I wasn’t expecting such a buzz last week when I mentioned on facebook that the crockpot of apple butter was making my house smell amazing. But suddenly people were commenting, and emailing, and begging for the recipe. So I promised to post it ASAP, and here it is! I do have to say this is REALLY good apple butter. I’ve given it as gifts and had people chase me down in church to ask how I made it. In fact, if I were that type of person I might boastingly call this the best apple butter recipe ever! But really, there are two secrets to this apple butter, and I promise to share both of them with you.
The first secret is that I don’t use applesauce to make it, I use fresh apples. It’s common to use homemade or store bought apple sauce to make apple butter, but the first time I wanted to make it, I just had lots and lots of apples. Fortunately, I also had a very handy apple peeler/corer/slicer. I bought it right around the time Eric and I got engaged when I found out how much he loves apple pie. It makes apple pie, apple sauce, and apple butter A LOT faster to make.
The second secret is that I cook it for up to 48 hours in a crockpot. That’s right, two days of cooking. But you can’t just put everything in and leave it alone for 48 hours. You have to add apples as it cooks down. It might sound involved, but really it’s only about five minutes of work 3 or 4 times. Apple Butter is so simple to make! Throughout the process, I say 10 hours since that’s the setting on the crockpot, but it’s not an exact science. It’s okay if you want to add more apples sooner if it’s cooked down. It’s also okay if you’re not home or asleep when it finishes as long as your crockpot has a warming setting, it can stay on the warm setting several hours.
Another cool thing about this apple butter is that it uses the peels of the apples. When I’m making apple sauce or apple pie, something that I want just the apple flesh for, I’ll often make sure to make a batch of apple butter as well. I put the extra peels in the crockpot and then get to feel really good about not wasting food. You don’t have to peel the apples for making apple butter, I just usually make it at the same time as making apple sauce so use my peeler/corer/slicer on 40 pounds of apples at a time and turn all the peels and whatever I don’t use for apple sauce into apple butter.
A friend asked me what you can use apple butter for other than spreading on bread. I think you can use it in any recipe that calls for jam. Like I mentioned in my rhubarb jam post, you can use it in cake layers, bakewell tarts, on shortcakes, I’d also use it in thumbprint or sandwich cookies. I put the word out on Twitter and my friend Jen said “My mom used to make muffins and “fill” them with a little dollop of jam.” Love that idea! How would you use this apple butter?
Homemade Apple Butter
makes 8 pintsIngredients
25-30 apples (I prefer Fuji or Jonagold)
2-4 tsp cinnamon
1/4-1/2 tsp allspice
1/2-1 tsp ground cloves
2-4 cups sugar
Instructions
Core and slice apples, dumping the slices into the crockpot as you go. Stop prepping apples when the crockpot is full (just save the remaining apples for later).
Add 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp allspice, 1/2 tsp cloves and 2 cups of sugar. Mix well and put the crock pot on low for 10 hours. Feel free to stir when you walk by!
After 10 hours, core and slice more apples to fill the crockpot. Dump the new apple slices into what’s already cooked down. Mix well. Cook another 10 hours on low.
Repeat the process of adding more apples, mix, set the crockpot for another 10 hours.
Taste test your apple butter and add more cinnamon, allspice, cloves and sugar to your taste. I usually add the same amount I did the first time, although sometimes I only add one more cup of sugar, depends on how sweet the apples are.
After it’s gone a good 30-40 hours, use an immersion blender to puree it. (You could probably put through food mill or blender too). Continue cooking until it’s the thickness that you want. If it’s not cooking down enough vent the lid a little. If it gets too thick, add some water or apple juice.
When it’s the consistency you want, can it using a *waterbath method.
Approximate cost/serving: I got 40lbs of apples for $15 from a local farm, that was over 100 apples! It was only $3 for all the apples, and the total cost was about $3.40. It made about 8 pints of apple butter, so only 43 cents a pint! I know! Cheap!
Vegetarian/Gluten Free: Yes and yes!
