My super easy Apple Butter recipe is perfectly spiced with rich fall flavors. It takes just 10 minutes to prep with NO peeling required! Recipe includes a how-to video.
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!
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- Easy: only 10 minutes of prep before the slow cooker takes over.
- Perfectly flavored: the apples are the true star, with just enough sugar and spices added to accent them and make a warm, cozy fall flavor.
- Plentiful: this recipe makes a lot (3 pints!), so you’ll have some to share or gift (if you’re the generous type).
- No peeling: saves you SO much time and effort.
What You Need
To achieve a silky smooth and flavorful spread, you’ll need to slow cook just a few simple ingredients:
- Apples. What I love about my apple butter recipe is that there is no peeling needed! Just core and dice your apples into small, even pieces. Do not use a firm, tart apple like Granny Smith; stick with softer, sweeter apples like Golden Delicious (my favorite all-around apple for most recipes, like my apple turnovers!), Fuji, Gala, or McIntosh. A combination of apples works too!
- Sugar. A combination of brown and white sugar provides depth of flavor and helps the apples to break down and caramelize, giving the final product a fantastically rich fall flavor. Don’t forget, if you don’t have any on hand just follow my tutorial on how to make brown sugar!
- Spices. Lots of ground cinnamon and a pinch of cloves elevate the flavor of the apples by providing warmth and richness.
- Vanilla. A subtle hint of vanilla rounds out all of warm flavors. I recommend using a vanilla bean if you have one, but otherwise regular vanilla extract will work.
SAM’S TIP: The hardest thing about this recipe is waiting for it to be done. To mitigate this, I often like to prep everything before going to bed and let it cook while I sleep, but please always check your own slow cooker’s safety guide before leaving it unattended.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Apple Butter
- Core and chop (don’t peel!) your apples and place them in the basin of a slow cooker.
- Mix together spices and sugars. Sprinkle these over the apples and toss to combine.
- Cook apple mixture on low heat for 10 hours.
- Puree apples. I like to use an immersion blender (I linked to the one I use, affiliate), but you can use a regular one instead.
- Remove the lid and cook for another 2 hours or until the consistency has thickened to your liking.
SAM’S TIP: The additional two hours of cooking might seem like a pain, but it’s important and worth it to get the proper consistency. If you want an even thicker butter, you can continue to cook yours even longer; but I’ve found the two hours to be plenty (and keep in mind it will continue to thicken as it cools!).
Frequently Asked Questions
Typically it is used as a topping for biscuits or bread, but it’s also delicious on oatmeal, pancakes, my favorite waffle recipe, crepes, etc. Some people even serve it with scrapple, or you can take my dad’s approach and enjoy it by the spoonful!
Apple butter is typically sweeter, richer, and thicker (more of a buttery/spreadable consistency). It’s often much darker in color than applesauce, largely because of the added ingredients (in this instance, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, etc) and the caramelization that occurs from the longer cook time.
Yes it does. If you’d like to try canning yours, that’s a great option for extending its shelf life outside of the fridge (I don’t have experience canning, so I can’t offer any advice there, but here is a guide on canning I found that should be helpful.).
Apple butter gets its name from its butter-like consistency, there’s no actual butter in it. If you’re looking for a flavored butter, try my honey butter instead
Looking for more? Here are some of my favorite fall recipes.
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
The Best Apple Butter Recipe (No Peeling!)
Ingredients
- 5.5 lbs (2.5 kg) soft, sweet apples (see note 1) Cored and chopped into small pieces, about ¼"
- 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar firmly packed
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 vanilla bean (may substitute 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract)
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Slice apples into small pieces (about ¼") and dispose of cores (you do not need to peel the apples).5.5 lbs (2.5 kg) soft, sweet apples (see note 1)
- Place apples in the basin of large slow cooker
- In a medium-sized bowl stir together sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and cloves until well-combined.1 cup (200 g) brown sugar, ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar, 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon salt, ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- Pour sugar mixture over apple pieces and stir until well combined.
- Place lid on crockpot and cook on low heat for 10 hours.
- Once 10 hours has 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).1 vanilla bean
- Turn crockpot on to low heat and cook another 2 hours uncovered, stirring occasionally.
- Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container, where it will keep 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 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
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Related Recipes
This recipe was originally published in October of 2017, photos and recipe remain the same but text has been updated to be more helpful and I’ve added a how-to video!
Emma
Absolutely delicious, it’s currently on the last two hours but I of course had to do a taste test after blending and adding the vanilla, and it’s safe to say I will definitely be making this often! I’m a big apple butter fan and it is such a simple recipe that doesn’t require a whole lot of work! I plan of giving some to family and friends as a gift and I just know they will love it. Great work! I’ll be checking out some other recipes.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yay! Let us know what else you try Emma 🩷
Kayleen Noah
Hey, I’m planning on trying this recipe soon but since it’s just me and my wife and I doubt we’ll be able to eat it all fresh, does this freeze/thaw back out later well?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Kayleen! We haven’t tried freezing, but we think it should do just fine. Make sure to leave a little bit of space in the container as it will expand 🙂
Lkmt
This is my go to recipe for apple butter. I put it in plastic containers and it freezes beautifully. Thaw it on the counter and tastes like the day you made it. It lasts quite a while in the fridge once you open it. I haven’t tried to can it. Anyone try that?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
So glad it’s a hit! Yes, we’ve had several people can this recipe successfully 🙂
Mel
Hi Emily! I was wondering if you had any idea whether this recipe could work with a pressure cooker or Instant Pot, or some other alternative? I don’t have a crock pot or a pressure cooker unfortunately. No worries if you think it wouldn’t work! This apple butter just looks too good not to ask. 🙂
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Mel! If your pressure cooker has a slow cook setting, that could work. If not, you could try the stovetop, but it would take quite some time and require frequent stirring.
