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Apple Butter BBQ Ribs!

Mix some fall flavors into your next grilling adventure with this seasonal take on BBQ ribs.

Active Time
20 minutes

Total Time
4 hours

How to Make It

Step 1

Preheat the oven or grill to 250 degrees F.

Step 2

Mix together: brown sugar and all of the remaining dry spices. Set aside one tablespoon worth of the well-combined spices to add to your apple butter mixture later.

Step 3

Remove the membrane from the underside of each rack of ribs. (It may help to use a butter knife to get under the membrane and then use your hands to pull it off once you can fit a finger underneath.)

Step 4

Place the ribs on a rimmed baking sheet and rub with the spice mix. Bake, meaty side up, for 2 ½ hours.

Step 5

Mix together: apple cider, apple butter, maple syrup, and a tablespoon of spice. Pour over the ribs and turn to coat. Cover well with foil and bake for an additional hour.

Step 6

To finish the ribs, heat up the grill and mix together the apple butter and barbecue sauce.

Step 7

Place the ribs on the grill and brush them with barbecue sauce, turning and brushing until they’ve glazed; about 15 minutes. Let them rest for 10 minutes and then serve. (If you don’t have access to a grill, feel free to finish them under the broiler…and make a note to buy a grill!).

Ingredients

For the Ribs:

  • 2 racks baby back ribs
  • ¼ cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon garlic salt
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon celery salt
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon white pepper
  • ½ cup apple butter
  • ½ cup apple cider
  • ¼ cup maple syrup

For the Sauce:

  • 1 cup prepared barbecue sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Chipotle)
  • ½ cup apple butter

Mix some fall flavors into your next grilling adventure. Go above and beyond that applewood-smoked with this full-on apple butter, finger-lickin’, goodness. It mingles the best of the sweet apple butter, cinnamon and fall flavors, with the spicy BBQ sauce.

Bonus tip: adjust your sweet and spicy ratio with your choice of BBQ sauce.

Thank you, to HostTheToast for the original recipe and photo.