*You can do a google search for waterbath canning to get lots of tips. I don’t have any special tools for canning. I use a big pot of water, rubber coated tongs to lift the jars (you can also just wrap some rubber bands around regular tongs), and a ladle to fill the jars. Basically, fill your biggest, tallest pot with water and bring to a boil. Place your empty jars and new lids (always use new, but can recycle rings) in the water for 5 minutes. Take them out, fill with apple butter to 1/4 inch from the top. Wipe the rims and place the lids on the jars. Screw on the rings and place in the boiling water. Boil them (this is processing) for 5-20 minutes using the chart below, making sure the water level covers the jars completely. Remove and set on a counter, don’t move them for 24 hours! Then press the center of the lid. If it doesn’t pop in (meaning it already has), it’s sealed and good to store for up to two years. If it does pop in, refrigerate it and use in a week.
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Recommended process time for Apple Butter in a boiling-water canner. |
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Jar Size |
Process Time at Altitudes of |
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0 – 1,000 ft |
1,001 – 6,000 ft |
Above 6,000 ft |
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Half-pints or Pints |
5 min |
10 |
15 |
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Quarts |
10 |
15 |
20 |
source of time chart: pickyourown.org
What size crockpot do you use?
I have a 5.5 quart crockpot.
oooh how I want to try this. I love apple butter and haven’t had it in years. I wonder if you could make a glaze or icing out of it for apple cake or muffins?
I bought one of those peeler thingies and it doesn’t work
The part that goes into the core strips and then the apple won’t turn. Have you ever had that problem?
Susie, The only time I’ve had that problem with mine is if the apples are warm. I find the colder they are the easier they peel/core/slice. But I think it could also be a different brand? My friend has one that just plain doesn’t work. A good one will cost $25-30 when new, but I found it totally worth it.
Hey there, miss Diana. My friends and I went apple pickin’ in Ellijay, GA, and I made apple butter, too. I used raw honey instead of sugar and that worked out well. Would like to try my next batch using your crockpot (and apple peels) method. Used rome beauty apples. Thanks for the tips!
Oh, and the apple peeler slicer thing ROCKS! :@)
Yes it does Miss Ginnie! I think I’d make a lot less apple items w/out it! Will have to try honey.
I was wondering how much honey would I use in place of the sugar?
The recipe I used called for 3 cups of sugar and I substituted 1 cup of raw honey. Hope that helps:) I’m gonna try Diana’s recipe this weekend (after I travel to North Georgia to get some fresh apples), so we’ll see how it goes. Can’t wait for 48 hours of yummy apple butter smell.
Hi Diana, this morning my Mom was talking about applebutter that her Grandmother used to make, so I did a search and found your recipe. I was thinking, since you use the blender to whiz all the applebutter together in the end, would it be ok to just slice the apples and put them in the crock w/o peeling… what would be the harm in that I wonder?
I wonder if you could freeze the apple butter? I would love to try it but I know I’m not going to want to can the results, but would prefer to freeze. Thoughts?
Also, if I halved the recipe would it still need to cook for 30-40 hours, or just 15-20?
You probably could use the apples with peels on. I do sometimes get little pieces of peel in my apple butter which I’m fine with, but if you’re not you might want to skip peels altogether. I just love that I’m getting more fiber and not wasting anything!
I’m pretty sure it should freeze, just like jam. If you’re making a smaller batch don’t cook it as long! If you’re going to be out of the house, or leaving it overnight, you might even want to add a little water or apple juice to make sure it doesn’t cook down to much and burn. You can always offset the lid for an hour to let the steam escape and cook it down more afterward.
Why do you peel the apples if everything goes in the crock to cook and then it all get’s pureed together? Is this really a necessay step?
The main reason I peel my apples is that I have one of those handy dandy slicer, peeler, corer tools that preps one apple in 5 seconds flat. I will try a batch just coring and slicing apples by hand (for those of you who don’t have an apple prepper) to test out how not peeling them affects the consistancy and let you guys know!
I make my apple butter the same way,except I don’t peel the apples. I core them and dump them in the crockpot. When the applesauce is done I use a food mill just to smooth it out, but there are rarely any peels left.
This sounds worth trying out. I never bought Apple Butter before, but my husband grabbed it one time while shopping and has used it.
I’ve just canned my second time (pickles this time) and am really enjoying canning. It is fun to make something from scratch, know that you did it, know what’s in it, and there is something about homemade that makes it 10 times better. This sounds like a good one to try. I would probably have to half the recipe though. We probably don’t need that much. But like you said, good for gifts.
