Making Slow Cooker Apple Butter is an easy and cost effective way to make this delicious spread. Enjoy on your favorite toasted bread, as a condiment or in a variety of fall and holiday recipes. Apple butter is great for gifting during the holiday season - all you need is a bunch of apples, sugar and spices!
Table Of Contents
This easy recipe for apple butter in your slow cooker is perfectly spiced with the flavors of fall. I love making apple butter this way because there is no peeling required - just a little chopping and mixing! It turns out super delicious and will last you a while either in the fridge or stocked in the freezer to use all fall and winter long. Apple butter is delicious spread onto warm toasted bread, like cinnamon raisin bread, rye bread and whole wheat bread. Use it to enjoy homemade apple bread too!
You'll love this recipe because it takes just 10 minutes to prepare. And that preparation is easy, it's just a matter of chopping the apples and putting them into the crockpot! You can make your apple butter in the Instant Pot in no time at all as well, if you prefer that method.
Making apple butter in a crockpot without having to peel the apples works because the long and slow cooking time breaks down the peels entirely. Once it's blended, the peels disappear into the mixture, so there really is no need to spend time peeling all those apples.
If you love using apples in your recipes once it's apple picking season, make sure to check out this slow cooker pork chops and apples dinner, crockpot apple pie filling or apple nachos for the kids!
Ingredients
- Apples: Use a combination of soft and sweet apples for the best flavor. Fuji, Golden Delicious, Gala and McIntosh are great choices. If you prefer a sweet-tart apple butter, Granny Smith, Cortland and Jonathan are great choices too. I prefer using a combination of sweet and tart apples.
- Sugars: my apple butter uses a combination of white sugar and light or dark brown sugar.
- Spices: ground cinnamon, ground allspice, ground nutmeg and salt.
Instructions
- Prepare the apples by coring and chopping into quarters. You can peel them if you'd like, but it is not necessary.
- Place the chopped apples in the slow cooker. Add the water, white sugar, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and salt. Stir to combine.
- Set to LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours (preferably the low setting).
- Once cooking is complete, use an immersion blender or transfer the contents to a regular blender to blend until the apple butter is smooth. Be careful, as it will be hot. For a thicker consistency, bring the mixture to a simmer over low heat in a large pot and reduce it to your desired thickness, about 60-90 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
- Allow the apple butter to cool before transferring it to clean, airtight jars or containers. Refrigerate for short-term use or freeze for longer storage.
Tips from the Chef
The longer you simmer the apple butter once it's done in the crockpot, the thicker it will become. So the time it takes to thicken is a matter of personal preference. Apple butter will also continue to thicken as it chills in the fridge. If you want to thicken it more quickly, mix a cornstarch slurry with a small amount of cold water and stir into the simmering apple butter. Use about 3 tablespoons of cornstarch for this recipe.
How To Store
Let your homemade apple butter cool and then transfer to glass mason jars or other airtight containers. Seal the lid tightly and store in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. It can be stored in the freezer for 6-12 months.
Ways To Use Apple Butter
- Spread on toasted bread or bagels. It's great on honey wheat bread, pumpkin bread and cranberry cream cheese bread.
- As a topping for breakfast meals, such as chocolate pancakes, oat milk pancakes, almond milk pancakes and cottage cheese waffles.
- As a glaze for pork chops, chicken, turkey or ham.
Recipe FAQS
In short, apple butter is a highly concentrated form of applesauce. To make apple butter, apples are slow cooked with sugar and spices until the mixture becomes thick, sweet and dark in color. Applesauce is typically quicker to cook and generally doesn't contain added sugars or spices. It's a little thinner in consistency too.
Yes, apple butter does need to be stored in the refrigerator.
Popular varieties for making apple butter are sweet, sweet-tart or tart, depending on personal preference. These include: Jonathan, Granny Smith, Fuji, McIntosh, Golden Delicious, Rome Beauty, Honeycrisp and Gala.
Ultimately, the best choice depends on your personal preference and what's available in your area. It can also be fun to experiment with different varieties or mix a few together to create a unique flavor profile.
Recipe
Slow Cooker Apple Butter
Ingredients
- 3 lbs apples *see notes
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup white sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Prepare the apples by coring, peeling (optional) and chopping into quarters.
- Place the chopped apples in the slow cooker. Add the water, white sugar, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and salt. Stir to combine.
- Set to LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4 hours (preferably the low setting).
- Once cooking is complete, use an immersion blender or transfer the contents to a regular blender to blend until the apple butter is smooth. Be careful, as it will be hot. For a thicker consistency, bring the mixture to a simmer over low heat in a large pot and reduce it to your desired thickness, about 60-90 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
- Allow the apple butter to cool before transferring it to clean, airtight jars or containers. Refrigerate for short-term use or freeze for longer storage.
Notes
Nutrition
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