend, but there are 80 and 90 degrees still on the forecast, so I’m not getting too excited yet. In fact, apple season really hasn’t hit us here yet.
That doesn’t mean I don’t yearn for that spiced apple fall flavor already, the same way I reached for my stash of pumpkin a month ago.
Luckily, this dish gives that satisfying apple flavor without the need for freshly picked apples. {Although you can bet I’ll be making it again as soon as I can get my hand on some of those.} Instead, this dish can be made all year long- with apple sauce!
Cran-Apple Oatmeal!
It starts with a base just like my overnight steel cut oats. Just add in a few extra ingredients and you’ll be blown away that this breakfast cooked itself while you slept.
Cran Apple Steel Cut Oats
Ingredients
- 1 cup steel cut oats
- 4 cups water {or mix of almond milk}
- 1 cup applesauce {prepared or homemade}
- handful dried cranberries
- Spices: cinnamon, cloves, allspice
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in slow cooker.
- Set slow cooker on low and let cook overnight, about 6-8 hours.
- In the morning, stir oats, and add more spices as desired.
- Serve warm.
- This makes 4 servings.
- Note: I have a small, newer crock pot that cooks very quickly- I set it on "Keep Warm" overnight, then bump it up to low or high in the morning, depending on how soon I'm going to eat. It keeps the oats from burning and drying up too much. You can also try adding more liquid.
3.1
https://www.sideofsneakers.com/crockpot-steel-cut-oats/
There’s nothing like waking up to this in the morning. The smell of apple and clove, with the sweet hint of cranberry. Ready for you to dig in immediately with a spoon, no stopping to pull out ingredients, pots, or turning on the stove.
Incidentally, this bowl of oats goes perfect with a dollop of cashew butter. So perfectly that I didn’t stop to take a picture as I downed the bowl in record time, burning my mouth along the way.
Are you a fall person or are you hanging on to summer?
