Salted Caramel Apple Butter

I made [reduced carbs] salted caramel sauce yesterday and added a little of it to pan-browned apples. The result, in my honest opinion, is an improvement on the usual spiced apple butter recipe which I made once before. It pairs very well with toasted challah. If you like apple caramel candy, then this is the apple butter recipe for you.

I used xylitol for a little more than half of the sugar to reduce some of the carbs. I'm not into extremely sweet stuff so the sugar in the recipe might be too little for your taste. You may increase the amount of sugar to your preference.

Salted Caramel Apple Butter

caramel sauce

½ cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

4 tablespoons cold butter, cubed

• In a medium stainless steel saucepan, cook sugar on medium-low heat until dark brown in color, do not let burn.
• Add heavy cream gradually and carefully (it will hiss and bubble). Turn heat to low, add salt, and let simmer until the caramelized sugar has dissolved, about 10 minutes.
• Turn off heat and add the butter. Let stand until butter has melted. Stir well until butter is fully incorporated.
• Leave to cool completely.
• Transfer into a squeeze bottle or Mason jar. Keep in refrigerator.

caramelized apples

3 large Fuji or Gala apples

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 cup salted caramel sauce 

• Peel, core, and slice apples. Heat cast iron skillet on medium, add butter, maple syrup, and apples and cook, turning once in a while to evenly brown. When apples are very soft and almost dry, mash with rubber spatula and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Transfer into a measuring cup and blend with a hand blender to a fine paste. Add 1 cup of prepared caramel sauce and mix thoroughly with a rubber spatula. [If you prefer the butter runnier, just add more caramel sauce, 1 tablespoon at a time.] Transfer into a jar. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.