Crockpot Apple Butter

Ingredients:

Apples

2-3 tsp Ground Cinnamon

You’ll need:

Enough apples to fill your crock-pot or slow-cooker . Use any variety you like. I’ve used a combination of all different kinds…it doesn’t seem to matter and it always tastes amazing.

To make:

Start by washing your apples in a sink full of cold water. You’ll be leaving the peels on, so make sure each apple is nice and clean.

Dry the apples on some kitchen towels and core them, cutting them in halves or quarters. If your apples are quite large, cut in quarters. Because my apples were hand-picked a few had bruises, but in a recipe like this that doesn’t matter too much. Don’t bother peeling them: this adds to the nutrition factor of this recipe (leaving the peels on adds great fiber) and saves you a ton of time.

Place the apples in the pot of your crock-pot, add 2-3 tsp Ground Cinnamon and stir.  Turn the heat to high. Put the lid on and let the apples cook for about 4 hours, giving it a good stir approximately every hour.

After 4 hours, it should look like this:

Transfer the apple mixture to your blender (you may have to do this in two batches to avoid spraying piping hot apples all over your kitchen…not that I would know anything about that…) and blend on high speed until the mixture is creamy and perfectly smooth. Make sure you add every last bit to the blender. You’ll need the crock-pot again in a minute and it needs to be nice and clean.

Add the pureed mixture back into the clean crock-pot and stir in the cinnamon.

Let it cook on high for another hour or so to let it thicken, stirring once or twice during that time.

If you notice that you apple butter is too thin, cook it on low for about 45 minutes or with the lid off, stirring every 10 minutes or so to allow the water to evaporate out of the pot.  Cook until desired thickness is achieved, may be less or more than the suggested 45 minutes.

Let the mixture cool slightly at room temperature before adding it to jars or containers, and then store it in the fridge for up to 4 weeks, or in the freezer for even longer!

The yield for this recipe will be slightly different with every batch (simply because of the different varieties of apples you use or the exact cooking temperature of your crock-pot) but a typical yield for  my 5-quart crock-pot is about 4-5 cups. And because all it contains is apples and cinnamon, it’s a super healthy

I hope you enjoyed this recipe. Let me know in the comments below, what’s your favorite thing to make with apples in the fall?