Skip Basic Ketchup – Add This Sweet Spread To Burgers For A Delicious Fall Upgrade

For many people, pumpkin is the taste of fall, meaning they will discuss things like the differences between Starbucks' and Dunkin's pumpkin spice lattes 'til the cows come home. But there's another contender for the season's most iconic flavor: apple. In the Northern Hemisphere, the fruit is harvested between August and November, in time to bring a tart, sweet, crunch to fall. You can do a lot with an apple, from all-American pies to crunching it down from stem to seeds, like Abe Lincoln did, but our favorite thing is turning them into apple butter for our burgers.

Apple butter is a blend of apples and a variety of warm spices (well, it is fall), including cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice. It's all cooked together slowly — more about that later — to produce an intensely flavored condiment. Don't be fooled by the name; apple butter is a thick sort of jam that pairs phenomenally well with hamburgers. The deeply savory meat gets a balancing dose of sweet, spicy oomph from the apple butter, turning the hand-held from good to gloriously complex.

You can pick up a jar of apple butter in supermarkets or specialty stores, including sugar-free and organic kinds. However, unlike jams or jellies, it pays to be parsimonious when adding it to your burgers. Most apple butter is quite potent, and a little dollop instead of your basic ketchup will be enough to give your burger a fall flavor kick without overwhelming the flavor of the beef.

Europeans have made apple butter for hundreds of years, but Pennsylvania Dutch immigrants are often credited with bringing it to the United States in the 18th century. Making it was a hot, labor-intensive process that took around 12 to 15 hours of boiling and simmering, with families and neighbors often pitching in to cut or stir the apples. To many, the glistening, sweet result was worth every bead of sweat and strained muscle, providing a burst of flavor in the dull, dark winter months. Although one historical source claimed their apple butter, stored in an attic, would keep for 25 years, a jar of it kept shut in a modern fridge should last around a year.

Our go-to use for apple butter would be smearing on a burger, but if you make your own patties, try adding it to the meat for a surprising burst of sweetness. Likewise, just as apple and cheddar are a stellar duo, apple butter is a delicious addition to a cheese plate. You might also try your hand at this 2-ingredient Pennsylvania snack that includes apple butter. A spoonful of the stuff also goes brilliantly with warm, comforting carbs like pancakes, raisin bread, and waffles. Bringing it all back to fall, you can easily swirl it into your next pumpkin pie for an instant seasonal fave.