I had no idea how easy it would be to make Slow Cooker Apple Butter! Yes there is a bit of peeling and chopping, but with the slow cooker there is no watching and stirring involved. I love making this type of recipe, where I get to keep some for my family and there is plenty to share with friends, or tuck some away in the freezer. Note, this is not a canning recipe, I am no canning expert, so I freeze any I plan not to use in the next week.
In my last post I mentioned that the weather here in Oregon has been a scorcher! Not this week, we’ve had fall-like weather, and this recipe fit well with the clouds and rain sprinkles. I started this Apple Butter at 7:00 a.m. and it was ready to be blended up at 5:00 p.m.
I am excited to officially announce that I have put in my notice at the post office. Starting August 8th, I won’t delivering mail anymore. It was a tough decision after 10 years of delivering mail, it is time for me to move on. I will be most sad about leaving my co-workers, but I will keep in touch with them forever. What is next for me? I’ve decided to give up my insurance, pension and job security at the post office and start my dream job of writing more cookbooks and working on my blog full-time. I am surprisingly feeling very optimistic about this change, and I am very excited to bring you recipes more often.
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- 5 lbs. apples (I used a 5 lb. bag of Gala apples) peeled, cored and cut into ½ inch chunks
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. nutmeg
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- 2 dashes salt
- Add the peeled, cored and cut apples into a 6-quart slow cooker. Add the brown sugar (make sure to break up any hard clumps with your fingers). Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
- Stir.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 10 hours.
- After the apples have cooked, place them and any liquid that the apples made into a blender, cover with lid, and a towel on top of that (to prevent burns, in case the lid flies off). Hold the lid on while the blender is on. Pulse for about a minute, until very smooth.
- At this point if your apple butter isn't as thick as desired, pour it back into the slow cooker. Turn the slow cooker back to LOW, and leave the lid off. Stir every 15 minutes. Mine took about 45 more minutes to thicken to perfection.
- Put into containers and refrigerate. I personally will store in the fridge for no longer than a week, or in the freezer for a few months.
Good luck Sarah!
I would like to know if you can use Splenda sugar and brown sugar in this recipe, in place of regular sugar.
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I would like to know the same thing!
Question, can this be canned in jars? It is low in acidity so it will have to be PC’ed. Just wondering if you or if you know someone who has done this.
Roger, I was thinking the same thing. So, I researched “canning crockpot apple butter” on Google. I found a recipe on www. Simply canning.com that is almost identical to this one. I figure this recipe must be canning safe too then. When Apple picking time comes here in Illinois, I’ll give it a try.
Yes you can can this apple butter. You need to have your jars rings and Lids ready use hot Cars 2 Ladle the hot liquid in and then take your rings and Lids out of a hot water put them on your jars after you have wipe the rims and put them in a hot water bath canner for 10 minutes. They turned out great and they should seal very quickly. SSI with other people yes you can use Splenda instead of real sugar just be careful that Splenda can be a little tart. so please taste the apple butter to make sure that is the right taste. Enjoy and happy canning!
Thank you for the information!
Darn! I just bought apple butter yesterday but I really want to make this! I made fresh cherry freezer jam this week and I’m really in the mood!
Congrats on quitting the post office and living your dreams! Hope you continue to be very successful!
YAY!!!! So so so so excited for you! This recipe looks divine too!
Sarah, how exciting for you 🙂 I am working for the day of getting to do the same thing you are doing!
I love apple butter in the slow cooker. Your recipe looks great. Good luck!
Congratulations on quitting your job. What a big step.
I cannot wait to give this recipe a try. It sounds absolutely amazing.
How exciting that you’ll be blogging full time! This recipe looks so wonderful! I’ll have to give it a try this fall!
This looks nice and easy! Do you think it might work for fresh figs? Maybe a little less time in the slow cooker because it’s a softer fruit than an apple? Just letting my mind wander and brainstorm!!
I think you could use anything you would like. I’ve made peach butter, and cooked it the same amount of time 🙂
How much does this recipe make? I’d like to be prepared with as many has as necessary.
I want to say it was about 5-6 half pints.
Best wishes to you. Thank you for recipe
Hi there! I’m making only half of your recipe, but am wondering if I should cut the time down?
Thanks, Angie.
Yes, I think 8 hours would be plenty!
Hi Sara. I am using mostly green, tart apples from my garden. How much more sugar would you suggest I add to sweeten? Thank you!
Hi Brianna! It’s so hard to tell. If it was me I would do the recipe as is, then taste after blending it and add more sugar to taste then.
Congrats on your retirement. I finally walked through that door myself.. October 1st this year. IT’LIBERATING AND ENJOYING IT. Made you recipe yesterday. It turned out scrumptious. I canned mine. Because we like ours thick I cooked it about1hour longer without lid. Yummy!!!
Definitely going to make this! Instead of putting the hot apple butter in a blender, I’m going to use my handy immersion blender…one of my favorite kitchen gadgets!
How do you freeze it if you aren’t canning it . What container would you use ?
I’ve always froze my jams in glass jars, leave a good inch on the top. They do sell freezer jam Tupperware (plastic) in the canning section though.
Can anyone tell me how much this actually makes? I’ll need to buy jars and don’t want extras. Thank you!