Slowcooker Apple Butter Recipe

Using a slow cooker is one of the easiest ways to make apple butter. It tastes like you have stood over a wood burning fire stirring apples in a copper kettle all day. For those who may not know, apple butter does not actually contain butter. The “butter” term is used to describe its butter like texture. Apple butter is instead a scrumptiously decadent thickened applesauce spiced with cinnamon, cooked low and slow all day. It is delicious spread over toast in the morning or used in baked goods. Check out our recipe for homemade light bread to try it out on! It is so good!

Apple butter is so popular that a lot of places have Apple Butter festivals in the fall to celebrate the tradition of making apple butter the old fashioned way. This means an all day affair starting in the wee morning hours and lasting until well after the sun goes down. It is such a large undertaking that it often needs to be a community affair. This tradition of getting the community together dates back to the beginnings of apple butter’s humble beginnings in what is believed to be the early 18th century. Growing up, this old fashioned tradition was something we all looked forward to doing every fall with our church.

I can remember the ladies of the church gathered in the small kitchen talking and laughing as they prepared the apple haul from the local orchard. We processed bushel after bushel of apples all by hand. Outside the men and kids would be gathered around the big fire upon which sat a giant copper kettle. The apples would be dumped in and the cooking would go all day with buckets of apples being added, and the concoction stirred by a long handled wooden paddle. It was a day of apples, yummy church potluck food to sustain us, and fellowship.

I miss being a kid and getting to experience those types of early fall days with family and friend. The smell of cooking apples and wood smoke filling the air as we played nearby. Not a care in the world. Nowadays, life is so hectic it would be nearly impossible to even imagine spending all day by the fire stirring a copper kettle full of apples. Much less getting a community together during CoVid. Which is why I have instead put my slow cooker to work.

I have sang the praises of my Ninja Foodi multiple times, and that is because I truly love this kitchen gadget. When I made this apple butter, I put it on before I went to bed and basically just let it do its thing for the next 12 hours. Any slow cooker crockpot will do as long as you have a low temperature setting that allows for slow even cooking. Please note, this recipe does not make a ton because the apples do cook down quite a bit. In this recipe, I got 2 pints. Feel free to double the recipe if your slow cooker of choice will hold it. Mine would hold it, but I was on the end of a three day applesauce making extravaganza and opted to just make a small batch with the leftover apples.

I do recommend to use an apple that is slightly sweet, but more importantly cooks down well. I used Fuji because they were a good price at the farmers market and they are also great snacking apples for the kids. They also do great for applesauce. Check out that recipe under Great Eats as well! You can also use something like Gala or McIntosh or get creative and use a mixture. Any apple can be used, but these varieties are preferred due to their softer texture. A good rule is, if it is good for baking a pie, it is probably not the best choice for applesauce or butter.

The first thing you will need to do is prepare your apples by peeling, coring, and slicing them. The smaller the slice the more even the consistency of the final product. This is by far going to be your most labor intensive part. I can understand why you would need a whole community of people to process so many apples! After the apples are prepped you will place them into your slow cooker and stir in your brown sugar and spices. I have found that a spice blend of cinnamon, clove, and apple pie spice are my favorite, but I remember the church using red hots when I was young.

Once all of your ingredients are in, stir it all together. Set your slow cooker to low and 12 hours. I would recommend to check it after the first six hours and stir occasionally thereafter. If it is super thick and the apples are not giving off any liquids you may want to put a splash of water or cider in to maintain the silky texture. Once it is all cooked down you have the option of a chunkier apple butter by leaving it as is or you can ladle the apples into a food processor or blender to smooth it out. Just be careful, the mixture will be hot! After it is blended put it back in the crockpot and keep on warm while you get your jars ready.

You will be doing a water bath to seal your jars. First, prepare your jars by cleaning and sanitizing them, then allow jars to heat in warm water at a simmer until ready to start. Wash your lids in warm soapy water and set bands aside.

Ladle hot apple butter into hot jars leaving about 1/2 inch of headspace. Remove air bubbles with a wooden dowel or spoon handle. Wipe the rim and center the lid on the jar. Tighten the band to hand tight and process in boiling water for 20 minutes. You may need to adjust for altitude. Remove jars and allow to cool. Check seals after about 24 hours to ensure proper seal.

It is as simple as that! Now you have a delicious condiment to add to your breakfast repertoire. I would recommend some creative ways to use apple butter such as in overnight oats or stirred into your morning pancake batter! Yummy! I hope you all enjoy and would love to see your comments on how this recipe turns out for you if you try it!

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