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 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)
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Slice apples into small pieces (about ¼") and dispose of cores (you do not need to peel the apples).
- 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.
- 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).
- 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!
Rachel
This apple butter is amazing! I followed the recipe exactly and it couldn’t have turned out better. I will say though that the prep time made me laugh because I don’t know a single person that could core and chop 5.5 pounds of apples in 15 minutes.
Diane M. Mitchell
Followed the recipe exact til the end. The process was right on timing. I wanted the mixture to reduce a bit more, but my crock pot just doesn’t seem to get hot enough. At the end, I transferred to a pot and boiled a bit on the stove top. Not more than an hour. I ended up with 6 1/2pints. Which seems to be spot on with the recipe yield. Thank you so much.
Cindy Yeager
Hi Sam! Thank you for this amazing recipe! I was looking for an apple butter recipe that would replace the Ball recipe that I use for canning. Your recipe caught my attention because 1) it uses less sugar than the Ball recipe (theirs calls for 3 cups of sugar per 6 lbs of apples!) and 2) it is easier because there is no peeling involved!
I did use less cinnamon and no vanilla (just preference) and added a couple of cinnamon candies (from the Amish Market) to the recipe. I had to guess at the pounds because I was given golden delicious apples that were bruised in many areas. I just filled the crockpots (5 qt – I used two) to about an inch from the top and followed your directions. I then processed 13 pints in my water bath canner for 10 minutes.
Oh! My! Goodness!!! This apple butter recipe is absolutely amazing!!!!!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!!
Sam
You’re very welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Dani
I accidently added the vanilla before I started the crockpot. Should I add more after ten hours?
Sam
Hi Dani! I would taste it after the 10 hours. The vanilla will most likely cook off in that time and you’ll need a bit more.
Erika
Did you add any vinegar or lemon juice to the recipe before canning? I was hoping to can this, but I’m not really a seasoned canner. The other recipe for apple butter I have calls for ACV & vinegar. So I’m curious if it’s a necessary addition. My apple pie filling I can uses lemon juice, but I don’t see that in this recipe?
Cindy Yeager
I did not use lemon juice or vinegar to the recipe. I believe that even the Ball canning recipe does not include vinegar or lemon juice. I think that because the apples are blended (not so with apple pie filling), the need for vinegar or lemon juice is not needed.
This is the first time I have used golden delicious for the apple butter (I used pink lady and crisp before). In my opinion, the golden delicious works best for apple butter.
Ali
Yess!! Thank you! I found it 🥰
Steph
Curious about why not to peel the apples?
Sam
Hi Steph! You could, it’s just not necessary in this recipe as the long cook time and pureeing with the immersion blender will make them imperceptible in the final product.
Susan
I had an abundance of apples and they were going to go bad. This recipe was just what I needed, so delicious and easy!
Penny McNulty
Apple butter delicious, creamy and perfect. I used golden delicious, they were not fully ripen. Local farmer makes several batches of apple butter and recommended golden delicious . My crock pot must run on hot side, only cooked for 7 hrs. No pieces of skin showing. Smooth. Otherwise followed the recipe. I decided to hot bath canning. I used 13 apples and works great.
Wylene
I made this recipe using the Jonathan apples that had dropped from my tree and had a few bruises. It had the perfect tart/sweet combination. So grateful to have another idea to use those apples that have to be used immediately. I used a steam canner for 15 minutes to preserve some half-pints, 5 out of 7 sealed.
Ali
Which immersion blender did u use
Sam
Hi Ali! I link to the exact one I use in the “recommended equipment” section of the recipe card (right above the instructions). I hope that helps!