Crock Pot Apple Butter
For instructions on how easy it is to can this apple butter, please click here. Thank you so much for reading Southern Plate and don’t forget to check back in tomorrow for another apple recipe! Gratefully, Christy
From time to time I run across a person who has never heard of apple butter. When I am finished gasping in horror at the wasted life they have led up until that point, I make it my first order of business to slather some on a biscuit and get it to their mouth as soon as possible.
We are very fortunate to have our Cracker Barrel restaurants, where you can get an apple butter fix any time of day. The Apple Barn in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is also a favorite by all who have been there and had fresh apple butter spooned over a hot apple fritter. We even have some good brands in our grocery stores such as Bama brand apple butter (Which I just found out is actually made by Welchs and available only in the Southeastern United States). Still, when it comes to filling your house with yummy scents and filling your tummy with spicy goodness, nothing beats homemade.
Apple butter is surprisingly easy to make, especially with the help of a crock pot. Still, folks seem to be intimidated by it. Perhaps its the complex taste of the spices combined with how few people actually do make it anymore which causes it to be shyed away from in our kitchens. There is no need though as making apple butter with this recipe is likely one of the easiest things that I’ve brought you so far!
I like to put my apple butter on to cook in the slow cooker just before I go to bed and let it cook all night long. When I wake up in the morning, the house is filled with the most delicious and fragrant smell that I often reserve making it for a time when we have company! I wake up first thing, take the lid off, and give it a few fans just to make sure the house is thoroughly saturated with apple butter smell (you might want to save this until after you’ve made biscuits because that breakfast table will fill up pretty quickly!). We eat a breakfast of biscuits and fresh, hot apple butter while I let the rest continue to cook. This is about as close to heaven as you can possibly get while still drawing breath.
Our ingredients are: Two large jars of unsweetened applesauce (three pounds or fifty ounces), sugar, 3 lbs granny smith apples, apple juice, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. Exact recipe is at bottom of page.
“Chip” your apples like we did in the apple pie (If you have not read the apple pie tutorial, you now have your first official homework assignment). Do this by peeling them and cutting little chips of them off. Place in large crock pot along with both jars of apple sauce, sugar, spices, and a bit of apple juice (exact quantities at the bottom). If you feel like it is too much sugar for you or too much cloves or allspice, just do a little less. The beauty of this recipe is that you cook it all night in the crock pot, then taste it in the morning and add what you prefer to make it to your taste. You can also use Splenda instead of sugar!
My advice in doing that would be to put a wee bit less Splenda than the amount of sugar it calls for.
Stir well and cover with lid. Cook on low overnight, eight to ten hours.
At this point your butter will be dark brown and rich, but with a bit too much water in it. This is where you will taste it and see what you want to add. I am including the exact quantities I use at the bottom of this recipe. Leave the lid off and continue cooking for a few hours until it cooks down a little bit. “Cooks down” is how old folks say “its too runny, you need some of that water gone!”.
After it cooks down a bit, fill up pint or quart jars and seal. If you go through the process of canning this, you can simply leave the jars on a shelf in your pantry. Otherwise you would need to refrigerate them and use within two to three weeks. You can also place in jars and freeze to keep it longer without having to can it. Personally, I ended up with eight pints of it. Last time I made it, my company ate almost two pints at dinner. I sent a few pints home with them, gave one to another neighbor, one to another…..and so on and so forth. Long story short is, out of eight pints, I have one left for my own personal use. ~grins~ Now that’s when you know you’ve done good!
Crock Pot Apple Butter Recipe
- 2- 3 lb (50 oz) jars unsweetened apple sauce
- 3 lbs granny smith apples
- 4 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups apple juice
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cloves
- 1 tsp allspice
Peel and cut apples into small chips. Place all ingredients in the crock pot and stir. Cover and cook on low overnight (eight to ten hours). Remove cover, stir and taste. Add more spices or sugar if desired. Continue cooking for a few more hours, uncovered, until some of the liquid has gone and butter has cooked down a bit. Pour into jars and refrigerate (unless it is canned properly).
Serve over hot biscuits, toast, scones, or just eat it out of the jar if no one is looking!
Related posts:
- Apple Fritters and Fall Days My first memories of apple fritters come from a...
- Easy Fried Pies A few weeks ago (my goodness, how this month...
- Holiday Fruit Salad (My favorite thing in the world to eat!!) Alright, I know I always tell you how much...
- Chocolate Gravy This morning I was making biscuits when my daughter...
- Peanut Butter Brownies with Peanut Butter Fudge Icing My Starbucks friends have been waiting on this recipe....
