Apple Preparation

1. Wash your apples thoroughly to remove any wax or residue. Chop the apples by cutting straight down around the core, then cut into rough pieces. No need to peel the apples.

Pressure Cooker

1. Place the chopped apples in your pressure cooker.
2. Add brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup, pumpkin spice, vanilla extract, whiskey (if using) and a pinch of salt. Stir, so all your apple pieces are coated with the sugar-spice mix.
3. Close your pressure cooker, set it to “High” pressure, and cook for 90 minutes.
4. Once the cooking time is up, release the pressure according to your pressure cooker’s instructions and open the lid.
5. Stir the softened apples; they should be half falling apart with plenty of liquid.
6. With the lid open (or in a pot on the hob if your cooker doesn’t allow open-lid use), set your cooker to “Slow Cook,” high for 2 hours.
7. Stir occasionally, monitoring the texture. Toward the end of the 2 hours, most of the liquid should have evaporated, and the apples should have mostly disintegrated.
8. Continue cooking until it’s close to sticking to the bottom of the pot and has reached your desired apple butter consistency. It should be thick enough to spread on toast. It will thicken slightly after cooling.
9. Taste and adjust the spice or sugar if needed. Stir in any additional seasoning.

Pureeing

1. Let your apple butter cool slightly in the pressure cooker to avoid burning yourself.
2. Pour the contents from the pressure cooker into a blender, food processor, or use an immersion blender.
3. Blend until you achieve a uniform creamy and thick consistency, ensuring that no bits of peel remain whole; they should all be pulverized.
4. Fill the apple butter into clean jars with lids and allow it to cool.