Canning crock pot apple butter is something I look forward to every year. I love apple butter. I have seen lots of recipes for making it in the crock pot so I thought I would give that a try this year.
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Crock pot apple butter is really easy to make! It’s one of my favorite apple canning recipes. Really, the only drawback of making apple butter in the crock pot is that you can only make small batches at a time.
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My crock pot will make approximately 4 pints of apple butter at one time. If that is all you are looking to make, then this method will be perfect for you.
(Click on the video below to watch me canning crock pot apple butter step by step.)
Crock Pot Apple Butter Recipe
Ingredients:
- Apples
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
- 1 c. granulated sugar
- 1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
As I stated above, one crock pot will make approximately 4 pints or 8 half-pints of apple butter. I didn’t say how many apples to use because I didn’t count or measure mine.
I had a big box of apples and just started peeling.
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All you have to do is fill the crock pot as full as you can with apples and still be able to get the lid on. I peeled and cored the apples and cut them into large chunks.
Some people don’t bother peeling the apples first.
Next add the lemon juice and vanilla extract. It is going to be really tempting to add some water to the apples, but don’t.
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Just put the lid on it and walk away. It is easy to do this after dinner and let the crock pot simmer on low until the next morning.
The next morning, stir the apples. I used a potato masher to mash mine a bit. Stir in the sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground cloves.
I didn’t measure the spices, but I put at least a tablespoon of cinnamon in, probably closer to two. Let the flavors blend a bit and taste it. Add more sugar or spices if necessary.
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Let the apple butter cook down for another couple of hours. It should be really thick with no water in it. Stir it really well.
If you would like a smoother consistency you can put it in the blender or use an immersion blender right in the crock pot. That is what I did and it worked great.
Taste the apple butter one more time to make sure you like the spices. It’s not too late to add anything to it.
You can now either cool the apple butter and pour it into freezer containers (I love these inexpensive freezer containers you can order from Amazon) to put in the freezer.
Canning Instructions
To can this crock pot apple butter, sterilize your canning jars, lids, and rings and pour hot apple butter into jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Easily measure the headspace with this inexpensive canning funnel.
Wipe the rims of the jars with a damp towel or paper towel and place the lids and rings on the jars finger tight.
Place the jars in the boiling water canner. Make sure jars are covered with 1-2 inches of water and bring water to a boil. Process the jars in the boiling water canner for 10 minutes.
Remove the jars from the boiling water canner and set them on a towel on the kitchen counter to cool.
Sealed jars can be stored in the pantry for 1-2 years. If you have any jars that didn’t seal, place them in the refrigerator and eat them in the next couple weeks.
Related Recipes
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In case you missed it:
I don’t use sugar in my apple butter, nor do I use lemon juice. Are these necessary for canning? I’m new at canning.
What happens if u don’t water bath it
In the last 2 hours, do I cook with lid off or on?
I just made my own apple butter and it is delicious! Thank you so much! I used golden delicious and fuji and had my crockpot heaped up and I was afraid I wasn’t going to get the lid on! I couldn’t believe how it cooked down to a dark rich beautiful color! Just waiting for it to thicken a bit more to begin canning it! Thank you!
Can I re-warm and rep-process the jars that did not seal?
Yes, of course! 🙂
Could I skip the nutmeg altogether? I’m not a fan♀️However I do love cinnamon!!
Yes, as long as you have 1-2 inches of water covering your jars.
I don’t have a canner can I just use large soup pot
Yes, you can freeze the apple butter in your freezer. I think it would be good for about a year without getting freezer burned.
Hello, I was told the only way to prepare apple butter was to do the canning process with boiling the jars, etc. Is that true? Can I use the plastic lids and containers and store it in my freezer? If so, how long will it last? Thank you, Jeff Sexton
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I would start with a tablespoon of cinnamon and a teaspoon of the other spices and go from there. See how it tastes and add more spices if necessary. It is really just a matter of taste.
how much spices do you use? Like a general ballpark starting point would be nice to know
Hi! I think mine is 8 quart, but you could use any size.
What size crock pot, did you use?
Hi! Yes you could definitely make pear butter using this recipe. Sounds delicious!
Could I use this same recipe using pears?
Hi! Yes, for this recipe you can definitely adjust the sugar to suit your tastes. 🙂
Hi! Yes you definitely do not have to use a crock pot for this recipe. If you want to just set it aside and forget about it the crock pot is great, but I usually use a large stock pot on my stove so that I can make more at one time.
Can you make this without a crockpot?
I made this recipe, but omitted 1/3 cup white sugar and 1/2 a cup of brown. We liked it with less sugar and more apple taste.
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Hi! If you are going to use the boiling water canning method for this recipe, you can store the jars for at least 2 years.
If you got the canning method, how long will they keep in the jar and not in the freezer?