Christy gave me this recipe years ago and I am so thankful for it! This is the easiest way on the face of the Earth to make fantastic home-made apple butter! I had some this morning on my cinnamon raisin English muffin and as always, it was magnificent!
Just because she sends me all these wonderful dishes, my opinions are not purchased in any way, shape, form, or fashion. Christy IS truly a fantastic chef and she does everything with a flair like only she can do!
I honestly never heard of apple butter before, and as a noob I must say I’m a bit intimidated by the color.
But reading your description, that’s bound to taste great!
LAWDY, HONEY – YOU MUST BE WAY TOO FAR NORTH OF THE MASON-DIXON!!
Mindless_Rambling:
~grins~
We have a place in Alabama called Constitution Village. Folks dress as they did in colonial times and re-enact them in a colonial village setting while tourists walk around and experience it all.
My first encounter with Apple Butter was on a school field trip as a young girl to Constitution Village. We walked in and the smell hit us, actually before we even reached the village from the parking garage. The smell…like apple pies, cinnamon, cloves, and Christmas all rolled into one – and this was May I believe. We couldn’t wait to see what was creating such a magnificent smell.
Finally we happened upon a sweet little old lady stirring this divine concoction in an large black iron kettle over a fire. She lifted up a spoon to show off apple butter which was almost as black as tar. Trust me though, after smelling it, there wasn’t a kid on that trip who wouldn’t have gladly ate the entire pot!
It really is a very unique treat, just think “browned” apple butter…aw heck once you smell it you’ll eat it even if it were purple! ~grins~
My Mother used to make apple butter, however, I never had the urge to try it. It was one of my younger brother’s favorites, and maybe that is why I was positive to try it.
Your recipe sounds good and easy, however, I hesitate to make that large of batch. Also could Splenda be used instead of sugar?
OK, went back and reread your post and see where you say Splenda can be used instead of sugar.
@southern plate
Haha, great story!
Apart from the recipes, I’m loving your style of writing and the stories/information shared in those recipes as well.
I’ll be back for more, no doubt (especially know that I know the apple butter won’t kill me, lol)
Keep cooking
Mindless_Rambling:
You have put a smile on my face that will easily last the rest of the day!
Thank you so much!
@southern plate
haha, I hope it last another day!
(don’t you love the internet when it lets you make another person smile on the other side of the planet?!)
In the mean time I’ve been reading your fried green tomatoes….yes, I’ve seen the movies, but no, you can’t buy those here, haha. I’ll be on the lookout in specialty shops though, and in the mean time I’ll just drool all over your pictures (sorry about that).
Your three year old sounds like a bright little kid by the way, requesting the one ingredient everybody loves…chocolate!!
Dear regards from Holland
@,@
Holland?
WOW.
Oh my.
Wow again!
Oh I wish I could send you some green tomatoes, but they ripen so fast they’d be sure to be red by the time they got there!
Maybe you can give chocolate gravy a go!
Holland………..wow!
Yup, still smiling. Internet is a great thing!
I make Apple Butter in my crockpot too! Yummy! Yummy!
Thanks for submitting this to the Carnival of Home Preserving!
I came across this site by accident-now I’m stuck. I dearly love apple butter-have never found one store-bought that had flavor! This is so much faster than starting with the apples like I usually do, I can’t wait to try it in the crockpot! I will be trying many of your recipes, being from the NW they are quite different than I am used to and I can’t wait!Drool, drool, drool….
Anonymous:
I am thrilled you found us! Sit down and get comfy and if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know!
Thank you for your kind words, I’ll do my best to keep delivering!!!
~Christy
Thank you for this recipe! My husband is insane for apple butter and goes through it pretty regularly. I’m going to make this soon and drive him wild with that smell!
Great blog, too! I love how you cook!
Another great looking recipe!
I remember growing up in Michigan, my mom made a huge crockpot full of Apple Butter (about the only use the crockpot ever got, really.) She kept it simple – just lots of apples, water, and cinnamon, but it was better than any store-bought Apple Butter we could find.
There is no better memory for me than a big dollop of Apple Butter plopped on a Ritz cracker. MMmmmmm-mmmm!
JennyDee you are a woman after my own heart! Most folks only think of apple butter in conjunction with biscuits. Me, I think of apple butter as the main course and toss in whatever edible serving piece is available!!
Glad to meet you, Jenny!
I’ve just been making a bunch of spiced jam in my bread machine and this spple butter will be perfect as fall approaches – yum!
