Slow Cooker Apple Butter
This easy, homemade Slow Cooker Apple Butter is sweet, warmly spiced and completely hands-off cooked in the crockpot. It’s the perfect fall spread for breakfast, on a snack board, or as holiday host gift.
If your family is anything like ours during the fall, you probably have a ton of apples laying around after trips to the local orchard and farmers market. One of our favorite ways to use them is in this easy Slow Cooker Apple Butter recipe. Warm and cozy, it simmers low and slow until it’s deeply flavored, rich, and perfectly spreadable. We love how the crock pot does all the work for you, making it an easy, hands-off recipe that fills your home with the delicious scent of autumn.
Made with just apples, sugar, and warm spices, this Crockpot Apple Butter slow cooks until it’s thick, dark, and just the right texture to spread onto toast, serve with a cheese board, or stir into a sauce. It’s also a great host gift during the fall and holiday seasons. Make this easy Slow Cooker Apple Butter if you’re looking for a lot of autumn flavor with very little effort.
If you like this recipe, be sure to try some of our other slow-cooked favorites. This Slow Cooker Cinnamon Roll Casserole is great for entertaining and we love this easy Crockpot Christmas Candy, too.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Completely Hands-Off: This is truly a minimal effort recipe with the slow cooker doing all the work for your over several hours.
- No Complicated Ingredients or Equipment Needed: This recipe is straight forward — no pectin or canning equipment required for a basic batch, so anyone can make it at anytime.
- Delicious Fall Aroma: Cooking for hours in the slow cooker, this apple butter fills the house with warm cinnamon-apple smell all day long.
- Great Homemade Gift Idea: Fill small jars with this butter and gift it as a host gift during the holidays.
Ingredients
- Apples: Perfectly sweet and tart these cook down to the most delicious concentrated apple flavor. Use a combination of apple varieties for the best taste and complex flavor.
- Sugar: For sweetness
- Light Brown Sugar: Adds sweetness with deep caramel note.
- Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice & Cloves: Warm spices to give the apple butter that signature fall flavor.
- Salt: Just a pinch.
- Lemon Juice: Adds brightness to balances the sweetness.
- Vanilla Extract: Use pure vanilla extract, to enhance the other flavors.
How to Make Slow Cooker Apple Butter
1. Place the peeled, cored, and sliced apples into a 6- to 7-quart slow cooker.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and salt.
3. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the apples and toss until evenly coated.
4. Cover and cook on LOW for 10–12 hours (or HIGH for 5–6 hours), stirring once or twice if possible, until the apples are very soft and caramelized.
5. Stir in the fresh lemon juice and vanilla extract.
6. Use an immersion blender to blend the mixture until completely smooth. (Alternatively, carefully transfer it to a blender in batches.)
7. If you’d like a thicker apple butter, leave the slow cooker lid slightly ajar and cook on HIGH for an additional 30–60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it reaches your desired consistency.
8. Let cool before transferring to airtight jars or containers.
Expert Tips
- Remove Lid at the End: Remove the slow cooker lid during the last stretch of cooking so the apple butter reduces, and reaches a thick, spreadable texture instead of a thin sauce. This step is key!
- Stir Occasionally: Do this throughout cooking to prevent the apples from sticking or scorching on the bottom.
- Use a Mix of Apples: Use a few different varieties for the most balanced, complex flavor rather than just one type. We love Granny Smiths, Fujis, Honey Crisps, and Pink Ladies just to name a few.
- Test For Doneness: Place a small spoonful of the cooked apple butter on a plate. If no liquid pools around the edges, it’s ready.
Variations & Substitutions
- Add a Splash of Apple Cider: If the mixture seems dry early on, add a splash of this instead of water for extra apple flavor.
- Swap in Pumpkin Pie Spice: Try this already mixed blend in place of the individual spices for a shortcut spice blend.
- Add Maple Syrup: Instead of using all brown sugar, add in a few tablespoons of maple syrup in place of some.
- Can the Butter: Canning the finished apple butter using a water bath will give it a longer, shelf-stable storage life.
Storage
Store the apple butter in an airtight jar in the refrigerator up to 3 weeks. You can freeze the butter in freezer-safe containers for up to 6 months, leaving room at the top for expansion.
For shelf-stable storage, process the butter in a water bath canner according to safe canning guidelines.
Frequently Asked Questions
We do recommend peeling the apples first to give the butter the smoothest texture, but if you skip this step, the slow cooking process will definitely help to break down the skin so it’s soft, and it’ll still have a delicious, extra apple flavor.
If you don’t remove the lid of the slow cooker during the final leg of cooking, the apple butter won’t have the chance to reduce down and thicken up to the spreadable texture you want. If you keep the lid on, it won’t reduce, and it’ll be a thin sauce instead.
Definitely! Can the butter in a water bath and follow safe canning guidelines for longer, shelf stable storage.
It’s delicious stirred into BBQ sauce for a sweet finish, turned into a glaze for pork chops or roasted meat, stirred into warm oatmeal, or served on a cheeseboard with brie.
More Delicious Apple Recipes
Crockpot Apple Butter
Ingredients
- 6½ pounds apples peeled, cored, and sliced
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place the peeled, cored, and sliced apples into a 6- to 7-quart slow cooker.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and salt.
- Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the apples and toss until evenly coated.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 10–12 hours (or HIGH for 5–6 hours), stirring once or twice if possible, until the apples are very soft and caramelized.
- Stir in the fresh lemon juice and vanilla extract.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the mixture until completely smooth. (Alternatively, carefully transfer it to a blender in batches.)
- If you’d like a thicker apple butter, leave the slow cooker lid slightly ajar and cook on HIGH for an additional 30–60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it reaches your desired consistency.
- Let cool before transferring to airtight jars or containers.
Notes
- Store the apple butter in an airtight jar in the refrigerator up to 3 weeks.
- You can freeze the butter in freezer-safe containers for up to 6 months, leaving room at the top for expansion.
- For shelf-stable storage, process the butter in a water bath canner according to safe canning guidelines.
