Slow-Cooker Apple Butter Recipe — No Peeling Needed

Despite the name, apple butter contains no butter — but its deep, silky texture and concentrated apple flavor make the name appropriate. It is simply apples cooked slowly over low heat until they reduce to a thick, spreadable preserve.

Because it requires long, gentle cooking, a slow cooker is an ideal tool. Using a food mill lets you avoid peeling and coring while still capturing the natural pectin and bright flavor from peels and cores, saving time and adding body to the finished butter.

A food mill is part strainer, part masher — it forces cooked fruit through a perforated disk, separating skins, cores, and seeds while pressing smooth pulp into a bowl. It’s an invaluable tool for canning projects like tomato sauce and makes no-peel apple butter simple and efficient.

You don’t need to peel or core your apples for this recipe.

This Apple Butter Recipe does not require you to core or peel your apples.

Not peeling or coring saves a lot of time and also retains pectin, vitamins, and concentrated apple flavor from the peels and cores. The method below extracts maximum flavor: simmer the apples in apple cider and a bit of cider vinegar, let them steep in the liquid for several hours, then push everything through a food mill to separate the solids.

After pressing the apples, you simply add sweeteners and warm spices, then let the slow cooker reduce the mixture until it becomes thick and deeply caramelized. Although the total elapsed time can approach 24 hours, active hands-on time is generally only about 30 minutes.

I like to start the apples simmering in the evening, cover the pot, and let them soak overnight. In the morning I run them through the food mill and finish the reduction in the slow cooker during the day.

Warning: your house will smell like caramel apple pie while this cooks.

Storing and Preserving Apple Butter

Apple butter keeps up to one month in the refrigerator and up to six months in the freezer. If you process jars in a hot water bath, properly sealed jars can be stored at room temperature for up to a year.

Canning apple butter is straightforward. Spoon the hot apple butter into very clean, dry jars, leaving about 1/4 inch of headspace. Wipe the jar rims, fit lids, and screw on bands just until fingertip tight. Process in a rolling boil so the jars are covered by at least 1/2 inch of water for 10 minutes. Remove jars and let cool undisturbed until lids are fully sealed.

Once cool, press the center of each lid to confirm a vacuum seal — a sealed lid will not flex up and down. Unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used within a few weeks.

Here’s what to do with all that delicious apple butter

This recipe yields roughly six to seven 8-ounce jars (about 56 ounces total). When apples are abundant I make multiple batches and water-bath can them for long-term pantry storage. Apple butter makes a thoughtful gift and is a versatile staple for winter mornings.

Use apple butter anywhere you would use jam: spread it on toast, English muffins, bagels, croissants, or warm biscuits. It also pairs beautifully with baked goods — fold it into muffin centers, spoon into hand pies, or serve alongside vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of caramel.

Apple butter can be incorporated into recipes like apple-cinnamon muffins with brown sugar streusel or used as a filling for hand pies paired with pastry cream. It adds concentrated apple flavor and moisture to many sweet preparations.

Used in this Apple Butter recipe:

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• OXO Good Grips Food Mill
• Crockpot Programmable Slow Cooker

Other Recipes You Might Like:

• Perfect Peach Preserves Recipe
• Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
• Caramel Apple Pie
• Simple Homemade White Bread

Apple Butter is a Building Block Recipe

Building block recipes are foundational techniques and preparations I return to again and again. They stand on their own or serve as starting points for new creations.