Oh Seabird, I know whose house I’m going to this fall!!!!
Thank you for visiting, come back anytime and sit a spell!
Thank you again for participating this week’s Carnival of Home Preserving!
The post is live if you haven’t seen it already.
http://laurawilliamsmusings.blogspot.com/2008/07/carnival-of-home-preserving-jul-21-2008.html
Be sure to submit one for next week’s edition. Jennifer at QuiverFull Family is hosting.
Feel free to share the link to this week’s edition of the carnival to get the word out to others and bring in more participants.
Happy Preserving!
Laura
I love apple butter, though I’ve never made it myself. I’ve only had it at restaurants or bought it in the store. One of these days I’d love to make it, as it would taste great on some homemade biscuits.
Oh my goodness am I glad I stumpled across your website. I love southern cooking as my parents are from Kentucky and I grew up on southern food. Reading your comments, and receipes takes me back a spell or two!! OMG I even started talking with a drawl just from reading.
You have one my heart (okay stomach too) with your receipes already. Especially the Fried Green Tomatoes OMG add some fresh out of the garden green beans with shellys and onions boy I tell you… Yumm-o
I will have to try the apple butter and let you know as I love apple butter.
P.S. You are now my favorite receipe place. I have been to the Apple Barn in Pigeon Forge and if this receipe is like that then boy I have found the right place.
Kitchen Confit: I’m sorry I didn’t respond sooner, this comment slipped under my radar! Thank you so much for reading and if you do try it, please let me know!
Donna K- Thank you so very much for your wonderful comment! I love hearing things like this, makes it all worthwhile and keeps me motivated to do more!
I do hope you’ll come back often and if you ever have any questions or special requests, please let me know!
Christy
Being the self-declared King of Apple Butter, I must say my nose turned up at the idea of your crock pot apple butter.
The ease of the recipe ate at me for days, then combined with the wonderful results of your Country Bob’s Beef Stew recipe, I caved in and made “da butta”.
Thinking it was blasphemy to not cook down apples and sugar in a copper kettle over a fire, the ghost of my dear Mother haunted me as I peeled the Granny Smith’s, poured in the apple sauce, and the rest of the ingredients.
It is absolutely wonderful “butta”.
Well worth the investment of time, that’s an understatement. Made it two nights ago, and put in containers in the fridge. My wife has carried off over 50% of the booty and given it to friends at work, and this morning she took a container, made hot biscuits, and fed everyone in her office. Needless to say, I’ll be pulling out the crock pot and brewing up another batch over the holiday weekend. No need now to wait till Fall and peel and stir till my arms want to fall off.
You ROCK!
I am absolutely stunned at the gravity of this compliment. Thank you so very much. I hope you got my email thank you!
Thankyou, thank you, wow, thank you!
Christy
And to think I had things to do this weekend! Now where do I get a crock pot in edinburgh? Hmmm…
I love the crockpot apple butter recipe. If I may make a suggestion, if you use 1 can of apple juice concentrate instead of the apple juice, its a stronger flavor and also cuts down on the liquid that has to evaporate. Thank you for sharing this recipe – my crockpot is heating up!!!
I love your blog! I regularly use it for recipes and ideas. My new husband and I just moved to Georgia from California, and I’m enjoying exploring lots of new cuisine! I just finished up making and canning some apple butter using your recipe and tutorial. I’m getting a head start on Christmas gifts! This was my first attempt at canning, and it came out great! My husband had never had apple butter before. When I told him I wanted to make it and ship to family for Christmas, he was worried about the “butter” melting during shipping! He’s so adorable! Of course he tried some with some fresh biscuits this morning, and he’s hooked now!
Super easy and super delicious!
Hey Pamela! I actually have a friend in England and I sent him to get a crock pot a few months back! He is loving it so far! Let me know if you get to try anything and thanks for reading!!! Sorry so slow to respond to this!!
Helen Great idea! The main reason I use apple juice is because my daughter has this special brand she likes and she gets so excited when I buy it! I don’t normally buy apple juice unless I need it for a pie or apple butter but your idea is GREAT! Thank you!
Newly Mrs. You are so sweet!!! Thank you!! That is precious what he said about the butter, too! I am so glad you are enjoying Southern Plate and the recipes are working out for you! I really appreciate you taking the time to let me know! Comments means so very much! Did you subscribe by email yet to get the weekly printer friendly recipes I am emailing out?
Gratefully,
Christy
If I started with ALL apples, instead of applesauce – how many would I use? We went orchard picking and I have about 1/2 bushel.
