Apple Butter Recipe
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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)
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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
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!
Thanks for the great recipe. Leaving the skins on saves so much time! I love the apple butter and I am sure I will make more!!
Leaving the skin on makes it SO much easier! I am glad you enjoyed it! ☺️
Thank you so much for posting this. I can’t wait to try it! I plan on canning some for presents as my Dad just indicated to me how much he liked Apple butter. Can’t wait to try it! Thank you!
I hope you love it! ☺️
Hi! This looks awesome! I’m making this, this week so have a couple of questions: 1) Have you made this with Granny Smith (or other varieties)? The apples in the photo look more like Granny’s than Golden Delicious. Also…one of the comments stated that it made 5 pints (10 eight-ounce jars). Just checking, as the recipe states 2.5 pints. I think I will can my first batch, to give as gifts later.
I recommend using golden delicious or fuji, or a blend of both. Granny smith apples are too firm and tart for apple butter. The recipe should make about 3-3.5 pints ☺️
Couldn’t you put the whole vanilla bean in to cook after splitting the bean to get the most out of the bean/pod? Can’t wait to make!
Yes, I think that’s a great idea actually! Enjoy! 🙂
Thanks for responding! Made it today couple hours to go, house smells amazing! Can’t wait to eat it! Thanks so much for the recipe!
I have the hardest time waiting to eat it! 😂
Three words……Best Recipe Ever!!!
I love….Love….LOVE Apple Butter but was a novice at making it. Having found your recipe in Pintrist ( thank you very much that btw!😊) & Just having acquired 30+ lbs of a variety of apples, I couldn’t wait to finally make my own Apple Butter. I was also drawn to the idea of using the crockpot. Especially after having just made a batch of Peach Butter in my Dutch Oven & it took FOR…..EVER!!! Waking up to the aroma this morning I couldn’t wait to get the next 2 hrs over w/ & neither cold my husband as he kept spooning it out & putting it on his waffle! Needless to say I am so happy I came across your recipe bc this is hands down the BEST Apple Butter I’ve ever had!!! I’ll be making a double batch tonight for canning so we can have it throughout the fall/winter! I agree w/ Jeremy as this recipe can easily be canned & can’t wait to taste it after it’s “aged” a bit!!! 😋🍎🍏🍁🍂
Hi Sharon! I am so glad you enjoyed the apple butter!!! Thank you so much for the feedback I really do appreciate it! I love to put mine on just about everything! (My husband thinks I’m a little crazy) It’s about apple picking season for me! Yayy!! 😃
I cook my apples down into apple sauce, and would like to use slow cooker for making it into apple butter, so how long would I set cooker time?and would I leave the lid off, so it wouldcook down thicker, hope to hear from you. I have peeled 8-9 boxes in the last month!!
I haven’t tried this method so I am not 100% sure how it would work or what would need to be done. I’m sorry…
Samantha, I’ve never made my own apple butter before and I am SO excited to try this recipe. Thank you for allowing me to include it in my apple round-up! Have a wonderful day!
Will make again!
I’m so glad that you liked it!! 🙂
Perfect Apple Butter! Thank you!
I made this this morning, ok, last night and this morning ladled it into 10 8 oz jars. It looks and tastes devine. And so easy to make, no peeling apples. It’s the first time I’ve tried apple butter, but it won’t be the last. Obviously it is way more than my husband and I can use, so I’ll give some to the neighbors. They’ll be so impressed! 5 stars!
I’m so, so glad that you liked it, Judy!!! Thank you for coming back and leaving a review, I appreciate it! 🙂 <3
Wouldn’t you know, Ben said apple butter would be down the list of favorites jams, butters, etc. So, I made a loaf of bread this afternoon and set out the apple butter. He loved it. In fact, he said he must not have had good apple butter in the past. Samantha, you really did good!
I encourage everyone to try this. And keeping the peel on the apples made me think of the added goodness in that little tip.
This makes me so happy to hear!!!! 🙂
Sam, How much does this recipe make?
Hi Judy! It makes about 2.5 pints. Enjoy!! 🙂
hey girl- this looks so yummy!
Do you think if I processed/canned it in mason jars like pickles it would keep?
Hi Andrea!
I don’t know a great deal about canning so I am not sure that I would recommend it… usually recipes that are meant to be canned are designed with acidity in mind during the recipe development and as I’m not comfortable with canning myself I can’t say for sure that this recipe would be alright.
Hello,
Sorry to intrude but yes you will be able to can Apple butter and it will last for a good long time. Also taste just as good or better then when made. I have found that actually aged apple butter seems to taste even better with some time from being canned for some reason. Its not hard can the hard things to can is Green Beans in my opinion, u have to pressure can it for certain amount of time and pressure. Regular can is super easy for most things.
Water bath is the way to can apple butter. 1/2 pi t or pint jars. Bring water to a boil in a canner pot or large stock pot make sure there is 1″ of water covering the jars. Simmer for 10 mins. Turn heat off let sit for 5 more mins. Remove jars from water and set aside to cool. Check seals, the lids should not pop up.
How much of an air gap do you leave when canning
Yes you can jar and preserve it just look up canning/preserving process use mason jars and you can gift them if your so inclined to give up your delicious apple butter🍁🍁
I can Apple Butter and Pumpkin Butter. The sugar acts as a preservative as well as the apples themselves. Apples can be canned in a water bath canner. I process the Apple/Pumpkin Butter for 30 minutes in pint jars. I do a lot of canning. Never tried the slow cooker method until now. Will be doing this today. We are putting up 5 bushels of apples. So far filled close to 300 jars this canning season.
WOW! That is a LOT of canning!
This looks delicious. Too bad that I don’t have a slow cooker. But I was planning on making an apple pie again next weekend, so that’s almost as good XD
No slow cooker!?! You need one, I love mine!
But you are right, an apple pie isn’t a bad substitute 😉
I can only imagine that your house smells SO good after cooking this all night! It looks absolutely perfect!
It was HEAVEN! Thanks, Sues!! 🙂