Easy Slow Cooker Apple Butter Recipe | with Free Printable Labels

This slow cooker homemade apple butter recipe couldn’t be simpler to make! This recipe uses only simple ingredients and takes little time to prep, this delicious apple butter is packed full of yummy fall flavors! And it is the perfect way to use up any leftover apples!

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. This post may contain affiliate links. For more information see my full disclosure here.

If you didn’t know already, my family makes a point of going apple picking each and every year. It has now become a beloved family tradition now and something we look forward to all year long!

Naturally, apple picking is followed by what I like to call apple season, the short time of the year when I swear we live off just apples. And though we have quite a stockpile of apple recipes, not to mention we love eating raw apples!

And each year we make the usual slew of apple-related dishes, apple pie, apple crisp, apple cider, etc., etc. Still somehow despite our love of baking and the fact, that we have more apple recipes than I can even keep track of.

We always seem to end up with those last few pounds of less-than-great apples. I don’t care to admit how many years these apples got thrown away, or fed to the animals (not that that is really a bad thing) before I finally got around to thinking of something to do with them.

Now those not-quite-perfect apples, get made into yummy homemade applesauce and apple butter! This easy slow cooker apple butter recipe is super easy to make, it doesn’t take much time to prep or have much hands-on work.

Which makes this recipe perfect for the busy fall season. It’s an easy recipe that can whipped up in the morning, then cleaned up, and put away before dinner!

What do to with Apple Butter?

Apple butter has many uses and there are many great recipes that it is used in! Here are a few fun ways to use up your slow-cooker apple butter!

• Spread it on toast, English muffins, or homemade biscuits 
• Stir it into oatmeal
• Put it on ice cream
• Use it to top pancakes or waffles
• It can be used in place of applesauce in most baked goods recipes
• Swirl it onto cakes, cupcakes, breads, and other baked goods 
• Brush it on pork chops or roast chicken 
• Give it as a hostess gift 
• Put it in cottage cheese
• Add it to sandwiches 
• Use as part of a charcuterie board

These are just a few of the many ways to use apple butter, You can pretty much add apple butter to any recipe, especially desserts! Apple butter is also used in a variety of different recipes, here are a few great ones to check out!

• Apple Butter French Toast
• Pull-Apart Apple Butter Bread Recipe
• Easy Apple Butter Biscuits
• Apple Butter Roasted Chicken with Potatoes
• Apple Butter Pork Chops
• Jack Daniels Apple Butter Chicken
• Apple Butter Bourbon Pork Chops with Potatoes and Collards
• Vegan Stuffing Muffins
• Easy Apple Butter Pie
• Apple Butter Ice Cream Recipe
• Apple Butter Old Fashioned
• Apple Bellini

How to make slow cooker apple butter

Ingredients

• fresh apples, I like to use McIntosh apples but you can also use red delicious apples, golden delicious apples, pink lady apples, gala apples, and granny smith apples. You can also use a variety of apples, or whatever kind you can find at your local apple orchards, or at the grocery store
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• allspice
• vanilla extract
• Sweetener of choice, optional. You can sweeten your apple butter with brown sugar, white sugar, maple syrup, or even honey! I like to sweeten mine with pure maple syrup.
• sea salt

Directions

Peel, and core, your apples. Then chop the apples into roughly 1-inch pieces and place them in the slow cooker. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice to the slow cooker, and stir to coat the apples in the spices.

Put the cover on, then turn on your slow cooker. Cook the apple butter for 8-10 hours on low OR 3-4 hours on high, stirring one-half through the cooking time. After this time the apples should be brown and very soft.

Keeping your slow cooker on, uncover the apple butter, then using an immersion blender* carefully blend the apples until they reach your desired consistency.

Continue to cook the apple butter uncovered for another 2 hours, or until thickened, stirring often.

Turn your slow cooker off, and add the salt and vanilla extract. If your apple butter has thickened too much at this point you can thin it out with a little water or apple juice.

Sweeten to taste.

Enjoy!

Notes

*You can also use a regular blender to blend your apple butter, just be sure to be careful and blend it in batches to avoid getting burned! Place the blended apple butter back into the slow cooker OR into a large pot and follow the remaining directions.

The amount of apple butter you get varies slightly from batch to batch. It also depends on the thickness of your apple butter, how many pounds of apples you used, and what kind of apples.

As far as sweetening apple butter goes, it really depends on a lot, the sweetness of the apples you use, gala apples will need a lot less added sweetener than granny smith apples. It also depends a lot on personal preference, I don’t like my apple butter to be overly sweet, so more often the not I don’t put in any added sweetener at all! So feel free to play around with the measurements and adjust them to your personal liking.

You can also add more of the spices depending on how flavorful and spicey you like your apple butter!

How to store slow cooker apple butter

Apple butter can be stored in many different ways, mostly depending on how long you want your apple butter to last! Choose whichever option works best for you and enjoy your homemade slow cooker apple butter!

Refrigerator storage. ​Homemade apple butter can be stored in an airtight container or mason jar in the fridge for up to 6 months!

Freezer Storage. You can freeze homemade apple butter in mason jars, freezer bags, or ice cube trays. Apple butter with last in the freezer for up to 1 year. Thaw frozen apple butter in the fridge overnight before using it. ​-I usually freeze mine.

Long-term storage.  Apple butter can also be canned, You can, can apple butter in half-pint jars, quart jars, or whatever size you like, using either the water bath canning method or the European canning method. Properly home-canned apple butter has a shelf life of about 2 years.

You can find the jars I used HERE!

You can get a copy of my free printable Apple Butter gift tags and Labels HERE!