The sauce can make all the difference! Store-bought brands are ok, especially when you want something quick and easy, but nothing beats the quality of homemade sauce! Especially THIS sauce! A combination of apple butter, BBQ sauce, and booze (this burns off during cooking), this sweet sauce is on fire! Make this flamin’ BBQ sauce and add a fireball twist to your next BBQ!
Ingredients
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, finely minced
1 small head of garlic (around 8 cloves), minced and crushed
1 C. cinnamon whiskey
3 C. apple butter (recipe below; make the day ahead)
1 C. ketchup
⅔ C. apple cider vinegar
¼ C. Worcestershire sauce
1 C. dark brown sugar
2 tsp. ground mustard
2 tsp. red pepper flakes
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
Directions
Step 1: Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic. Cook until the onions become translucent, stirring often so they don’t brown.
Step 2: Stir in the whiskey and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients.
Step 3: Add the apple butter mixture to the whiskey and stir to blend well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes.
This sauce is perfect for chicken, ribs, and pork chops! Slater it on and let it caramelize. It will quickly become a crowd favorite at any event.
Homemade Apple Butter
This apple butter is not only a great addition to your BBQ sauce, it’s also delicious spread on toast, muffins, and waffles! This recipe will create a good-sized batch so you’ll have enough for the BBQ sauce and some left over to enjoy on other things as well!
Ingredients
12 medium Fuji apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 ½ C. light brown sugar
½ C. apple juice
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. ground cloves
Directions
Step 1: Place the apples in a slow cooker and top with remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 8‑10 hours, or until the apples are very tender.
Step 2: Mash the apples with a fork until they are as smashed up as you can get them. Cook for another 2 hours in the slow cooker, stirring occasionally.
Step 3: Remove from the slow cooker and place in a bowl. Using a hand mixer, whip until it’s smooth and any chunks of apples are gone. Let it cool at room temperature for about 2 hours, then refrigerate.
What would you put this flamin’ BBQ sauce on? Tell us how you like to spice up your BBQ in the comments below!
