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Sharing my favorite homemade slow cooker maple apple butter recipe today, since you guys have been asking for it all month long.
As a lot of you have noticed, I’ve been using a ton of apple butter this September, see this honey, apple, cheddar, and bacon panini, this brussels sprout mushroom pizza, this honeycrisp apple old fashioned, and this pastry wrapped baked brie with maple roasted apples. To my surprise, many of you are actually unfamiliar with apple butter. If that happens to be you, apple butter is basically just apple sauce, but thicker and spiced with warm autumn spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. It’s sweet, smooth, and possibly one of the most delicious spreads to keep in the pantry and put on toast throughout the fall season.
I’ll usually buy apple butter from the store, but on my fall bucket list this year I had written down “make homemade apple butter”. I was so excited that I actually checked the item off my list within the second week of September! I mean, this is amazing because my fall bucket list is huge, and I’ll often make a bucket list and never check anything off!
Anyway, I guess my point is that I was very excited to finally make some homemade apple butter. I’m also extremely excited, not only in how delicious it turned out, but how easy was to make!
If you have been following along on the blog for a year or more, than you know, come fall, I love to break out my slow cooker. Something about slow cooking a recipe all day long, just screams out to me during the fall months.
This apple butter is the perfect recipe to make on a crisp Sunday morning. Then maybe go out for a mid-day hike or bike ride and when you come back in the house will smell all cozy and delicious. then just spend an hour or two curled up on the couch and taking in the smell of apples cooking with cider, maple syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg…nothing short of amazing. Honestly, I would make this apple butter recipe simply for the smell it gives off. It’s like your favorite fall candles, but so much better.
Of course, unlike a candle, you get to eat this at the end of cooking, which is obviously much more ideal than just blowing something out, you know?
OKAY, so here’s how this recipe works. Chop up your apples (I love using Honeycrisp) and add them to your slow cooker along with, apple cider, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cover and cook on low and slow all day long (or at least that’s how I prefer to do it). Then remove the sauce, puree in a blender and place back in the slow cooker for another hour or so. This will help thicken the sauce into more of a “butter”.
There’s almost zero work involved in the recipe and the end result is just so delicious. So far, I’ve used this apple butter in four recipes and it has taken them from good to incredible. AND I love that the only added sugar I used in the recipe is maple syrup, no brown sugar or coarse sugar needed. Meaning, this totally is totally acceptable to call healthy. Cool. Cool.
I have truly been using this apple butter almost daily. It is delicious in so many recipes (try it with pork chops!) or just spread it over a piece of toasted bread.
Plus, it’s the perfect way to use up all the fall apples you went and picked over the weekend…or that I hope you picked!
And you guys! Speaking of the weekend! I have so many fun details to share about the Half Baked Harvest Cookbook retreat. Would you like a full post on the retreat? I don’t have too many photos, but I have so much to say! Maybe I will share the details in my favorite’s post this Sunday!
Just to quickly recap though, the retreat went so amazingly well and was so much fun! Fortunately, the dinner on Saturday night went great. I worked with Crate and Barrel on the tables, and Kroger on the dinner. The tables turned out so cute that I might just need to recreate them and snap some better photos. I always LOVE the tablescapes I’m able to create with Crate and Barrel product. The actual meal thankfully turned out great. Thank you to Kroger for all my delicious produce…oh, and the ice cream social we did together was so delish.
Sunday morning was brunch with my friends at Land O’Lakes. It could not have been more delicious. All of their special butters take recipes to another level…their pumpkin spice butter is just too good.
I will go into more detail on Sunday, so stay tuned for that!
In the meantime, how about we all make some apple butter and then this apple cheddar Panini and this cocktail?!
Homemade Slow Cooker Maple Apple Butter
Servings: 6 cups
Calories Per Serving: 232 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds Honeycrisp apples, cored and diced
- 1 1/4 cups apple cider
- 1/2 cup real maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon or 1-2 cinnamon sticks
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 pinch ground cloves (about 1/4 teaspoon)
- 1 pinch sea salt or kosher salt
Instructions
Slow Cooker
- 1. In the bowl of your slow cooker, combine the apples, apple cider, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours, stirring halfway through cooking.2. Remove the cinnamon stick and then transfer the apples to a blender and puree until smooth. Return to the crockpot and cook, uncovered on high for 1-2 hours or until slightly thickened. Taste and adjust sweetness level to your liking by adding more maple. Cool and store in glass jars in the fridge for up to 1 month.
Instant Pot
- 1. In the bowl of your instant pot, combine the apples, apple cider, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Cover and cook on high pressure for 20 minutes. Release the steam.2. Remove the cinnamon stick and then transfer the apples to a blender and puree until smooth. Return to the instant pot and cook, uncovered on sauté for 15-20 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Taste and adjust sweetness level to your liking by adding more maple. Cool and store in glass jars in the fridge for up to 1 month.
Stove-Top
- 1. Combine the apples, apple cider, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt and 1 cup water in a large, heavy bottomed pot over high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are completely softened and the liquid has reduced by half, 30 to 40 minutes, adding water if needed to keep the apples in liquid. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.2. Remove the cinnamon stick and then transfer the apples to a blender and puree until smooth. Return to the pot and cook, uncovered over medium heat for 15-20 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Taste and adjust sweetness level to your liking by adding more maple. Cool and store in glass jars in the fridge for up to 1 month.
