Apple Butter Recipe

My super easy Apple Butter recipe is perfectly spiced with rich fall flavors. It takes just 10 minutes to prep with NO peeling required! The recipe includes a how-to video.

Rich brown apple butter recipe in a glass jar tied with twine

All the Best Flavors of Fall in a Jar

Apple butter is the richer, prettier, and perhaps more sophisticated sister to plain Jane applesauce. It’s truly the embodiment of fall, with colorful crisp apples cooked down and caramelized in spices, brown sugar, and vanilla. It tastes great on just about anything, but we love it spread over an English muffin or warm scone (heavenly!).

My favorite thing about this apple butter recipe is that there is NO peeling required! I’ve tested this recipe with peeled and unpeeled apples, and I didn’t notice a difference between the two. When cooked for as long as my recipe calls for, the peels break down completely and are not perceptible in the finished product. Save yourself the time and skip the peeling!

The Best Apple Butter Recipe

preading this Apple Butter on everything from scones to scrapple. My recipe is incredibly easy thanks to the help of a slow cooker.

Ingredients

  • ▢5.5 lbs soft, sweet apples (see note 1) Cored and chopped into small pieces, about ¼” (2.5kg)
  • ▢1 cup brown sugar firmly packed (200g)
  • ▢¾ cup granulated sugar (150g)
  • ▢1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • ▢¼ teaspoon salt
  • ▢⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ▢1 vanilla bean (may substitute 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract)

Instructions

  • Slice apples into small pieces (about ¼”) and dispose of the cores (you do not need to peel the apples).
  • Place apples in the basin of a large slow cooker
  • In a medium-sized bowl stir together sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and cloves until well combined.
  • Pour the sugar mixture over the apple pieces and stir until well combined.  
  • Place lid on crockpot and cook on low heat for 10 hours.
  • Once 10 hours have elapsed, use an immersion blender to puree apples until smooth and no chunks remain (see note 2 if you do not have an immersion blender).
  • Scrape the inside of the vanilla bean into your apple puree (or add vanilla extract).  
  • Turn the crockpot on to low heat and cook another 2 hours uncovered, stirring occasionally.
  • Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container, where it will last about 2 weeks.

Notes

1. Apples

I recommend using Golden Delicious, McIntosh, Fuji, or Gala. Don’t use Granny Smith; they are too tart and firm for this recipe. Weigh your apples before coring and chopping. Do not peel them! For me this was about 13 apples but this could vary wildly depending on the size of your apples.

2. Pureeing

If you do not have an immersion blender, pour the apples into a blender and puree until smooth, then return to the crockpot. You may need to work in batches, depending on the size of your blender. 

Storing

Store apple butter in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several weeks or freeze for up to several months. 

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25cup | Calories: 75kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 36mg | Potassium: 23mg | Sugar: 17g | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 0.2mg

Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, cooking methods, portion sizes, and more

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