We’ve been doing Bountiful Baskets (a co-op in the NorthWest United States) that we get fruits and veggies from a really good price. Sometimes they have 24 lb boxes of apples or other fruits/veggies you can buy. I’m collecting recipes that I can make with them since they are such a good deal.
I too don’t see why you’d peel the apples then put the peels in, what difference would it make? I also don’t core mine, since most of the pectin is in the core and peel. I just chop them, cook, then strain out the solids. What I have never done is cook so long and add more apples along the way, I’m trying that tonight/tomorrow/Wed, lol.
This time I’m going to try a new recipe from Dec 10 BH&G, cut puff pastry into two inch squares, spread apple butter on each, and sprinkle with ceddar cheese. That sounds like an excellent appetizer or snack to me.
Wow! What an amazing recipe!!! I made it for Christmas gifts and I received so many lovely comments and numerous request for your amazing recipe. What a hit! Thank you so much for sharing.
Hi,
I tried this recipe this weekend and it’s absolutely wonderful! There’s definitely no need to peel the apples or even to strain them out at the end … it all cooks down and I pureed it with an immersion blender when it was done. Thanks so much for a super recipe! This is the best apple butter ever.
You are SO welcome Kate! I’m going to making LOTS more this year. I’m addicted to the stuff!
Do you add sugar every 10 hours?
Nope, I add some at the beginning with the first batch of apples and add the rest about halfway through cooking.
Wow! This is fantastic apple butter! I tried this recipe out during the last two days canning applesauce with a friend and we were oohing and aahing over the result. We gleaned boxes full of windfall apples from a neighbor’s farm, so I’m going to make more batches as long as the apples hold out and share this yummy apple butter with everyone!
I don’t have a peeler, so I simply used my little corer/slicer tool and threw the slices in with the peels on. I didn’t have a hand blender either, so I put it a few cups at a time into my regular blender on puree’ and it worked great. I substituted Rapadura sugar and a little raw honey to sweeten with great results.
Thanks for this awesome recipe!
How much does this make? I’m going to make it for christmas gifts this year.
I made three batches in my large crockpot and it made 12-14 cups.
Thanks Tanya!
Hi, there! Sure wish I’d seen this recipe prior to starting my first-ever batch of apple butter!! It sounded so simple: 2 gallons of apple cider; boil down to 1/2; add 12 pounds of pared-sliced-cored apples; cook to fruit butter consistency. As I write this, it’s nearly 8 p.m., and I’ve had stupid apples cooking since 10 a.m. this morning! Wish anyone had bothered to mention that, oh, by the way – this is an all-day event!!
Anyway, I did use one of the parer/corer/slicer things, which worked wonderfully. But, I DO have an immersion blender, and what a shame to waste all of that fiber! So, since I’ve now invested a dozen pounds of apples, and still have 23 pounds to find a practical use for (thanks to my very generous sister-in-law!), I think that the crock-pot method is the one I’ll be trying next!! Thanks so much for posting this!
Oh man Chrissie! Glad you’ve found the recipe
You’re so welcome!!!
In your processing instructions don’t you have the sealing info backwards. You say if the lid does’t pop in it’s sealed – if it does pop in it isn’t sealed. Did I read that wrong?
Hi Nancy, if it’s sealed the lid should have already popped in by itself in the 24 hours you let it rest. If it pops in when you press it that means it didn’t seal properly, if it doesn’t pop in that means it already has. Also, you can try reprocessing it again after 24 hours. Just remove the lid and check that it’s in good condition and that there’s nothing on the rim of the jar.
Sounds delicious. I have a couple questions..
Have you tried making this with Stevia or Agave nectar so it’s better for diabetics? If you do, do you need to use pectin?
Do you think it would be ok to do this as freezer jam instead of processing?
Hi KC, I know you can make this as a freezer jam. I haven’t tried the stevia or agave nectar. I went with sugar because it’s the most affordable. Looking at the stevia website they have an apple butter recipe w/out pectin so I think the apples have enough pectin in them.
Thanks! Might even try for peach butter.
Oooh, if you make peach butter KC let me know how it goes!