Dave
The insta pot has a slow cooker setting and that is basically equivalent to a crock pot.
Leana
Hi Mel,
I’ve made this recipe in my InstantPot the past few years and it turns out beautifully! I have the Duo Crisp, 8qt, 11-in-1 version which has the slow cook option. If yours doesn’t have this option, check if it allows pressure cooking on a low setting. If so, this may work for you just be mindful to never fill past the max pc(pressure cooker) line and consider shortening the cooking time(perhaps half the time?), let it naturally vent(opening the steam vent will lose moisture you need!), check the tenderness of the apples and adjust cooking time from there. Do this again for the last 2 hours(shortening timing again if needed). Hope this helps! It really is worth it!
Tiffany Webster
So delicious. I used Carousel/Cameo Apples and they were perfect! I canned the apple butter and am planning on making more so I don’t run out!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yum! We are so happy it turned out for you, Tiffany 🙂
Doc
is this recipe safe for canning?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yes! Enjoy 🙂
Marie Curious
Is this recipe suitable for canning?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Absolutely! Enjoy 🙂
Jenny
How many cups of diced apples is it? I dont have a scale to weigh the pounds. I have 2 apple tree in my yard and a garage full of apples. Knowing how many cups of already diced apples would help a lot, thanks.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Jenny! Unfortunately we haven’t measured it as cups. Usually we use roughly 13 freshly picked apples, but this can really vary depending on the size of your apples.
Dale
I just made this last night and it took about 20 apples. If you buy some at the store, weigh them at the store in a separate bag.
Dave
I also have apple trees and it’s hard to go by weight before the apples are cut as if you don’t use much for pesticides and have a ton of free apples to use up you will probably have to cut some poor spots off and there will be more waste. After coring 5.5lbs of store bought perfect apples will be around 4lbs cut up apples. 4lbs of sliced/chopped apples was about 16 cups for me. A search on google states 4 cups diced should be about 12 cups so not sure why so different but if I diced mine smaller perhaps it would match the 12 cups but mine are cut and sliced pretty course. Hope this gives you a rough idea but a $10 or $20 kitchen scale to weigh 4lbs of chopped apples may be more accurate way to go.
Charlotte Garber
So remarkably easy and delightful in flavor. Thank you for this recipe. Much appreciated. I can’t wait to share it with people. My Mom has been asking for apple butter for a while now. She’s gonna love it!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We hope she loves it! 🩷
Nicoya
This was so easy and so good. For the commenter who doesn’t have a scale…I think you’ll be fine without weighing them! I didn’t, just approximated, and it turned out beautifully. We added two tablespoons of bourbon in addition to the vanilla bean and it is just absolutely delicious.
Clint
I have done this recipe twice and it tastes like what my grandma use to make. I found it easy to put it all in the crockpot juat before bed and finish off the next day. first time I did it, it only took the 2 hours to finish. the second time took about 4 hours to reduce down. I put in hot pint jars and water bathed for 10 minutes.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
So glad you’ve enjoyed the recipe, Clint! 🙂
Klára
absolutely fantastic
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy it was a hit for you, Klára!
Holly
Will it still turn out if you double the recipe or do you need to modify the ingredients?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yes, so long as you have a slow cooker that is large enough.
Courtney
Can this be canned?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Definitely! 😊
Lois Goertzen
This is the best apple butter I’ve ever tasted. Such a simple
Recipe and it cooks in the crockpot all day. I used my food processor to cut up the apples and that sped up the recipe. Thank you for this simple and delicious recipe. I put one jar in the refrigerator and froze the rest.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy you enjoyed the apple butter, Lois! Thanks for coming back to leave a comment 🙂
Candace
Is it possible to water bath can this recipe?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yes! Enjoy 😊
Laurie Woodhead
I did this last year and gave to family. They will not leave me alone about it so I’ll be making a double batch this year! So incredibly delicious, and easy! Thank you for this recipe!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Love that idea, Laurie!
Lisa
I’m still waiting for the last two hours of cooking the purée. I tasted the batch and I felt it needed a bit more sugar and spices. Should the apples be weighed before coring or after? I weighed them after coring and dicing them and then weighed the cores and found that they were over a pound, so that could make a big difference. Probably why it needed a bit more sugar and spice. Waiting for the final result, but I think this is going to be a big winner, with the adjustments.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Lisa! You will want to weigh your apples before coring and chopping. Hopefully the flavor continues to develop after the final two hours of cooking, but if not, that could definitely be the issue.