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Homemade Apple Butter

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A simple recipe for Homemade Apple Butter that you can make in the slow cooker. Use as a spread, a syrup or in your fall recipes! It’s one of the best apple recipes to make during the fall!

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Homemade Apple Butter Recipe

Is it officially fall yet?  The leaves are not yet turning orange and red, but last week our whole house was filled with the aroma of baking apples and cinnamon. Who needs an official date? Fall was happening

OUR LATEST RECIPES

Who needs an official date for it to be considered fall? Fall was happening a week ago on my radar.

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. You’ll find me huddled around a campfire, drinking warm apple cider…what could be better than that?

Well, maybe this:

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I really don’t know what to say about this Homemade Apple Butter besides it’s really easy and it is unbelievably good. It’s one of those things that you take a spoonful of and say, “This could go in soooo many recipes!”

What is the difference between apple sauce and apple butter?

Both apple butter and apple sauce are slow cooked apples and spices. Apple butter is cooked longer than apple sauce which creates a thick, smooth, intense apple flavored spread.

How to Make Apple Butter

To make homemade apple butter, all you have to do is stick some apples in a crock pot with brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and a dash of salt. Let it sit there all day, stirring occasionally, and BOOM! Apple Butter. It’s really that easy.

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What do you do with apple butter?

My first bite reminded me of applesauce with a bit of tang to it. I love how when I put this homemade apple butter on a piece of white, fluffy bread, it completely changes the flavor! Instant, fall-flavored bread. You can put it in muffins & biscuits.

I also like to put this homemade apple butter on ice cream. Warm it slightly in the microwave and use it as a syrup on ice cream or pancakes. Because, why not?

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What apples are best for apple butter?

For apple butter, we like to use Mcintosh, Red Delicious or Gala because they are easy to find in our stores. Although Granny Smith are great for baking, they are not recommended for apple butter. Also, some apples are sweeter than others. You can adjust how much sugar you use based on how sweet your apple is.

How to Make Apple Butter Smooth

Also, when your apple butter has slow-cooked all day, you can leave it slightly chunky, which is awesome for recipes, or you can put it through the blender (or use an immersion blender) and puree it. We made two batches.  One we left chunky and made one batch perfectly smooth. You know…for those picky texture eaters.

How do you store homemade apple butter?

I’ve never canned this apple butter before, but if you know how to can, I’m sure it would work well. I like to freeze my apple butter because I have plenty of freezer space. Just spoon it into small, 1-cup freezer containers and pull them out as you need them!

4.91 from 10 votes
A simple recipe for Homemade Apple Butter that you can make in the slow cooker. Use as a spread, a syrup or in your fall recipes!
Print
Homemade Apple Butter
Prep Time
25 mins
Cook Time
10 hrs
Total Time
10 hrs 25 mins
 

A simple recipe for Homemade Apple Butter that you can make in the slow cooker. Use as a spread, a syrup or in your fall recipes!

Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Keyword: apple butter recipes, apple recipes, fall recipes
Servings: 20
Calories: 120 kcal
Author: Lizzy T
Ingredients
  • 6 1/2 pounds apples peeled, cored and sliced
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
  1. Place the apples in a slow cooker.
  2. Add the sugars, cinnamon, salt and vanilla to the crockpot. Mix well.
  3. Cook in slow cooker on low for about 10 hours, stirring every couple hours. The apple butter should be thick and dark brown.
  4. If desired, use a blender to puree the apple butter until smooth.
  5. Cover and refrigerate for up to two weeks or freeze in small containers.

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

Adjust the sugar to your liking!

Nutrition Facts
Homemade Apple Butter
Amount Per Serving
Calories 120
% Daily Value*
Sodium 32mg 1%
Potassium 167mg 5%
Total Carbohydrates 31g 10%
Dietary Fiber 3g 12%
Sugars 25g
Vitamin A 1.6%
Vitamin C 8.2%
Calcium 1.9%
Iron 1.5%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Adapted from My Baking Addiction

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Comments

  1. I have to say you guys have THE best site online. I never fail to search and find something absolutely perfect and delicious for upcoming family getting together or friends over for dinner. I am holding a Tea Luncheon on the 15th and this apple butter will be delish on the menu. I am making several of your muffins as well. Thank you for doing such a fantastic job, your recipes honestly make me salivate!!!

    Reply

  2. i had bought a case of apples.made several different things with them..but still had over four pounds of apples left.so this morning.3/19/14..i got on line and started to look for something to make..(apple cake) was my first though..after looking for at three hours i saw a ad on tv for apple butter..i didnt have any….AND I THAN DECIDED TO LOOK FOR A RECIPE FOR APPLE BUTTER..i came across this..WOW:WOW..VERY VERY GOOD..I WILL NEVER BUY STORE BOUGHT AGAIN…unless i really have to..THANK YOU..

    Reply

    • Rosa,
      I’m so glad you loved our Apple Butter! We agree…so much better than store-bought! Thanks so much for your feedback! Have a great day!
      Julie

      Reply

  3. -HAD TO MAKE ANOTHE BATCH::MY FAMILY JUST :LOVED IT::THIS TIME I MADE A WHOLE CASE OF APPLES::(each case has 270 apples.)AND CANNED THEM:::THANK YOU::

    Reply

    • Rosa, I think you could give it a try…you wouldn’t be stirring it as often if it was cooking in the middle of the night, but I think it would work as long as you keep the crockpot on low. Let me know how it works out! It would be a fantastic aroma to wake up to in the morning, that’s for sure!

