Old Fashioned Slow Cooker Apple Butter

This old-fashioned slow cooker apple butter is so easy and full of flavor. Make delicious apple butter using simple ingredients with the crock pot doing all the work!

 

Why We Love Slow Cooker Apple Butter

• Apple butter is a spread that goes with so many things. From breakfast on pancakes, to dinner with pork or dessert over ice cream, apple butter is delicious. Or just smear it over toast or biscuits. Try some of your apple butter in the pork chops with apple butter recipe, or add a smear to the apple french toast casserole.
• Perfect recipe for fall when apples are sweet and plentiful.
• A great way to finish off those apples from a trip to the apple orchard to go apple picking.
• Super easy set and forget it method! The slow cooker makes it easy to make homemade apple butter while you do other things.
• Can freeze this recipe for later.

When I was a kid growing up in Ohio we had apple orchards everywhere in the fall. A friend of mine always had the best apple butter that she shared with me, it was an amish recipe that was passed down somewhere in her family. Now that I’m an adult I decided I needed to replicate her Amish Apple Butter recipe so we can enjoy one of my favorite things for fall.

Ingredients For Your Shopping List

• apples Cut into chunks, remove any bruisies. 5-6 pounds of apples can be used for this recipe, it doesn’t have to be super exact
• brown sugar– This sugar level is similar to traditional apple butter. See more notes below about reducing sugar if you choose.
• cinnamon
• salt
• vanilla extract
• pumpkin pie spice this is optional, but brings a lot of savory flavor to your apple butter. You could also add 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg and a 1/2 teaspoon of ginger in it’s place.

How To Make Slow Cooker Apple Butter

1. Slice apples into large pieces, removing any bruises as you go. Place apples in the bottom of a 4, 5 or 6 quart slow cooker. Slicing the apples makes the entire process take a little less time to cook. This is a super forgiving recipe, so don’t worry if your ingredient measurements aren’t all exact.

2. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, vanilla and optional pumpkin pie spice to the slow cooker. Stir until well mixed with the apples.

3. Cook the apples on low for 8-10 hours on low heat. Apple butter cooks for a long time so it makes a super flavorful spread.
4. Puree the soft apples using an immersion hand blender or transfer the ingredients to a food processor. You can also use a food mill to make the apple butter even smoother. Blend until you have smooth apple butter in the crockpot or food processor. You could also allow it to cool to room temperature then use a regular blender.

5. Place apple mixture back in the slow cooker. Cook on high heat for one hour uncovered or until thick to your liking. This allows the apple butter to thicken further.
6. Allow the apple butter to cool, then enjoy! Store extra in airtight containers.

What’s The Difference Between Apple Butter And Applesauce?

Apple butter is usually thicker then applesauce and is used more like a spread. Apple butter also almost always has extra spices added while applesauce only has spices added sometimes.

Both apple butter and homemade applesauce can be made in the crockpot, just cook the apples for less time before you blend it. You can also add apple juice, apple cider or just water to apple sauce to make it less thick.

Variation Ideas, Swaps, And FAQ

Here are some of the most common questions about making apple butter. If you use a variation on the original recipe make sure to tell us about it in the comments!

What Kinds Of Apples Varieties Do I Use In Apple Butter?

You could use any variety of apples to make apple butter, but some apples have a better texture and flavor once cooked. I used Honey Crisp apples in my version of this recipe which tends to give apple butter a lighter color than some varieties of apples.

You can also mix and match any of the apples on these lists. I like to sometimes use a mix of apples, especially a sweeter apple with a more tart apple.

Sweet Apples

• Honey Crisp Apples
• Fuji Apples
• Golden Delicious Apples
• Crispin Apples – Also known as Mutsu apples

Moderately Sweet Apples

• McIntosh Apples
• Granny Smith Apples
• Jonagold Apples
• Jonamac Apples (harder to find)
• Gravenstein Apples (harder to find)

Tart Apples

• Cortland Apples
• Jonathan Apples
• Ida Red Apples
• Braeburn Apples
• Liberty Apples
• Rome Apples

You may have noticed some apples are not listed on this list. Some varieties of apples simply taste better fresh than cooked. For example, a red delicious apple has a really mealy texture when cooked.

Farmers in apple orchards are trying to intermix apples to make new kinds all the time. If you have apples from a farm or even from a grocery store not on this list, they usually say which varieties are best for cooking with when you purchase them. You can also check for your apples on this list of apples and how to use them.

Did you know you can also make Pear Butter? It’s smooth and sweet, and has great flavor just like apple butter.

Can I Make This Slow Cooker Apple Butter Sugar Free?

Yes, apple butter can be made sugar free or you can drastically reduce the sugar. This recipe is an Amish style apple butter recipe, but sugar can be left out altogether or you could use alternative sweeteners.

I recommend adding honey or real maple syrup to taste after the apple butter has cooled at the end if you’re trying to reduce the sugar in this recipe. Both of these sugars dissolve more easily into the apple butter after cooking than brown sugar does.

Do I Need The Apple Peels?

If you don’t like the apple peels you can certainly peel the apples before making the apple butter. Removing the peels will give your apple butter an even more smooth consistency.

Honestly, I prefer the easy way out and just throw all the peels in! I don’t think peels or no peels really change this recipe very much so I don’t peel.

How Do I Thicken Apple Butter?

Making crock pot apple butter is great because the crock pot does the majority of the work. One thing crockpots do really well is to keep moisture inside the pot.

At the end of the recipe, I recommend cooking the apple butter for an additional hour uncovered. This allows extra water that may be trapped inside the crock pot to cook-off.

If after an hour your apple butter still isn’t thick enough, keep cooking it uncovered until it is your desired thickness. An extra half an hour or even an extra hour uncovered will thicken everything if needed.

Can I Freeze Apple Butter?

Yes, apple butter freezes very well. I usually freeze apple butter in quart-size zip-top freezer bags and I lay them flat. Then they are thin and really easy to defrost on the counter or by placing the bag in a bowl of warm water.

You can also freeze in silicone molds or in glass mason jars. If you freeze in mason jars be sure to leave at least an inch of space at the top of the jar for the apple butter to expand as it freezes.

How Do I Can Apple Butter?

Canning apple butter can be done in a water bath on the stove with mason jars. You don’t have to have special canning equipment to can apple butter other than mason jars, lids and rings. A jar lifter can also be used, but you could also use tongs if you don’t have one.

Check out this article for step-by-step instructions of how to can apple butter. If you’re interested in starting to learn how to can, apple butter and apple sauce are both great for beginners because a pressure canner is not needed.

What Do I Serve Apple Butter With?

Apple butter can be served with so many dishes! It’s a delicious treat you can eat all fall (and winter if you freeze it!) long.

For breakfast, try smearing apple butter on biscuits or drizzle apple butter over pancakes. Try dipping potato pancakes in apple butter. Or just smear apple butter on an easy muffin, zucchini banana bread, english muffin or a thick slice of toast! I also like making pear jam in the fall and alternating between apple butter and pear jam for my morning toast.

Serve apple butter on the side with pork for a delicious savory dinner. Try it with my pork loin in the crockpot or my oven baked pork loin.

Use apple butter in baked goods, such as my applesauce walnut cake. Apple butter is a little more concentrated than the applesauce and will bring more apple flavor. Try apple butter pie for another great sweet treat, it needs about two cups of apple butter.

You can also use apple butter in cookies, like these Pecan Linzer Cookies which use an apple jam in the center but you could totally use apple butter. They are very similar.