This silky and spicy apple butter is easy to make in a crock pot, and delicious on toast, stirred into oatmeal, or baked into breads, cakes and muffins.
Looking for more apple recipes? You’ll love this apple pie cake, apple spice crumb muffins, and caramel apple crumble with bourbon toffee sauce.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy to Make. This recipe is ridiculously easy, since you just combine everything in a crock pot and let it cook all day. Your house will smell incredible!
Perfect for Gifting. Fill cute little jam jars with homemade apple butter and tuck them into Christmas cookie boxes for a delicious treat.
Versatile. You can make this recipe as sweet or as spicy as you like, and it will be delicious either way.
Applesauce vs Apple Butter
So what’s the difference between these two sauces? Applesauce is generally cooked pretty quickly, just until the apples are softened and mashable. You can keep it chunky or puree it to a smooth texture. It’s great unsweetened or with just a little sugar, and may or may not have a little cinnamon added.
Apple butter is more concentrated than applesauce and cooks for much longer, anywhere from 6-12 hours. It’s darker and spicier from the addition of brown sugar and lots of spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and cardamom. Some recipes call for molasses, which also gives it a darker color and deeper flavor.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Apples. You’ll need about 10 large apples, or more if they’re the small “lunchbox” size. Use any variety that you like.
- Apple Cider or Apple Juice. Adds moisture to the apples as they slowly cook and break down.
- Molasses. Gives the apple butter a deeper flavor, but it is optional.
- Brown Sugar. Adds sweetness.
- Lemon Juice. The tartness complements the apples and rounds out the flavors.
- Spices. I used a blend of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom, as well as some vanilla extract. Feel free to cut the spice mixture in half, if you like a milder flavor.
Instructions
- Peel and core the apples, and cut them into quarters. Combine the apples and the remaining ingredients in your crock pot.
- Cook on low for about 6-8 hours, until the apples are very soft.
- Use an immersion blender, a regular blender or a food processor to puree the apple butter until silky smooth.
- Return the apple butter to the crock pot and cook on low for another 1-2 hours, until thickened.
- Ladle the apple butter into glass jam jars.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I cook apple butter on the stove instead of using a crock pot?
You sure can. Use a Dutch oven, or another heavy-bottomed pan, and cook the apples on very low heat. You’ll probably need to stir them frequently to make sure they’re not sticking to the bottom and burning.
Will other sweeteners work instead of brown sugar?
They might! I haven’t tested other sweeteners, though.
How come some apple butter recipes don’t require peeling the apples first?
If you have a food mill, there’s no need to peel the apples first. Passing the cooked apple butter through a food mill will mash the apples and remove the peels for you. But without a food mill, you have to peel and core the apples first.
What variety of apples should I use?
You can use any kind you like, or a mixture. I used both honey crisp and gala apples.
Can I leave out the molasses?
Yes, if you don’t care for molasses and want a lighter color and flavor, you can leave them out.
What can I use apple butter for?
Besides just spreading it on toast or biscuits, you can use apple butter in many recipes that call for apple sauce, and it will add a darker, spicier apple flavor. It’s delicious baked into cakes, breads, muffins, waffles, used as a filling in cinnamon rolls, or swirled into oatmeal.
How should I store apple butter?
- If refrigerated, you should consume the apple butter within about 3 months or less.
- If you have the freezer space, you can freeze the jars for up to 1 year.
- Or, follow standard canning procedures to can and seal the jars, making them safe to store in your pantry for 1-2 years.
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Favorite Products
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Crock Pot Apple Butter
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Crock Pot or Slow Cooker
- Blender or Food Processor
Ingredients
- 10 large apples
- ¼ cup apple cider or apple juice
- ¼ cup molasses (not Blackstrap), optional
- 1 cup light or dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Peel and core the apples, and cut them into quarters. Combine the apples and the remaining ingredients in your crock pot.
- Cook on low for about 6-8 hours, until the apples are very soft.
- Use an immersion blender, a regular blender or a food processor to puree the apple butter until silky smooth.
- Return the apple butter to the crock pot and cook on low for another 1-2 hours, until thickened.
- Ladle the apple butter into glass jam jars. If refrigerated, you should consume the apple butter within about 3 months or less. If you have the freezer space, you can freeze the jars for up to 1 year. Or, follow standard canning procedures to can and seal the jars, making them safe to store in your pantry for 1-2 years.
In your recipe you say not to use Blackstrap Molasses, is there any particular reason?
Blackstrap molasses is very dark, with a super intense flavor, and isn’t my preference for this recipe.