I am going to try this recipe this week, it sounds easy and yummy! My mom makes apple butter an I love hers, but am excited to use the peel and try my own.
I see people were asking, early on, what to use apple butter for. I cook with it. Substitute it for 1/4 or 1/2 of the shortening or oil you would use in a recipe. I do this with oatmeal cookies especially and everyone raves about them.
Oooh that’s a great idea Shannon! I’ve used apple sauce before but apple butter would give a wonderful flavor profile to baked goods. Have fun making some!
I used a similar recipe, however, I peeled my apples and put the peels into a cheesecloth. Then when the apples were cooked, down, squeezed it with some tongs and lifted it out. No need to sieve. Then blended everything into a smooth puree with an immersion blender. Turned out great, and canned beautifully.
I just made a batch of apple butter and would like to share my version. I quartered my freshly picked apples with the
skin and added them to my biggest cooking pot. I put in
enough water to cover the bottom of the pot and brought to a boil and then covered and simmered til soft. I put through
my Squeezon strainer and with the pulp added 1/3 cup sugar
to 1 cup pulp (may even less sugar next time). Put it all in
my 6 quart crock pot with the spices (cinnamon, cloves and
and a little bit of nutmeg. Turned my crock pot on low before
I went to bed and woke up in the morning with a heavenly scent. I turned the crock pot down to warm while I prepared the jars, filled them and processed in a boiling water bath.
I didn’t have the apple peeler so I had to find a way to keep
from hand peeling all those apples and I must say it turned
out absolutely wonderful. I am so glad you shared your process with us. Now to find a pumpkin butter recipe.
Thank you – Happy Autumn
Sounds great Lorraine! I just got 30 lbs of Sweet Sixteen apples from our local orchard and they’re so sweet I may not even need to add sugar. Can’t wait to try it. Pumpkin butter sounds amazing. Must try it this year!
My apple butter came out with a plum color, it tastes great though. The apple butter I usually see is more caramel color, did I make a mistake somewhere?
Nope, you’re just fine! That dark color is from the long cooking time. The natural sugars in the apples got deeply caramelized which is what gives it such a full flavor.
A cute thing to do, especially if giving this for gifts, is to remove the jar rings after the apple butter has cooled, and put a square of blue & white checked fabric over the lid, then replace the ring. Many of you already know about this. I cannot remember what size the square needs to be; also, you can use any color or print fabric that you want to or that you have on hand. The checked fabric is just really cute and “screams” homemade! Also, be sure your lid and your jar are CLEAN before adding the fabric.
PS: I forgot to say that I am a girl Tommye.
I just made this recipe yesterday and I’m jsut checking on something. I did NOT add any water/juice, but there is a ton of liquid. Do I cook it down, or do I just puree it with all the liquid?
Yes puree it all together! All that liquid came out of your super juicy apples. The longer you cook it the thicker it will be so once it’s pureed you can decide if you want it thinner or thicker.
Thanks! It turned our SOOOO great. I was nervous because everyone told me that the peels would always leave small chunks and I wanted a smooth apple butter. After 24 hours I pureed a small it and you could feel the peels and it was a lighter brown. So I just kept cooking away and after it cook for 2 days and pureed it, it is wonderfully smooth and I love how dark the color is. I wanted it to be as dark as my gramdmas, so thank you so much!
You are SOOOO welcome! Glad it came out like you wanted it
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe, I’m going to start cooking today!
I’ve never canned (figured apples from my own tree would be a good way to start) and this looks very straight forward, as well as delicious.
I’d like to use some 1/2 pint jars as well as pint ones. Would 1/2 pint also be processed for 20 minutes? I’m assuming to process pint with pint, and 1/2s with 1/2 – not mix them in the water bath? Thank you for your thoughts!
I’ve done some research and am going to amend my processing time. The 20 minutes was what I had done previously with quart sized jars at over 1000 ft above sea level. Processing longer times won’t hurt the apple butter but isn’t necessary. Check the recipe in five minutes!
So, I’m making this right now and have blended it and am trying to figure out what consistency I want it. Right now it’s sort of like a runny applesauce. Will it thicken when it cools? I don’t want it runny. But it tastes great!
Hi Sarah, the longer you cook it the thicker it will get. I’d just keep it on low or even warm stirring every once in a while until it’s the consistency you want.
