The other day a Facebook friend of mine posted an update stating he was going to make apple butter in his slow cooker, with a link attached. I am always interested in learning about new slow cooker recipes, and I thought that making apple butter this way was a brilliant idea! Turns out it’s pretty awesome—delicious and easy, which is always a super combination. And I have a bunch of apples from my CSA, so this is a great way to use them.
I made a half recipe, since that’s what fit into my slow cooker. It starts with peeling and coring apples—I core my apples with a melon baller, which does a fantastic job of scooping out the seeds and stiff parts of the apple. And since I just got my knives sharpened, it was a breeze to peel the apples, though I would love to have one of these apple peelers; when I was younger, my grandmother had one and I thought it was magic!
I chopped the apples into smaller pieces and put them right into the slow cooker vessel. Then I mixed in a combination of white sugar, brown sugar, salt, and spices. As for the spices, I used the cinnamon and nutmeg, but omitted the cloves. I dislike cloves in jams and pies, so I always leave them out.
I set the slow cooker on low and let it cook for 10 hours. By the end, the apples had shrunk quite a bit and were swimming in a mix of juice, spices, and sugar. I ground it up a bit with an immersion blender, added some vanilla extract, and let it cook for another couple of hours. After that, I blended it up until it was smooth, and then let it cook another hour with the lid cracked to cook off a little more liquid and thicken it up.
What I ended up with was a sweet, spiced, velvety smooth apple butter. I love it! I think next time I may lower the sugar, though it’s pretty good as-is. It’s great on bread (I had it on toast this morning), and I bet it could be good as a filling for cookies, or even between layers of crepe cake. I’ve got one pint in the fridge and one in the freezer, so I’m set!
3 pounds apples, peeled, cored and sliced Core, peel, and chop the apples (it’s easy to just put them into the slow cooker after chopping them). Mix the sugars, spices, and salt together, then mix with the apples. Turn the slow cooker to low and let it cook for 10 hours, occasionally stirring the mixture. By the end of the 10 hours, the apples should have shrunk by at least half and be swimming in juice. Take your immersion blender and blend things down into smaller chunks (not smooth). Add vanilla. Cook on low for another two hours. Blend everything until it is smooth. Let cook another hour with the lid cracked to thicken it a bit. Let cool and spoon into jars. Makes two pints.
Adapted from the recipe by Brown Eyed Baker
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch of salt
1/2 tbs vanilla extract
