This is the best apple butter recipe you’ll find and it is worth the wait! Not to be confused with butter, it is delicious when spread over the top of everything!
Original post: December 2012 | Updated: October 2020
Why This Recipe Works
This totally scrumptious Apple Butter recipe never lasts long in my home. It can be also be such a great gift for the holidays! Don’t be confused by the name, though. Apple Butter has nothing to do with butter, but it can be spread over the top of everything. Just like butter.
The sauce will look like a dark brown chunky soup when it is finished but it will taste like heaven. It will also make your home smell delicious. Grab your bag of apples from the orchard and get busy!
Recipe Ingredients
Apples – Use medium baking apples such as honeycrisp, gala, golden delicious, jonagold or granny smith. Peel them, remove the core and cut into chunks.
Brown sugar – If you prefer, you can add more naturally sweet apples and reduce the amount of brown sugar you added. Other sugar substitutes that would be great are maple syrup, coconut sugar or stevia.
Spice Mixture – Feel free to add nutmeg, cloves or cinnamon to your apples for a little more complex taste. Just a little goes a long way.
How To Make Homemade Apple Butter In Your Slow Cooker
Step 1
Select your 10 medium apples, peeled cored and cut into chunks.
Place all of the cored and chopped apples along with the sugar and spices in a large crockpot.
I like to use a variety of apples – for this particular recipe I used Honeycrisp and Granny Smith apples. Use as many different kinds as you’d like! The more, the merrier!
Step 2
Cook times options: Cover and cook on High for 4 hours for maximum apple flavor to cook up! You also have the option to set your crock pot on Low for 7 to 8 hours.
Step 3
Now transfer the mixture into jars to enjoy all fall!
How To Create A Simple Water Bath
In a large saucepan, boil six 1/2-pint mason jars, along with their lids. One at a time, remove one jar and matching lid from the boiling water and fill the sterilized jar with the hot apple butter.
Tightly seal the lid and store in a cool place. Repeat the process with the remaining jars. The jars will seal on their own.
Recipe Notes
- Replace brown sugar with dark brown sugar for a bolder, deeper flavor.
- You do NOT need to use a regular blender and puree this mix. It will cook down on its own. Mash the mixture with a potato masher to give it a smoother consistency. If desired, use an immersion blender for an even smoother texture (I do not do this, as I prefer mine on the slightly chunky side).
- For a much healthier snack that tastes similar to apple butter, consider making Instant Pot Applesauce or Crockpot Apple sauce.
What Types of Apples Are Good For Apple Butter
I recommend using a variety of apples and at the very least, use two kinds: one sweet and one tart. My favorite combo is Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples.
Sweet/Softer Apple Brands
- Fuji
- Honeycrisp
- Red Delicious
- Golden Delicious
- Cortland
- Gala
Tart (or a little Sour) Apple Brands
- Granny Smith
- McIntosh
- Ida Red
- Braeburn
- Empire
- Jonathan
FAQ About Apple Butter
Apples stewed into a paste is a simple way to use your leftover apples. It’s not butter, but it spreads smoothly like butter so that’s where the name comes from. It is a spread or condiment to enjoy when paired with other foods. The caramelization that happens while the mixture cooks down is what gives it that rich, dark color.
Apple butter can last up to 3 months in your refrigerator. That is, if you have good willpower and don’t enjoy smearing it on all your baked goods and breads right after making it.
You might not be familiar with apple butter, but once you’re introduced to it you will find that there isn’t a lack of food to enjoy it on. Perfect for toast or pancakes, you can also enjoy it on top of muffins, cookies and croissants. Enjoy it as a dip or a marinade. You can even try using it as an ingredient in baked goods. These Apple Butter Cookies are DELICIOUS!
Apple butter is not good for you. However, apples are high in dietary fiber and pectin is found in the peels of apples. So they will help you avoid poor digestion at night. Fruit can help your stomach to empty more slowly, helping you to stay feeling full longer and not prone to snack/eat between meals. However, apple butter contains sugar so this is not a recipe you want to consume large quantities of in a sitting.
Applesauce and apple butter are both prepared by cooking down apples. However apple sauce cooks down quickly and is not as thick or silky as apple butter which takes longer and produces a more intense apple flavor.
Delicious Fall Apple Recipe
- Appledoodles are a fun twist on the classic snickerdoodles! Great way to use up apples in the fall!
- Apple Coffee Cake – This is the best coffee cake recipe you’ll find. Enjoy as an indulgent breakfast treat or an any-time snack or dessert!
