The Amish Snack That Combines Apple Butter With An Unexpected Tangy Ingredient

Every state has its own local curiosities when it comes to regional cuisine, but few have a culinary history as rich as Pennsylvania. The state is home to plenty of obscure dishes, many of which can be credited to the Amish population. One standout is an unusual snack made by mixing sweet apple butter with savory cottage cheese. It's an unlikely duo, but makes for a delicious mouthful.

As Amish religious beliefs favor sustainable agriculture without preservatives or additives, the group's contribution to Pennsylvania's regional cuisine has been significant. The Amish population in Pennsylvania includes just over 90,000 people at the time of this writing, based on a study by Elizabethtown College. These communities are primarily descended from the first Amish settlers who arrived in Pennsylvania during the early 18th Century. 

Since then, Amish cuisine has spread throughout Pennsylvania and the wider United States. And while the surprising combo of apple butter and cottage cheese usually remains within state borders, it makes for the perfect autumnal snack wherever you live. 

Apple butter is a condiment made from cooked and pureed apples that have been mixed with lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and other spices. It's similar to jam or other fruit preserves except for its thicker texture, which makes it more akin to a buttery spread. It's not terribly difficult to make at home, and it's easy to find uses for it all over the kitchen once you've got a jar or two on hand. Apple butter is popular in Amish communities that use this method to preserve harvested apples to eat through the winter.

In contrast to the sweet tartness of a well-made apple butter, cottage cheese — or smearcase, as it's called by the Pennsylvania Dutch — leans heavily into salty and savory flavor profiles. This small curd cheese is also known for its versatility in the kitchen, so it makes sense that cottage cheese and apple butter would be a match made in heaven.

The combination of these two unexpectedly complimentary snacks is as simple as it sounds. Take a generous scoop of apple butter, mix it in with a dollop of cottage cheese and spread it over a slice of toast, or just eat it on its own.

Though you might need a moment to get used to the idea of mixing apple butter with cottage cheese, the flavor combination makes a lot of sense. Anyone who enjoys a good charcuterie board or likes cheddar cheese on their apple pie will immediately understand the appeal. The Amish snack uses the same combination of sweet and salty to wake up all your tastebuds and make them stand at attention.

The complementary flavors bring out the best in each other — the tartness of the apple butter and the creaminess of the cottage cheese. Plus, it's relatively healthy. "Thanks for teaching me the glory of apple butter," wrote Reddit user fyeahitsjess. "Mixing it with cottage cheese and cinnamon (hear me out) is like the cheesy apple danish I needed in my life for under 150 [calories]."

Where stronger cheeses would overpower the apple butter combination, the mild taste of most cottage cheese is more complementary, which is why this combo works so well together. Depending on your preferences, you can play with the ratio of apple butter to cottage cheese to make the snack more sweet or more salty. You can even add in other ingredients like dried fruit, nuts, or honey.