Apple Butter Recipe

Ingredients

• 5 lbs mixed apples (like Honeycrisp, Gala, and Granny Smith)
• 1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup apple cider
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt

Prepare the Apples

You don’t need to peel or core the apples. The skins and cores contain pectin, which will help the butter thicken naturally. Just wash the apples well and cut them into quarters.

Place the quartered apples in the basin of a 6-quart or larger slow cooker.

Cook the Apples Down

In a bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, apple cider, lemon juice, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.

Pour this mixture over the apples in the slow cooker. Stir to coat the apples as best you can.

Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for ~10 hours. The apples should be extremely soft and falling apart.

Blend the Apple Butter

After 10 hours, use an immersion blender to puree the apple mixture directly in the slow cooker until it’s completely smooth.

If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can carefully transfer the hot apple mixture to a regular blender and blend in batches.

Thicken the Butter

Once the apple butter is smooth, remove the lid from the slow cooker.

Set it to cook on high, with the lid off, for another ~1-2 hours. This allows the excess moisture to evaporate and the butter to thicken. Stir it every 30 minutes or so.

It’s done when it’s thick, dark, and a spoonful dropped onto a cold plate doesn’t have a watery ring form around it.

Store the Apple Butter

Ladle the hot apple butter into clean jars, leaving about a 1/2-inch of headspace.

Let the jars cool to room temperature, then seal them and store in the refrigerator. It will keep for several weeks.