- Salted Chocolate Caramel Apples – Sprinkling of sea salt and a bit of chocolate turns Caramel Apples into an extravagant dessert.
- Apple Carrot Cake Muffins – Apples and carrots create the most delicious little muffin you could ever imagine. Great as a snack, breakfast or dessert!
- The only thing better than salted caramel apples is Salted Caramel Apple Cheesecake! This is the perfect fall treat and a great way to use up any type of apples.
Other Perfect Fall Treats
- Best Pumpkin Bars make the perfect fall dessert. They are moist, irresistible and full of yummy pumpkin flavor. Great for your next fall gathering.
- Don’t let those delicious little Pumpkin Seeds go to waste when carving pumpkins! They transform into a delicious little fall snack that will get gobbled up by all.
- Halloween Snack Mix is a great Fall snack. Great for Fall- or Halloween-themed parties! Mix and match the snacks you have on hand to build your snack mix.
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Best Apple Butter Recipe
Equipment
- Crock Pot
Ingredients
- 10 apples peeled, cored and cut into chunks
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
Instructions
- Place apples, vinegar, both sugars, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in a large crock pot. Cook on High for 4 hours or Low for 7 to 8 hours. Use a potato masher to smooth the mixture. If desired, use an immersion blender for a smoother texture.
- Pour mixture into mason jars and seal. Chill and spread on toast or muffins.
Notes
- Decrease the amount of brown sugar in the recipe for a less sugary treat.
- Replace brown sugar with dark brown sugar for a bolder, deeper flavor.
- You do NOT need to use a regular blender and puree this mix. It will cook down on its own. Mash the mixture with a potato masher to give it a smoother consistency. If desired, use an immersion blender for an even smoother texture (I do not do this, as I prefer mine on the slightly chunky side).
- For a much healthier snack that tastes similar to apple butter, consider making Instant Pot Applesauce or Crockpot Apple sauce.
Love this recipe. So easy to make. This is as close as it gets to my grandmother apple butter very good. Thank you so much
Loved this recipe so I don’t have to sit at the stove for a couple of hours. Great tasting recipe
I was also wondering about the shelf life. Does this need to be refrigerated? I made some a while back and now that I'm learning more about making other kinds of preserves I'm a little afraid to eat it.
I saw that some one already mentioned pork chops, but any pork part will do stuff it into pork tenderloin, or onto pork shoulder for an amazing marinade. Also you can fill sweet pastry with it to create little apple dumplings.
ps. I LOVE YOUR BLOG!!!
Yummy apple butter! I've never made it before.
I just found your blog tonight & am overwhelmed at all the wonderful, yummy goodness you have on here! I think I'm going overboard on posting…..I made apple butter for the first time this year, so easy in the crock pot! Besides putting it on toast, you can put it on your pancakes instead of syrup. And, I've found recipes where people use it to make an applesauce cake. And then, there's always just putting it over some vanilla ice cream….but, I love the idea of the pork chops, I'll have to try that!
My grandmother used to make a cinnamon swirl sour creme bundt cake every year at christmas, we all loved it so much when i was little it went to a year round request, so to make it a little different at christmastime, she started mixing some cornstarch with her applebutter to thicken it a little and when she would put the ribbon of cinnamon and brown sugar in the bundt cake she would add an extra ribbon of apple butter for an added surprise.
Yes brings back memories of my grandmother and the smell in the kitchen. I put it on oatmeal in the morning instead of other sweeteners. Also try a some warmed apple butter on ice cream. A less sweet topping.
Do you know the shelf life on these since they're not technically canned? I know the jars/lids/rings are sterilized and they're self-sealing, but since they're not boiled after being put in the jars, how long will they last? And is that what the apple cider vinegar is for–to help keep them more shelf stable?
This is really good to use as a marinade for pork chops…simply marinate the chops in the apple butte overnight. To add a little savoriness to the dish sprinkle in some dried rosemary either in the marinade itself or onto the chops directly once out of the marinade. These chops can either be pan fried or baked or pan seared then baked. I am actually planning on this one day next week!!
Yummy apple butter! I've never made it before.
I've never made apple butter, but I remember my great grandmother and mom making it when I was little. It involved hours and hours of baking and stirring, then running it through a food mill, canning it, etc. I've asked family and friends if they like apple butter, and the answer is unanimously YES. I'm totally making this for Christmas gifts this year!!