Hey Christy,
I have never read a blog in my life (well I did read one concening a plant that I could not get to grow) anyway…. I found your web site when I was looking for a crock pot apple butter recipe. I subscribed and got my first end of the week recipes last week. I loved them and I love looking at all your recipes!!! Its really fun to see all the pictures that you include with each recipe. Thanks for showing the “world” what Southern cooking is all about. There’s no better way to eat, is there?
By the way, the apple butter turned out great. Just ask my neighbors!
Christy how much apple butter does this recipe yield??? I want to make and can some.
I made and canned this apple butter using your recipe and tutorial last night/this morning. It came out great! If you don’t mind, I posted pictures of my results and such on my blog. I have made this twice now and noticed a difference in flavor which I think was due to the type of allspice I bought.
I made this apple butter this morning Christy. Its 6 am and my house smells heavenly. I cant wait to can it in a few hours. Its so pretty and brown in color and taste wonderful.
I have several recipes for apple butter, and I truly thought I had the best and the most easiest, until === I read and of course I had to try your recipe, thinking,, yea right something so simple has no flavor,,, oh I was wrong,,, and I don’t like sharing that part, however.. it is just wonderful, and I would truly love to have more recipes from you. Love to cook and love to share recipes, keep sharing please, Donna
Apple Butter is fantastic on scones, biscuits, English Muffins. I will definately try this one. Nice recipe!
Growing up in Maryland we always had apple butter around so I can’t remember the first time I had it. It was just there. lol Another way to eat it is with cottage cheese, not mixed but just side by side on the plate. Since no one mentioned that, it must be a Marylander thing.
I just found this looking for an Apple Butter recipe. I have a bunch of apples ready to be made into apple butter. Mmmmmm. Homemade Apple Butter on a slice of warm, homemade bread with butter. One of the best things life has to offer.
I used your Apple Butter recipe this weekend. It is delicious. My husband loved waking up to that yummy smell. I enjoy your site so much. Can’t wait to check it each day.
Can’t wait to try this! How long will it keep in the refrigerator?
Thanks!
[...] also had biscuits with crock pot apple butter and [...]
Can you half this recipe? Will it turn out the same?? What about cooking time? Thanks Christy! So excited to make your infamous apple butter!
Luckily I live in a big apple producing area. Whitehouse products are made here. Every fire department, ladies auxiliary, and Lion’s Club make an apple butter. They cook it for 12 hours in a copper pot over a fire, stirring nonstop. I love it!
On your crock pot apple butter, this page says 2 jars of apple sauce and your cookbook says 1. Which is right? I’m one of these people who have to have exact instructions.
It all depends on how many apples you use. If you have enough apples to fill your pot about 3/4 full with the sauce, use one. I get tired of fooling with it and go for less apples and more sause
. I have made it with three large of sauce and no apples at all!
Lol
Go with what works best for you. Just fill the pot about 3/4 or a little more full
hope this helps and I know your apple butter willbe delicious!
Christy
Sause=sauce.
Grrrr
I’m on my cell phone so please forgive!
I’m gonna have try this with either your biscuits or your drop biscuits….mmmmm….I’m getting hungry!….lol
Have a blessed day!
Vickie <3
Okay, my husband loves apple butter – and is a very picky eater – but I’m giving this a go because of all the rave reviews and the simplicity of the recipe! I so can not wait to smell the apartment in the morning! My 5 year old son keeps picking the little apple chips, all covered in sauce, out of the crockpot already! And, who can blame him… it’s delicious already! I can’t even imagine how much better it will be in the morning!! Thanks for the recipe!
Oh my gosh!!! I made your homemade drop biscuits just for this apple butter… Mmmmm!! Mmmm!!! Mmmmm!!! (that’s all I can say because Mama taught me not to talk with my mouth full!). Seriously – it is sooo delicious!! If anyone reading this is “thinking” about making this recipe… Get to it!! It’s just so doggone good!!
[...] Apple butter [...]
[...] Crock Pot Apple Butter [...]
Growing up in Maine, we ate apple butter all the time.. yummy ! Peanut butter and apple butter sandwiches!!
thanks for the great recipe!
I had a bag of MacIntosh apples that were on sale at Wal-Mart. I had them for two or three weeks and they were going to go bad if I didn’t use them soon so I decided to give this a try. It took two batches since my crockpot is not huge. I also used Splenda. I cut it by 1/2 cup. It was slightly chemically-tasting so maybe I could have reduced it more, but it wasn’t bad! I even canned the jars so they’d be shelf stable. I feel so domestic now! I might give some to our diabetic fathers, although I don’t know if they’d eat it. They prefer real sugar even if they pay for it later. My husband is refusing to eat more than a bite now because he fell off the low carb wagon for a couple of weeks and gained back 10 lbs. I’m hoping I can tempt him with it if I get some low carb bread! *sigh* Such picky eaters all around me!