      Reply

    • Rosa, although I’ve not tried it, I think it would probably be OK as long as your crockpot is on low. What a great aroma to wake up to in the morning!

      Reply

  5. HELLO.yes it WORKS WELL OVER NIGHT.I AM PUTTING A BATCH ON TONIGHT..(4/7/14)…just keep on LOW….MAKES THE WHOLE SMELL SO VERY GOOD..WE JUST LOVE THE APPLE BUTTER..
    THANK YOU..

    Reply

  6. Hello! I’m wondering if you can tell me where you got the jar in the picture of the homemade apple butter? Thanks 🙂

    Reply

  9. i don’t need a lot made. I’m making for Christmas for my dad and some for my house. Do I need to modify the recipe and if so how much for just two big mason jars worth?

    Reply

    • Kayleigh, You would need at least this whole recipe to fill 2 quart mason jars. It really depends on how big the apples are that you use.

      Reply

    • I’d say a couple of weeks in the fridge. If you’d like, you can freeze it, too. Just put it in freezer containers, freeze, and pull it out when you’re ready for it. That is how we store it. 🙂

      Reply

    • You can definitely leave it out! 🙂 We actually don’t put vanilla in our applesauce. For applesauce, we strictly use only apples. Not even sugar. But for our apple butter, we like to jazz it up a bit.

      Reply

  14. I made your recipe and loved it. So simple. I ended up cooking it down a bit longer to really concentrate it, and then canned it in some half pint jars I had on hand. It turned out great – I gave some as gifts to family. Currently on my last jar so will definitely make some more soon now that Autumn is here. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

    • It usually thickens as it gets colder. You can also puree it, then let it cook a few more hours in the slow cooker with the lid slightly ajar. This will help it to thicken. Cook it like this until it is at the consistency you’d like!

      Reply

  16. Umm…I don’t have a food scale, how would I know how much 6 1/2 lbs of apples is? I’m kind of a beginner cooking and this recipe seems really easy otherwise. How much would that be in cups? Thanks!

    Reply

  17. Just made this today with some apples we picked at a local farm orchard. It was good I will definitely cut back on the sugar next time and maybe leave out the vanilla. I always try to make the recipes by the work the first time then tweak once I know what it’s like. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  20. I made some using Granny smith and red and yellow delish, apples. didn’t need any sugar, but also tasted more like applesauce, so added some sugar and cooked longer and it was delishious. didn’t even need to blended cause with the extra cooking it was just as we liked

    Reply

  21. I am thinking of trying this recipe and wondering, is it possible to make this without removing the skins and cores? Just trying to cut down on labor and wondering if this would work. Thanks!

    Reply

  23. This recipe sounds delight. I have some apples I am going to use for this recipe.I would like to know if I have to peel them and core them before I put them into the slow cooker. My hands are arthiritis so is difficult to do some of these things.

    Reply

  25. I’ve alreadhbmade this recipe once for my coworkers, and they were literally eating it OUT OF THE JAR! I was wondering if I could cook them on high for 5 hours instead? Of course I got started late… and now I’m in a pinch for time!

    Reply

  26. Hi. My husband LOVES apple butter and I wanted to make this recipe for him. I was wondering if I could leave the skins on? What do you think the result would be? I’m also going to use coconut sugar for the brown sugar and monk fruit for the white sugar. Hope it works. He loves vanilla so I will keep that in. Just wondering about the skins. Would prefer to leave them on if it won’t ruin the consistency. Thoughts?

    Reply

    • I love the coconut sugar idea, but I personally would not like the skins on. The apple butter would not be smooth and the I wouldn’t like the waxy, paper feel of the cooked skin. If you don’t mind that, you may like it that way, though.

      Reply

  28. Hi, Just want to let you know that I made the apple butter, and it was the best. I Have been buying it ,but when I seen your recipe and it can be frozen, I tried it and it was a success already ate one jar on toast everyday. Thank u Mary PS. Went and bought myself a apple peeler to make more . HAHA

    Reply

  30. What does an old hippy drummer do between gigs? He cooks, bakes, cans, preserves, and has his friends scratching their heads–a rock drummer that cans and makes jams (the edible kind). Today, I found your website–don’t you ever go away! The gazillion year old apple tree outside our studio produced apples for the first time in 5 years, and I’m going crazy to get as many apples put away as I can.

    Thank you for the large print recipes and guidelines. Looking forward to checking out al the other recipes, ideas and advice.

    Just for the record, I’m a single guy; just celebrated my 70th birthday (geez, didn’t take long to get here), and I really do play in a rock band.

    Reply

  33. I peeled 1/2 the apples, cored all of the — not totally but 98% of the way. When I used the immersion blender the apple butter trusted out smooth as, well butter ☺️ DO NOT be afraid to not peel the apples as long as you clean them with a brush.
    I used 1/4 cup of white sugar & 1/4 cup of honey & it is delicious

    Reply

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Tastes of Lizzy T is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Any highlighted, clickable Amazon link you see is an affiliate link.

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