Apples to Apples Or Apples to Butter to Sauce to Pies?

Shortly after I wrote last week's column I was perusing the new and used Glasgow sale site via Facebook. I happened to be the first respondent to an offer of free locally-grown apples. Having received about five gallons of smallish green apples and with a week still to go on the Whole Life Challenge, I went searching for sugar-free apple recipes. I'm sharing the two I tried. Now, lest you think I've completely surrendered all sense to the sugar-free life, I will confess I used the majority of the apples with my tried and true sugary recipes.

I spread all this apple goodness over a couple of days, so my house smelled fabulous for two days. First up was the apple butter. The apples for this did not need to be peeled, just cored and chopped. They cooked all afternoon into the evening in my slow-cooker. Partway through, they were blended using my immersion blender, which gave up the ghost just as I finished the blending. I think the strain of pureeing the peels over the heat did it in. A new one should be here before the paper gets this column printed. I'd guess I got 15-20 years out of the old one, so it was time to upgrade.

No Sugar Apple Butter

3 lbs apples, cored and chopped

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 C water

Put all in a slow cooker. Stir. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Use immersion blender to puree. You could stop here and have applesauce. For butter, cover loosely, allowing lid to vent a little. (Put a towel nearby to catch the steam that will drip off the lid.) Cook another 6-8 hours on low. Store in a glass jar in the fridge (will keep 2 weeks), or freeze.

This recipe tastes great. The pie filling recipe that follows needed much more cinnamon and pie spice than I'd originally used to make it palatable. You can make your own pie spice by combining cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and ground cloves. All the combos I read were heavier on the cinnamon. You can play around with the proportions, but I think any combo of those ingredients would be more than fine. I heartily recommend the butter recipe, the pie filling not so much. I didn't put it into a pie, the crust of which might have improved the taste.

Sugar-free Gooey Apple Pie Filling

1 Tbl butter

2 sweet apples, cored, sliced 1/8" thick

Dash of sea salt

1/2 C cold water

2 tsp arrowroot

1 tsp vanilla

Cinnamon and pie spice to taste

Heat butter in a medium non-stick pan. Add the apples and salt. Saute over medium heat until soft, 5-7 minutes. In a small cup, whisk water, arrowroot, and vanilla. Add to the apples. Raise the heat a little and stir until thickened. Remove from heat. Add the cinnamon and pie spice as desired.

After that I went ahead and used added sugar recipes. I know I love the mock mince pie filling and can eat that straight out of the jar without bothering to make a pie crust. It's good either way.

Mock Mince Pie Filling

5 granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped

1 C dark raisins

1 C golden raisins

1/2 C chopped candied citrus peels

1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

1 1/4 C firmly packed brown sugar

2 Tbl butter

1 Tble cider vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/4 C dark rum

In a large kettle, combine all except the rum, along with 1 1/2 C water. Bring to a boil while stirring. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, 40 minutes or until the liquid is very thick. Add rum and simmer, stirring, 10 minutes, or until the liquid is almost evaporated. Let cool. Transfer to airtight container and chill one day to allow flavors to develop. May be made a week in advance and kept chilled.

Bake in a double crust with the top buttered and sprinkled with sugar, at 425° for 30 minutes. Then reduce heat to 375° and bake another 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.

The second day I used my favorite recipe for the remainder of the apples. There were enough apples peeled and sliced to triple this recipe. I put all of it in my 6-quart slow cooker insert and cooked on low. After a couple of hours I stirred it as gently as I could, but the apples on the bottom turned to mush. After a few more hours it was all mush. I did leave out the flour, having read that you shouldn't try canning pie filling with flour or cornstarch in it. I didn't add any butter, either, before putting the (very tasty) mush into the jars.

I used a hot water bath to seal both the two pints of apple butter and the three pints of mock mince pie filling from the day before, as well as the five pints of candy apple applesauce. The water has to completely cover the jars, be brought to a boil, then with the heat reduced it needs to simmer for twenty minutes. Once that time is done, the jars are lifted out, set on a doubled-up bath towel to cool. All of the jars sealed for me.

This last recipe I'm sharing is one I took from the local Facebook page of recipes to share and try. The recipe seems complicated, but really isn't, and they're deadly good. I'm thinking I'll make the shortbread crust and slather that with the sugar-free apple butter during the next Whole Life Challenge, which starts Sept. 28, should anyone want to sign up now. I can testify that this program really works if you're honest with yourself.

Mock Twix Bars (in three parts)

Shortbread Base:

1 1/2C packed almond flour

3 Tbl melted, cooled coconut oil

2 Tbl maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

Peanut Butter Layer:

2/3 C nut butter of choice

1/3 C maple syrup

1/4 C coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp sea salt

Chocolate Layer:

3/4 C dark chocolate chips

1 Tbl coconut oil

Heat oven to 350°. Line an 8x8" square pan with parchment paper. Mix all base ingredients with a fork until crumbly, then press into prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack in that pan for 10 minutes.

Middle layer: mix all in a medium sized pot. Cook over medium-low heat until bubbly, about 2 minutes. Pour over cooled base. Refrigerate for 30 minutes (or in freezer for 15-20 minutes).

Topping: melt chips and oil together in the microwave in 20-second increments to avoid scorching. Stir after each zapping. Spread on top of the middle layer. Cut into 16 long bars, not squares. Store, covered, in the fridge.

This recipe says it's Paleo, or Keto, or whatever the current fad term is. But since maple syrup, while natural, is still sugar, I'd say to consume these in moderation. I'm having a hard time staying moderate as these taste so good, especially since I've been basically without sugar for six weeks. Half my pan is already gone and it's only been four days. I know Dennis isn't eating them as he doesn't like peanut butter after years of only accepting PBJ sandwiches for his school lunches. (While I used a mixed nut butter, it's all the same to him. But he isn't deprived: I made rice Krispy bars for him, which I can easily ignore.)