Slow cooker chai apple butter

Easy slow cooker chai apple butter: Use it as a flavorful spread or swirl it into your morning yogurt, oatmeal or cottage cheese.

Last day to talk about apples, I swear. But that doesn't mean I'll start talking about pumpkin. Heck no -- that ship sailed this year and I can't say I missed it.

No, we'll move directly into preparations for this food blogger's high holy day: Thanksgiving! And then we'll talk about all the blow-your-mind things you can make with those tons of Thanksgiving leftovers.

But before we start talking all about the Thanksgiving sides and Mr. Ninj's famous deep fried turkey, let's have one last hurrah for apples. Which I've doctored into a chai-spiced apple butter that is super easy, because it calls for ground chai tea and is made in the slow cooker.

I've found that using ground tea is a great (and easy!) way to add lots of unique flavor to a variety of things, like a caramel chai tea latte or slow cooker steel cut oats.

I like Blue Lotus brand because it's a fine powder. If the chai you use is more of a loose-leaf tea, just whirl it around in a coffee grinder or grind it with a mortar and pestle until its more the consistency of ground spices.

After that, just put it all in a big slow cooker and watch the magic happen.

Mr. Ninj's favorite way to eat this slow cooker chai apple butter is swirled into cottage cheese: I was skeptical at first, but now I'm a convert.

Have you ever eaten apple butter the Mr. Ninj way? Leave a comment: The Ninj wants to know.

Slow Cooker Chai Apple Butter

Note: If you don't want a ton of apple butter, remove half at the applesauce stage, add only half the brown sugar and cook the rest down into apple butter. Two for the price of one!

Ingredients:
4-5 pounds apples, peeled, cored and coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon chai tea (I use Blue Lotus)
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

Directions:
Toss the apples and chai tea together in the crock of a large slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW, stirring occasionally if you happen to be around, for about 6 hours (at this point, it will be applesauce). Puree with an immersion blender, stir in the brown sugar, then replace the lid, leaving it slightly ajar, and continue to cook for about another 2 hours or until the apple butter has reached your favorite, thick consistency.

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