Diana,
I don’t have and immersion blender, food processer or regular blender, but soooo want to try this. Would an old fashioned potato masher work out ok?
And I’m REALLY happy I’m not gonna have to stand and peel each and everyone of these apples !!!! LOL
A potato masher will work to a certain extent but you may still get pieces of peel. If you’re not blending it skipping the peels might give you a smoother consistency but I’d suggest you just give it a try! Even if there are still pieces of peel in it the taste will be amazing, it will just be a different texture.
I just wanted to thank you for such a great recipe! I get boxes of apples from my uncle’s orchard for free and can’t eat them all before they spoil. This is a long process, but so worth it.
I just want to let everyone know that I did not peel the apples. I cut them in small cubes and put them in the crock pot for 12 hours and then while in the crock pot, I used a potato masher on them. Kept cooking for another 10 hours and then put in a blender to make smooth. Poured all liquid back into crock pot and cooked until thick. Then canned them with water bath method.
Also, I used Splenda in place of sugar and it tastes fantastic!
Thanks again for sharing this
Okay, I know this is an old post, but hoping you see this. Do you think from a canning safety standpoint it matters how much you cook it down. I made some and although it wasn’t as dark as I wanted it to be, it was getting pretty gelatinous so I decided to stop. I may have to come back and try your recipe as well.
Hi Kelly! I don’t think it does. As far as canning safety goes, it’s about temperature and acidity/sugar content. Also, apples have a high pectin content with tarter ones having more pectin, so some varieties may become thicker faster than others. Hope that helps!
I’m really excited to try this recipe. I want to make it for holiday gifts for my co-workers. I’m having a hard time finding a canning rack. I ordered one off the internet and it turned out to be too big for my stock pot (which is amazing because I have a HUGE pot that I couldn’t have imagined would have not been big enough…) I don’t have time to order a better size because my work place closes for the holidays in about a week and a half (yay for working in a school and getting winter break!)
Anyway, the point of this is that I was wondering if the apple butter absolutely had to be canned. I know canning preserves the food and allows it to be saved, unrefrigerated for a long period of time, but is there a problem with not canning it? Am I able to just tell people it needs to be refrigerated? And most importantly, is it safe to give to people if it hasn’t been canned? If so, about how long does it last refrigerated, but uncanned?
Thanks so much for your help!
I have two items of good news. The first is that you can just refrigerate it for several weeks so if you’re giving it away and telling them to refrigerate you don’t have to can it. The better news is that you don’t need a canning rack at all! I’ve been canning a few years now and this is the first year I’ve bought actual canning “accessories”. You can simply lower the jars in and out of the pot of water using canning tongs or rubber coated tongs. If you do want to get any canning accessories, I found Walmart to be the cheapest place. Good luck!
Thanks so much! That’s a huge help!
Dear Diana, Great website and blog. Have you ever tried using Xylitol to sweeten your applesauce or apple butter? I’d love to know the proportions of Xylitol to sugar. Keep up the good work. We’re all benefitting from your expertise. BTW, I baked your banana mini muffins. Outstanding! Julie
Just finished making this, absolutely.love it!!! A little skeptical at first about leaving peels on but after it was all blended it was completely smooth and the perfect consistency. Thank you soooo much!
You’re so welcome!!!
I tried this recipe and it turned out awesome and was so tasty! My family loved it. The only change I made to your recipe is…that I used dwarf gala apples and I sliced them and filled them to the top of my crock pot and added the sugar and spices…then after 10 hours….I added more sliced apples to the top of the crock pot and added the same amount of sugar and spices as I did the first time. Then I just let it cook on low for another another 20 hours…(so total cook time from start to finish 30 to 31 hours) Then I pureed in the blender and canned. Thank you very much for sharing your recipe!
oh can you put this recipe on pinterest? so I can repin it?
My 10 yr old daughter and I made this last weekend and it was a huge success!! It was very easy, actually she did most of the work. I just helped. I did do the jarring myself because I had never jarred anything before and it can get dangerous but I think she can help me with that part next time! We’ve made deliveries to friends and family all week… even had to deliver a 2nd batch to my sister-in-law because they finished they’re jar so fast lol! Thanks for sharing such a tasty recipe!!!!