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!
Laurie Skinner
I made this with apples from my sister’s backyard tree and honey crisp apples. I added a little extra vanilla extract with the vanilla bean. So good! Thanks for the recipe.
Julia
could I make this in the instapot?
Sam Merritt
Hi Julia! If your instant pot has the slow cooker setting on it, it could work. If it doesn’t have that setting, I’m not sure how it would work.
Joe Sparks
I made this exactly as directed, using gala apples. This may very well be the best thing I have ever tasted!
Kelly
I have tried other recipes and found this one to produce the right consistency.
For a low sugar version, I just omitted all of the sugar and found it was plenty sweet enough.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy it’s a hit, Kelly! Enjoy 😊
Elan
Your note. “ I recommend using Golden Delicious, McIntosh, Fuji, or Gala. Don’t use Granny Smith; they are too tart and firm for this recipe.” Yet all the pictures show Granny Smith apples. So my question; Are you real? Have you actually made this recipe? Do you even own a slow cooker?
Sam
Hi Elan! Thank you for taking the time to comment! The apples pictured are, in fact, Crispin apples not Granny Smith. I see you haven’t even tried the recipe but hopefully you do and you enjoy it! Have a great day! 🙂
Allison
Could this be made with red delicious apples?
Sam
Hi Allison! I haven’t personally used red delicious apples, but I suppose it could work. 🙂
Mookie
I made this overnight and it tastes amazing. I will make again and again! Easy tecipe.
Wanda Lenk
can I can this and canning jars as well
Sam Merritt
Hi Wanda! I am not familiar with canning so I can’t advise on how to do it. I know others have done it though.
Ian
Can I use the water bath canning method on this?
Sam
Hi Ian! I am not familiar with the process of canning, but several others have canned this recipe with success. 🙂
Liz H
If I cut the recipe in half, should I alter the cooking time?
Sam
Hi Liz! I would not reduce the cooking time. 🙂
Kim W
OH MY! THIS WAS JUST TOO-GOOD-TO-BE-TRUE! So easy! I let mine cook overnight as directed, and the kitchen smells so yummy when I came downstairs the next morning! I didn’t have an immersion blender for this batch, so I let it cool off quite a bit and used my bullet blender in small batches. It was a little messy that way, but it got the job done. (An Immersion blender is on order for next time). I ended up cooking it uncovered for almost 3 hours to get it to the thickness that I wanted, but it was absolutely perfect! My sister came over as I was putting it in jars and we had so much fun talking about how much we loved apple butter when we were kids! So good on hot buttered toast❣️. THANKS SO MUCH for this fool proof blast from the past!
SHIRL R MCKAY
How do you make Apple Strawberry butter?
Sam
I haven’t experimented so I can’t say for sure, but it sounds delicious. 🙂
DIANE HVASTA
Mine came out so soupy. What did I do wrong?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Oh no! It sounds like it needed to cook a little bit longer 🙁
Zac
Is it possible the last 2 hours uncovered are meant to be on high heat instead of low?
Sam
Hi Zac! It is supposed to be on low when uncovered.
Kim Morrison
I put this on last night and we are enjoying it today! Thank you for sharing. Very delicious and even better. I made it home made!
Faith
I made this recipe exactly as shown and my family absolutely loves it. My picky daughter ate it straight up. She cannot get enough of it!!
Megan Haase
This recipe is incredible! Everyone in my family was obsessed. Thank you so much for posting this delicious perfect recipe.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy everyone enjoyed it, Megan! 🩷
Cheryl
Just curious but why do you puree your apples after cooking? I put mine in before cooking and cooked it on the stove. I don’t like putting hot things in my blender. Too many burns in pouring.
Sam
Hi Cheryl! I use an immersion blender. 🙂
Little Tim
I agree with Billy this is a good recipe
Sam what is your favorite recipe?
Sam
My worst chocolate chip cookies! 🙂