Slow Cooker Apple Butter

There is a specific smell that means fall has officially arrived at my house, and it is not a candle. It is a slow cooker full of apples and cinnamon that has been going since breakfast, and by the time the kids get home from school the whole house smells like an orchard bakery. Somebody always walks in and asks what we are having for dinner, and I have to break it to them that it is not dinner, it is apple butter, and yes, it takes all day.

I started making this the year we did our first orchard trip and came home with roughly forty pounds of apples and zero plan. Apple butter is the plan. It uses up a huge pile of fruit, it costs almost nothing, and it makes you feel like a very capable homesteading woman even though the slow cooker did all the work while you folded laundry.

Heads up, a couple of the links in here are affiliate links, which just means I get a tiny commission at no cost to you if you shop through them.

Why you’ll love this apple butter

First, it is not canning. I know “apple butter” sounds like something that requires a water bath and a grandmother, but this version lives in the fridge or the freezer and nobody has to sterilize anything. Second, it is almost entirely hands-off. You chop apples in the morning, stir a couple of times, blend it, and you are done. Third, it is the gift that makes people think you have your life together. A little jar with a ribbon and a handwritten label, and suddenly you are the friend who “makes things.”

And it is good on everything. Toast, obviously, but also stirred into oatmeal, spooned over pancakes, swirled into plain Greek yogurt, spread on a turkey sandwich, or served with a cheese board next to a sharp cheddar. My husband eats it straight off a spoon standing at the fridge, which I choose to take as a compliment.

Ingredients

You need about six pounds of apples, which is roughly twelve medium apples. Use a mix. Sweet ones like Honeycrisp, Gala, or Fuji give you the body and the natural sugar, and a few Granny Smith give it a little tartness so it does not taste flat. If you went to one of the orchards around Kansas City and have a random assortment, that is honestly perfect, this recipe is very forgiving.

Here is the full list, and the exact amounts are in the recipe card below:

Six pounds of apples, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped. One cup of granulated sugar. Half a cup of packed brown sugar. One tablespoon of ground cinnamon. Half a teaspoon of nutmeg. A quarter teaspoon of ground cloves. A quarter teaspoon of salt. One tablespoon of vanilla extract. One tablespoon of lemon juice.

Peeling twelve apples is the only real work in this recipe. If you make this more than once a year, a crank apple peeler corer is the best fifteen dollars you will spend in October, and the kids fight over who gets to turn it.

How to make slow cooker apple butter

Peel, core, and chop the apples into rough chunks. They do not need to be pretty, they are getting blended later. Pile them into a six quart slow cooker. It will look like way too many apples. It is not.

Add both sugars, the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt, and stir it all together so the apples are coated. Put the lid on and cook on low for about ten hours, or on high for five, until the apples are completely soft and dark and have collapsed into a mush. Give it a stir once or twice if you walk by, but do not stress if you forget.

Once the apples are falling apart, use an immersion blender right in the slow cooker to blend until smooth. If you do not have one, let it cool a bit and blend in batches in a regular blender, carefully, because hot apple mush is a splatter risk and I have the shirt to prove it.

Stir in the vanilla and lemon juice. Then take the lid off, turn the slow cooker to high, and let it cook uncovered for one to two more hours, stirring now and then, until it is thick, glossy, and deep brown. You are looking for the point where you drag a spoon through it and the line holds for a second. That is apple butter.

Let it cool, then spoon it into small mason jars or any containers with lids. Done.

Tips, variations, and make-ahead notes

On sweetness, taste it after blending and before the final thickening. Sweet apples need less sugar, tart ones need a little more. You can pull the sugar down to three quarters of a cup total if your apples are very sweet. It will still be delicious.

If you want it darker and more caramelly, cook it longer uncovered. If you want it a little brighter, add an extra squeeze of lemon at the end. A splash of apple cider instead of some of the sugar is lovely too.

Spice it your way. Some people add a pinch of allspice or cardamom. I have done a half teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice in place of the nutmeg and cloves when I was too lazy to find both jars, and nobody noticed.

For gifting, let it cool completely, fill four ounce or eight ounce jars, wipe the rims, and keep them in the fridge until you hand them off. Tell people it is a fridge item. I put a little label on the lid that says “keep me cold, eat me on everything.”

Make ahead is the whole point. This keeps in the fridge for about three weeks and in the freezer for six months. I freeze it in small containers so I can pull one out for a random Tuesday in January when I need a little fall back in my life.

Quick recipe details

Prep time is about 20 minutes, mostly peeling. Cook time is 10 hours on low or 5 on high, plus 1 to 2 hours uncovered to thicken. It makes about 5 cups, which fills five 8 ounce jars. Store in the fridge up to 3 weeks or freeze up to 6 months. Full printable card is below.

Slow Cooker Apple Butter

Deep, spiced, glossy apple butter made in the slow cooker with almost no hands-on work. No canning required, keeps in the fridge or freezer, and makes the whole house smell like fall.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 11 hours hrs

Total Time 11 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Servings: 5 cups

Course: Breakfast, Condiment

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 6 lbs apples about 12 medium, a mix of sweet and tart, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Method

 

1. Peel, core, and roughly chop the apples. Add them to a 6 quart slow cooker.
2. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Stir to coat the apples.
3. Cover and cook on LOW for 10 hours or HIGH for 5 hours, stirring once or twice, until the apples are very soft, dark, and collapsed.
4. Blend directly in the slow cooker with an immersion blender until smooth (or cool slightly and blend in batches in a regular blender).
5. Stir in the vanilla and lemon juice. Remove the lid and cook on HIGH, uncovered, for 1 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until thick, glossy, and deep brown. A spoon dragged through it should leave a line that holds for a moment.
6. Cool completely, then spoon into jars or containers with lids. Refrigerate up to 3 weeks or freeze up to 6 months.

Notes

Keeps in the fridge up to 3 weeks or in the freezer up to 6 months. Taste after blending and adjust sugar to your apples. For a darker, more caramel flavor, cook longer uncovered.

The takeaway

If you have a pile of apples and a slow cooker, you are two hours of actual effort away from a batch of apple butter that will last you through the holidays and make your house smell better than anything you can buy in a jar. This is one of those recipes that feels fancy but is actually the laziest thing I make all fall, and I mean that as the highest praise.

If you make it, tell me what you put it on. Drop it in the comments, I am always looking for excuses to open another jar.

So glad you are here.

xo, Pam