Easy Apple Butter

This was my first experience canning.  A friend of mine sent me home a few weeks ago with her own canned strawberry preserves and fig jam and sold me on the art of canning.  I had no idea how EASY it is.  Therefore, with Matt out of town this weekend and a solid two days of cleaning house and playing in the kitchen, I decided to give my own recipe & canning a try.  First up:  apple butter.  There really is nothing better at the beginning of fall than the powerful aroma of slow cooking apples and cinnamon.  Heavenly. 

Below is the recipe I used, however I think in the future I'd cut out an entire cup (maybe just half to start) of the sugar, good God this stuff is sweet.  But still delicious.  The best part?  This recipe is for slow cooker apple butter, no intense process necessary.  After the laborious prep of peeling and slicing all of the apples, this was easy-peasy.  I think I might be in a canning phase for awhile.
(Note:  this recipe only yielded 6 x 4oz canning jars.  I will double this recipe in the future.)

Crock Pot Apple Butter
Approx. 3 lbs apples
3 cups sugar (they also suggest substituting 1 cup honey for 1 of the cups of sugar to lessen the sweetness)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cloves
dash of salt
3/4 cup water (or fresh apple cider, which I did not have)

Fill crock pot with peeled, cored, and sliced apples (crock pot should not exceed 3/4 full).  Add the remaining ingredients and stir until evenly mixed.  Cover and cook on 
low setting all day or overnight until the butter is of a thick, spreadable consistency.
If apple butter has too much liquid, remove lid and cook on high until thickened.  Stir often as butter thickens to prevent scorching.  When you're all done, use an immersion blender for a couple minutes for a smoother consistency.

I used this link for assistance in my canning procedure, as well as this starter kit for dropping my jars into my boiling water bath.