Christy,
Just wanted to let you know that I made your Apple Butter and Apple Dapple Cake for my daughters 1st grade class last week. They were studying Johnny Appleseed and her teacher requested someone bring Apple Butter and cake. When I told her that I would be making the Apple Butter she was thrilled and wanted me to come show the kids how it was made. Unfortunately because of time constraints it didn’t work for me to go show how it was made but all the kids LOVED it and the cake too! The teacher said this was the first year that the kids (and she) actually liked the apple butter and wanted more!!! I also discovered that your apple butter is delicious over cheesecake!
Over cheesecake? Never woulda thought of that, but it sounds like a good thing to try.
I really like apple butter and in the fall my thoughts begin to turn to autumn foods and apple butter is one of them. We have festivals and fairs here where they make the apple butter on an open fire with a copper kettle hanging on a tripod and stirring it with a wooden paddle. The air is filled with the spicy apple aroma. Another autumn “butter” that is popular here is pumpkin butter. I am going to do a bit of searching to get that recipe as it is also spicy homemade good eatin’.
All I’ve got to say is…yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Even though, I must admit, I’ve never tried apple butter on a biscuit. Sounds good, though.
Thank you soooooooooooooooooooooo much. Makensey, our youngest daughter of 9 years, loves apple butter. We get it at both Apple Barns in TN whenever we are visiting and they any craft fairs that have it for sale…but now we can make it together…
Now that sounds like I recipe I can get excited about! My entire family loves apple butter but I was spoiled as a youngster by my Aunt Willene’s homemade apple butter. I rarely find a jar apple butter that suits me as “homemade tasting.” This looks so easy that I believe I can even do it! Plus, looks like there’s not much cleanup (I love crock-pot recipes!). Because I truly hate housework and especially washing dishes!
Thanks for the great post! Gonna try this VERY soon!
@Decotta at HouseworkHatersClub.com
ooh! Apple butter! I discovered this just a few years ago and have been addicted since! Now, unfortunately, I don’t have a crock pot so I’ll probably be stuck doing this over a weekend where I can be at the kitchen all day. But so worth it!
[...] headline » Crock Pot Apple Butter Mon, 07/7/08 – 3:08 PM | 58 Comments [...]
On man, we were at the Apple Barn just last week and sampled their fritters and apple butter…some of the BEST apple Butter I have ever tasted. I liked their jelly consistency of it and the chunkiness too.
Now off to find apples here in the piney woods of nowhere.
sharon in alabama
My sister-in-law has made the crockpot butter for several years and it is wonderful. Do you have an amount that your recipe makes So jars can be ready? How long should jars be processed? I bought some homemade apple butter once that had red hot candies added to it The heat and cinnamon was a great addition.
Made this Saturday – delicious! Thank you, Christy.
[...] Crock Pot Apple Butter, courtesy of Southern Plate [...]
I woke up this morning to an amazing batch of Apple Butter. Thank You for sharing this receipe. I added just a bit of Ginger to mine however, it gave it a little bite and zing. My Husband does not get really excited over such things, but when I told him I was making this yesterday, and when we woke up to turn off the crock pot, He was “excited” Now I will be making homemade bread today to put this on.
My crockpot is on! I am sure this is going to be wonderful as I have recently done several of your recipes and they have all been GREAT!!!
I started the Crockpot last night and woke up several times to the most heavenly scent! Makes my stomach growl…I’ve not had apple butter in a couple of years and refuse to buy it in the stores!
My one issue is that it’s still too “soupy” after cooking 10 hours covered last night and almost 5 more hours today uncovered. Should I just let it keep going for a few more hours? I think that’s what’s going to happen.
I realize that you probably won’t get to this soon, but I thought I’d ask anyway!
I love your website and have pointed several people to it in the last few weeks!
Thanks! Stacey
Hey Stacey!
Thanks for reading and commenting! A great deal of your apple butter consistency depends on the juiciness of your apples but it’s not really supposed to be super thick when done. Also, it will thicken a lot when it cools.
I’d cook it another hour or so and be sure to scrape down the sides when you stir, lots of the “thick stuff” hides there.:)
hope this helps but I betcha have perfect apple butter right now and didn’t even know it!
Gratefully
Christy