Homemade Slow Cooker Apple Butter
Our homemade apple butter recipe uses a combination of Braeburn, Fuji and Golden Delicious apples and a healthy dose of fragrant spices to make a rich, smooth apple butter that cooks overnight in the crock pot. The recipe is versatile, so feel free to use your favorite in-season apple varieties and adjust the spice quantities to suit your own taste.
Homemade Slow Cooker Apple Butter
Cooked overnight in the crockpot, this rich, smooth apple butter recipe uses several varieties of apples, flavored with a subtle blend of spices and vanilla.
Ingredients
- 8 to 10 medium apples (2-1/2 to 3 pounds)
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup apple cider
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Peel and core the apples, cut them into chunks and add them to a 4-quart or larger slow cooker.
- In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar, apple cider, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, salt and vanilla extract until well blended.
- Pour the mixture over the apples, stir to coat, then cover and cook overnight on low heat (10-12 hours).
- Once cooked, blend the apple mixture until smooth with a hand-held immersion blender (see notes). Re-cover and cook for an additional 30 minutes on high heat to finish thickening the mixture.
- Allow to cool to room temperature, stir in the lemon juice and spoon into mason jars. Cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Notes
Recipe Notes:
If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a conventional blender to purée the apple butter. Be sure to work in batches though to avoid over-filling it with the hot mixture.
About Apple Butter:
Despite the name, apple butter is a thick, slow-cooked purée of fresh apples, apple cider and spices that actually contains no butter whatsoever. Its history dates back to Pennsylvania Dutch country in the mid-1700s as an easy way of preserving the apple harvest.
