Welcome fall into your home with the warm smell and taste of this Slow Cooker Apple Butter! This recipe uses a combination of sweet Honeycrisp apples and tart Granny Smiths for a unique apple butter that's bursting with flavor. Spread it on toast, swirl it into oatmeal or yogurt, or spoon it over pancakes to transform anything into a cozy fall treat!
Love easy slow cooker apple recipes? Try my Traditional Wassail Recipe next!
🔍 Quick Look: Slow Cooker Apple Butter
- 🕒 Ready In: 11 hours 20 minutes (only 20 minutes hands-on time!)
- 🍴 Servings: 120 tablespoons
- 🔥 Calories: ~17 per serving
- ⭐ Main Ingredients: Apples, brown sugar, spices
- 📖 Dietary Info: Dairy-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan
- 👩🍳 Method: Slow cooker
- ⭐ Difficulty: Beginner (throw everything in the crockpot, set it, and forget it!)
When the weather finally starts to cool down (goodbye 100-degree days!) and the leaves start to change, one of my favorite things to make is this super cozy apple butter. There's just something so amazing about the smell of apples, cinnamon, and cloves filling the house all day; it's basically an all-natural candle.
I love spreading the apple butter on a piece of warm Brioche Bread, but it's also so good swirled in oatmeal or yogurt, or even spooned over my Japanese Pancakes or German Pancakes. And my Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Biscuits fresh out of the oven? You really can't go wrong!
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❤️ Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Hands-Free - With this apple butter recipe, the slow cooker does all of the work for you! Just toss all of the ingredients in, and let it simmer all day (and enjoy that beautiful aroma!)
- Amazing Flavor - Using a combination of both Honeycrisp and Granny Smith apples gives this butter the perfect balance of sweet and tart flavor. And the warm spices make it taste like you've figured out how to bottle up autumn in a jar.
- Perfect for Gift Giving - Why not treat your friends or neighbors with your homemade apple butter? Tie it with twine or ribbon for a super easy and beautiful gift!
🛒 Ingredients
- Apples: I used a combination of Honeycrisp and Granny Smith apples, but you can use any varieties your prefer. I like to keep my apples unpeeled, which gives the apple butter more of a rustic, homemade texture. But if you want a silky smooth apple butter, you can peel them or press the cooked butter through a fine-mesh strainer.
- Lemon Juice: This is one of those instances where I don't think fresh lemon juice vs. bottled makes a huge difference. Just use what you have!
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
🔄 Substitutions & Variations
- Spices: If you have apple pie spice on hand, you can substitute it for the spices listed in this recipe! I'd use about 2 teaspoons of it. It will give the apple butter a slightly different flavor since the spices in it are slightly different (ginger, cardamom, etc.), but it will be delicious!
- Apple Cider: You can also use water instead, some kind of liquid just helps to prevent the apple butter from scorching.
🍎How to Make Slow Cooker Apple Butter
Step 1: Add apples, brown sugar, spices, cider, and salt to the slow cooker.
Step 2: Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours, until the apples are completely soft.
Step 3: Puree the apples with an immersion blender (or in batches using a regular blender) until the mixture is smooth.
Step 4: Cook uncovered on low for 3-5 hours, stirring occasionally until the butter is thick and spreadable. Stir in vanilla extract and lemon juice, taste, and add more flavoring as needed. Cool, then transfer to jars.
🍏Want to make this recipe on the stovetop instead?
Ask AI how to adjust the recipe:
🌟Expert Tips
- Use an apple cutter. I used this 16 slice apple cutter (affiliate link) to make preparing the apples much quicker!
- Storage. You can fill about 8-10 half-pint jars or 4-5 pints with the apple butter.
- Silky smooth butter. If you prefer silky smooth butter, peel the apples first or press through a fine strainer after blending.
- Taste test often. Apples vary in sweetness. Always taste before adding more sugar, spices, salt, etc.
- Test for doneness. Butter that is done should be a deep mahogany brown, and it should be thick enough to mound on a spoon and not run off right away. You can also dip a spoon in the apple butter and drag it in a line. If the line stays clear and doesn't fill in with liquid, it's done. Just remember to keep a good eye on the butter during the final few hours of cooking, as this is when it's most likely to burn!
💭 FAQs
Apple butter and applesauce both used cooked apples, but they're quite different in texture and flavor. Applesauce cooks in under an hour and it's blended into a puree with a lightly sweet apple flavor. Apple butter is cooked for a long period of time, at least 10 hours, until it thickens into a concentrated, spreadable butter.
For apple butter, the best flavor comes from mixing different types of apples like using both tart and sweet varieties. Some good combinations would be Granny Smith + Honey crisp, McIntosh + Fuji, or Jonathan + Golden Delicious.
It probably needs more time to reduce. Keep cooking it uncovered on low until it's dark and spreadable. Check on it at least every hour, to avoid burning.
📋 Recipe
Slow Cooker Apple Butter
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Granny Smith apples (about 6 medium) cored and chopped
- 3 pounds Honeycrisp apples (about 7-8 medium) cored and chopped
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup apple cider
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice fresh or bottled
Instructions
- Add apples, brown sugar, spices, cider, and salt to a large (preferably 6-quart) slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours, until the apples are completely soft.
- Puree the apples with an immersion blender (or in batches using a regular blender) until the mixture is smooth.
- Cook uncovered on low for 3-5 hours, stirring occasionally until the butter is thick and spreadable. Stir in vanilla extract and lemon juice, taste, and add more flavoring as needed. Cool, then transfer to jars.
Notes
- Storage: You can fill about 8-10 half-pint jars or 4-5 pints with the apple butter.
- Silky smooth butter: If you prefer silky smooth butter, peel the apples first or press through a fine strainer after blending.
- Test for doneness. Butter that is done should be a deep mahogany brown, and it should be thick enough to mound on a spoon and not run off right away. You can also dip a spoon in the apple butter and drag it in a line. If the line stays clear and doesn't fill in with liquid, it's done. Just remember to keep a good eye on the butter during the final few hours of cooking, as this is when it's most likely to burn!
Ashley Amundsen says
This slow cooker apple butter is SO easy to make! It cooks in the slow cooker all day long, which means it's a hands-off recipe. And it makes your house smell so good! If you're craving apple treats, this is definitely one you need to make.