Notes
Nutritional values are based on one cup
Yes, lets! No boring Tuesdays around here!
Lastly, if you make this Homemade Slow Cooker Maple Apple Butter, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
This post was originally published on September 26, 2017
Very good! This is nice recipe for me, thanks 🙂
Perfect! Thank you Alex!
I made the apple butter and purred like instructed. However, I’m on the 3rd hr after blending and it still looks like applesauce. What should I do?
Hi! This sounds like the right consistency to me. I would stop cooking. It will firm up a little in the fridge too. let me kno if you have other questions. Enjoy! 🙂
Nice post i like it so much.I am very pleased to see your website which have rich information.
Thank you so much!
AMAZING!!! Made this last night, and put in on french toast this morning. East and delicious.
So glad this turned out great for you Taryn! Thank you!!
Loving this! Eating it right now on a slice of homemade zucchini carrot bread. Delicious – I can’t get enough! Made it as written, with Honeycrisp and Liberty apples from the farmers market. Also used both a cinnamon stick and some fresh ground cinnamon. Cooked it on high for 4-5 hours, then low for another 5-6 hours. YUM! Thank you!
Sounds amazing! I am so happy you enjoyed this recipe Lisa!
Finally getting around to making this – kitchen smells great – I used my dandy little Cuisinart Smart Stick and pureed the cooked apples in the crock pot rather than transferring hot stuff to a blender. Worked fine.
Great! I am so glad this turned out well for you! Thanks Marge!
I am not sure if someone else asked this, but do you take the cinnamon stick out before blending? Thank you!
Hi Juliet! Yes, you remove the cinnamon stick before blending. Recipe is all fixed. Thank you! Let me know if you have questions and I hope you love recipe! 🙂
Oh my goodness, I just jarred this up, it’s delicious! Perfect amount of maple syrup and spices – I’m planning on giving my neighbors some tomorrow! Thanks for sharing xo
That is so sweet of you! I am so glad you like this and I hope your neighbors do as well. Thank you!
Really liked this part of the article, with a nice and interesting topics have helped a lot of people who do not challenge things people should know you need more publicize this so many people who know about it are rare for people to know this, Success for you
Thank you!
LOVE your Blog and so excited to see you have a book! Congratulations! Your photos are inspirational always!
SO… I made this apple butter from Red D apples from grandmother’s tree (that my 4 year old daughter picked with grandmother)- and as they weren’t the most perfect apples, I had to work at getting them usable (i.e. trimming off many bad parts) – but totally worth it as what a special day for my daughter… That being said, I followed the recipe and it is SO tart! Maybe I used too much apple cider vinegar for my type of apple? Have any suggestions to help save this batch?! Already added an extra cup of maple syrup… I’m thinking white sugar at this point… Thoughts? TIA!
Made it today- it was amazing!
Make sure you use apple cider (not apple cider vinegar) 🙂
Hey Kim! First, what an incredibly fun day. Such great memories!!
Did you use apple cider vinegar or apple cider? If you used vinegar, that is probably the issue. My recipe uses apple cider. Also, it could have been the apples. I used honeycrisp apples that where pretty sweet. Next time, try adding more maple until it is sweet enough to your taste. Let me know if you have questions. thank you!!
OMG this looks amazing! My grocery store is selling huge bags of apples now, and I’ve been dying to make something with them. Quick question: does this apple butter keep in the freezer?
-Claire
tallgirlbigworld.com
I have not tried freezing this, so I am not sure. I would think it would freeze just fine though. Please let me know how it goes. Thank you and enjoy the apple butter!
Just finished making this, so yummy! I used an immersion blender to “sauce” the butter, worked perfectly. I also strained my apple mixture through a sieve into a bowl to get an even smoother texture, and dumped it back into the slow cooker to finish cooking.
Sounds awesome! I am so glad you liked this!
This looks great. Question though…what size crock put do you use for this recipe? I don’t have a huge one like most people, it’s medium sized but I don’t know the exact amount offhand. Looking forward to hearing more about the retreat!
Hi Amber! I think a medium size crockpot will be great. Mine is 7quarts. Hope you love the apple butter!
If you spread your toast with cream cheese and then apple butter, it taste like the toast is topped with apple-y cream cheese icing. Just sayin’.
Yum!! What a great idea for breakfast!
Is apple cider the same there as it is in the UK? Cider over here is an alcoholic, carbonated drink, served cold. I’d love to make this.
Apple cider in the US is not the same as we have in the UK. It isn’t alcoholic and it isn’t sparkling (that is what Americans would call “hard cider” I believe). They have a distinction between apple cider and apple juice, where the latter is usually sweetened, more like the cheaper versions of apple juice we’d get over here. The closest you’ll get in the UK to apple cider is one of the cloudy apple juices, such as Copella.
Hi Laura! Typically our is does not include alcohol or carbonation. I would use apple juice in place of the cider. Let me know if you have any questions. Hope you love the apple butter!