Apple Butter

Upgrade your toast slather game with my crockpot Apple Butter recipe. Juicy apples cook slowly with warm fall spices, brown sugar and vanilla before being blended to create a smooth flavor-packed spread that’s absolute fire! Get out your slow cooker, and get this homemade apple butter ready to serve up whenever you want.

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Y’all, let’s get into one of my fave easy apple recipes: homemade apple butter. Made with sweet Honeycrisp apples, molasses-filled dark brown sugar, and a slew of warm spices, this butter is basically Fall in a jar boos. Did I mention the whole thing is made in a slow cooker? Yup, you read that right. Let those spices and vanilla waft through your kitchen making you weak in the knees.

What is Apple Butter?

So apple butter ain’t really butter y’all. In fact, this recipe doesn’t have one ounce of butter in it. It’s basically a heavily concentrated and spiced applesauce. A mixture of apples, sugar, and spice are combined, then cooked low-and-slow to create a super rich, smooth, and buttery spread.

The Lowdown on the Best Apple Butter Recipe

Cuisine Inspiration: Classic American
Primary Cooking Method: Slow Cooking
Dietary Info: Vegan, Gluten-Free
Key Flavor: Deeply concentrated apple flavor with Autumn spiced goodness
Skill Level: Super Easy (No Sweat Fam!)

• Beyond Spreadable: From morning toasts to midnight snacks, this apple butter jazzes up every dish it graces.
• Shelf-Life: This is a preserver’s dream! Store it, gift it, and enjoy it!
• Super Dietary Friendly: Whether you’re plant-based, dodging gluten, or keeping things light, this apple butter is boss moves.
• Easy Peasy: Listen boos, if you can peel apples and stir a pot, you are all good. The slow cooker does most of the heavy lifting, so you’re free to kick back and bask in the aromatic anticipation. That aroma is so bomb!

Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Crockpot Apple Butter

• Apples: We use Honeycrisp apples here because they are juicy and naturally sweet. They also cook down to create a perfect smooth texture when blended.
• Granulated Sugar: This helps give a little sweetness without overpowering the apples.
• Brown Sugar: This will provide that intense caramelized sweetness to the apples
• Vanilla Extract: This will add wonderful aromatic essence.
• Spices: A mix of aromatic spices like cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and ginger elevate the overall flavor and complement the apples perfectly.
• Salt: This will help balance all that sugar.

How to Make Apple Butter

Step 1: Add Apples and Slow Cook

1. Prep the apples then throw them into the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients, toss, cover and let it cook on low for 10 hours.
2. After about 10 hours, the apples should be nice and tender.

Step 2: Make It Smooth

1. Add the apples to a food processor or heavy duty blender and blend until smooth.
2. Transfer the smoothed out apple butter back into the slow cooker and continue to cook on low for an additional 1-2 hours.

PRO TIP: Keep an eye on the butter as it cooks for the second time. You are responsible for determining how thick you’d like the end result to be. I cook my apple butter down quite a bit! I prefer a thicker, richer butter for optimal spreading texture. But seriously y’all, do you!

What to Serve with Southern Apple Butter

• Toast: The classic way to serve up some crockpot apple butter is on a slice of warm toast. That’s gonna get your breakfast started right ya dig?
• Biscuits: Now y’all know some Southern apple butter would be so bomb on some drop biscuits, my big mama’s buttermilk biscuits or these super easy butter swim biscuits. I can almost taste it now!
• Pancakes or Waffles: Whether you serve it up classic style on some fluffy pancakes or buttermilk waffles or jazz it up with these apple pancakes, you are in for some good eatin!
• Yogurt: Layer some vanilla yogurt with granola and slow cooker apple butter for a delish snack or breakfast treat.
• Ice Cream: This is so delish with some vanilla ice cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I’m getting warm and cozy just thinking about it!
• Savory: The best apple butter is great on savory and sweet recipes. It’s some dang good eating if you slather a bit on some baked chicken or baked pork chops as a glaze a few minutes before they finish up cooking!

Recipe Substitutions

• Apples: Granny Smith or Gala are all great apple replacements here.
• Sugar: You can go all in with either granulated or brown sugar. You can also sub in light brown sugar if dark brown isn’t available.
• Spices: You can really adjust these anyway you would like or use a spice blend to make things easier. An apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice are a nice way to consolidate spices and get a kick.
• Vanilla: Really amp up that vanilla flavor with some vanilla bean paste or a bit of rum extract. It’s so bomb.

Recipe Variations and Additions

• Go ham on the spices: A little more spice vibes can really liven this crockpot apple butter up. Throw in a little cardamon or cloves for more intensity.
• Get boozy: You can’t tell me a little rum, bourbon or whiskey wouldn’t infuse this recipe with so much warmth and grown up vibes.
• Brighten: I love adding some lemon or orange zest to apple recipes. The citrusy notes give it a little something special.
• Maple: I love me some maple syrup with apples y’all. Replacing some of the sugar with maple syrup gives such a deep intense sweetness.

How to Store Slow Cooker Apple Butter

• Fridge: Preserve the quality of your crockpot apple butter by cooling to room temp then storing in an airtight sealed glass jar.  It should last about 2-3 weeks. Just check for a bad odor, dark or white spots, or mold just to be sure it’s all good.
• Freezer: Homemade apple butter can actually last in the freezer for up to a year. Label it with the date. Just defrost in the fridge before serving it up again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Favorite Apple Recipes

• Spiced Apple Cider
• Caramel Apple Cheesecake
• Baked Whole Apples