Slow Cooker Apple Butter

I’ve been making apple butter for quite some time. As a kid, I would help my mom make homemade gifts to give to people during the holidays, and apple butter was always a favorite. Since the canning process can be a little tricky, usually I would just help out and my mom would do most of the legwork. But when Jason and I moved here to Virginia last fall and went on our first apple picking trip, I was really excited to try my hand at making apple butter all by myself. Flashback alert:

(Apple picking in Charlottesville, October 2010)

(my first jar of apple butter! October 2010)

Since last year my cooking skills have developed significantly, and so when we went apple picking this year I knew I wanted to tweak the recipe a bit to make it even tastier and healthier.

(Apple picking in Roseland, October 2011)

This year I used a larger variety of apples to give the flavors in the butter more depth. It helps to balance out the sweetness and tartness because each variety of apple is different. I used Rome:

Granny Smith, Winesap:

Stayman:

and Empire:

I also significantly lowered the amount of sugar I used and divided the sweeteners up between plain organic sugar, brown sugar, and honey.

The result is delicious, if I do say so myself…

Of course, good apple butter belongs first and foremost on a fresh, homemade biscuit! There’s nothing like it.

All of the cooking takes places in the crockpot, and I cook mine on low heat over the course of 12 hours. It’s like magic watching it turn from this

…to this

…to this!

It’s well worth the wait!

Slow Cooker Apple Butter

• 20 c. peeled, diced apples (any variety of baking apples will work)
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 3/4 c. organic sugar
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1 T. cinnamon
• 3/4 t. nutmeg
• 3/4 t. allspice
• 1/2 t. ginger

-Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl to coat the apples.

-Place the apples into a crockpot and cook on high for 1 1/2 hours, stirring after the first hour.

-Reduce the heat to low and cook for an additional 8-10 hours, stirring occasionally along the way. After the first couple hours, you can use a potato masher to start breaking up the apples. After about 4 hours, you can use a whisk to start to smooth the apples out.

-After about 10 total hours of cooking, remove the top and let the butter cook uncovered so that any liquid will evaporate. When the butter is smooth, thick, and dark in color with no extra liquid sitting on top, it’s done cooking.

-Remove the butter to clean jars and allow to cool. You can freeze or can the butter, or just refrigerate it once its cooled. Makes about 5 8 oz. jars.

This is some seriously good stuff. Plus it makes your house smell so good, you’ll want to eat the air.

Try some of your own if you haven’t before! The crockpot and the apples do all the work for you. You won’t be disappointed.

Thanks for reading!

-Lauren

P.S.-I just signed up for my own Recipage to keep my recipes organized and make them easier for you all to access and print. However I have something like 125 recipes to transfer to the page so it might take me a few days! I’m so excited for it to be done! 🙂