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Crockpot Apple Butter is so easy to make! Not only does it taste fantastic spread on toast, but it also makes your house smell amazing while it cooks. This recipe for making apple butter couldn’t be easier with just a few ingredients – it’s cheaper than buying it at the store and tastes so much better!
Apple Butter is expensive and it’s so easy to make it at home. It’s a richer, thicker, more flavorful and better spiced version of apple sauce and it’s great paired with so many recipes (sweet and savory). Apples get cooked down into a thick mixture that’s perfect to spread on toasted white bread or cinnamon bread or to use in recipes.
- Just 6 easy ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen
- Using the slow cooker makes it cook itself – while it takes time, it’s inactive time.
- You don’t have to peel the apples!
- It tastes like fall in a bite and makes your house smell like the ‘ber months!
Why make apple butter and not just applesauce? They are very similar, but applesauce is not cooked as long as apple butter. Apple butter has a deep golden color which is the caramelization that happens while they cook. It’s also pureed and then reduced until it’s thickened and spreadable and has a more concentrated apple flavor. Applesauce is thinner and less flavorful. Also, Apple Butter has no actual butter in it – it gets its name because it’s thick like spreadable butter.
How to make Crockpot Apple Butter
- Apples: Sweeter apples like fuji, gala, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious red delicious, or similar work well for apple butter. You need about 3 pounds apples.
- I leave my skins on the apples but you can peel them if you prefer.
- Sugar: This recipe uses both Granulated Sugar and Brown Sugar for sweetness and flavor.
- Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon is a MUST in any apple butter recipe!
- The easiest way to puree them is with a hand blender. I do this right in the crockpot. This is the hand blender I use.
- If you don’t have a hand blender, you can use a regular blender, but you should puree them in batches. Be careful not to overfill the blender and leave the lid cracked so the heat doesn’t cause a blow-up. This is my favorite blender.
- You can also use a food processor, but it can be hard to get the apples completely pureed this way.
Click to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions and below the recipe card for process shots.
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Storing Leftover Apple Butter
- Store cooled apple butter in the refrigerator in an airtight container or jar for up to a week.
- You can freeze it for several months – I prefer freezing in plastic containers (not glass).
- I have never canned this recipe; canning is a science and you should use a reputable source for how to do that.
Expert Tips
- How do you know when apples are done cooking for apple butter? You should cook them until the apples are translucent. Every crock pot is different, and this took about four hours in mine.
- How to store apple butter: Once you’ve made your apple butter, it will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. You can also freeze it in freezer containers.
- Thickening apple butter is all about the cooking time. Once you’ve pureed the apples, leave them to cook with the lid slightly askew on the crock pot. This will allow steam to escape, which will help thicken the butter. The amount of time it takes will vary depending on how much liquid needs to evaporate.
Apple Butter Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 3 lb (1400g) apples (fuji, gala, honeycrisp, red delicious or similar)
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Slice and core apples. You can peel them if you want but I don’t. Cut them into small chunks (smaller pieces cook faster).
- Place apples in the bottom of a 7qt slow cooker. Top with both sugars and cinnamon then toss to combine.
- Cover and cook on high for 3-5 hours, stirring after 2 hours. Cook until the apples look translucent, this took about 4 hours in my slow cooker.
- Use a hand blender to blend the apples and their liquid into a smooth sauce. If you don’t have a hand blender you can do this in a regular blender, but work in batches being careful not to overfill the blender with hot apples and leave the lid cracked when you run it so it doesn’t explode.
- Once your apples are blended, place them back in the slow cooker (if you’ve removed them to blend). Continue cooking on high with the lid cracked for 30 minutes to an hour, or until the mixture reduces to your desired thickness.
- Stir in salt and vanilla then let cool and place in jars or freezer containers. At this point you can can the mixture if you wish or use the cooled apple butter in other recipes or on toast. Without canning apple butter will last about 2 weeks if stored in the refrigerator.
Recipe Nutrition
How to Use Apple Butter
- Add it to your favorite recipes: Apple Butter Cookies or Apple Butter Bars are delish.
- Use it to top pancakes or waffles, even oatmeal, yogurt, or ice cream.
- Serve it next to cheese on a charcuterie board.
- It’s great on toast, English muffins, or biscuits.
- Serve it alongside pork chops instead of apple sauce
- Make a fall turkey sandwich with brie and some apple butter!
Step-by-Step Photos
- Slice and core the apples: I leave the skins on, but you can peel them if you prefer. Cut the apples into small chunks, so they cook faster.
- Place apples in the bottom of a 7-quart slow cooker and top them with both kinds of sugar and cinnamon. Toss them to coat them evenly.
- Cover the crock pot and cook the apples on high for three to five hours. Stir them after two hours.
- Once the apples are cooked, puree them with an immersion blender or in a blender.
- Cook the pureed apples for 30 minutes to an hour longer on high in the crock pot. Leave the lid askew so steam can escape while they cook. This will allow the mixture to reduce and thicken.
- Once it reaches your desired thickness, stir in the salt and vanilla extract. Let the apple butter cool, and then store it in jars.
Excellent recipe!! Very easy to make and tastes delicious!
I’ve made this twice now this Fall with apples from our Camp (golden delicious.) Excellent and very easy recipe!
The second time I made it I forgot to add the vanilla & salt, but even though I forgot it – it still tastes great!
Dorothy – is there a particular reason why it needs added so late? Love your recipes!
When you say ‘can’, you mean water bath? Thank you.
Super easy to make and it tastes great! I will definitely be making this again and again!! Thanks for sharing this easy to make recipe!!
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