No Peel Slow Cooker Apple Butter

Easy Apple Butter Recipe {No Peeling Required}

This simple Apple Butter recipe lets the slow cooker do all the work, requiring very little hands-on time, while producing a rich, thick, cinnamon and spice fruit spread suitable for canning.

Contrary to what the name suggests, Apple Butter contains no actual butter. Even so, it’s so rich and creamy, the name fits. It’s made by simply cooking apples over low heat for a really long time, until they are condensed into a thick fruit spread. Because of the long cooking time, a slow cooker is an ideal way to make apple butter. And, a simple food mill allows you to take advantage of the natural pectin and flavor contained in the apple peel and core while saving you the hassle of peeling and coring all those apples.

My food mill is one of the simplest, yet most useful things in my kitchen. Part strainer and part masher, food mills force food through perforated disk that mashes the food while separating out skin, core and seeds. It’s indispensable in the summer months, when tomatoes are in season and I find myself making batch after batch of roasted tomato sauce. And, if you use one to make apple butter, you don’t need to peel or core your apples. Let me just say that again…

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

This is great for two reasons: Peeling and coring apples is a tedious, time consuming task, and you get to take full advantage of the natural pectin, vitamins, and flavor in the apple peel and core.

This apple butter recipe begins with cooking apples in apple cider and apple cider vinegar for about 20 minutes, then letting them sit in the liquid at room temperature for 6-8 hours. This method allows you to extract as much flavor as possible from the apple core and peel before pushing them through a food mill to separate core and peel from the apples.

After that, it’s just a matter of adding some sugar and spices and letting them simmer away in the slow cooker until the mixture is thick and rich and delicious. So, while the actual length of time, start to finish, to make apple butter is nearly 24 hours, the hands on time is only about 30 minutes. I like to get the apples simmering in the apple cider and cider vinegar in the evening, covering the pan and letting them soak in the liquid overnight. In the morning, I push the apples through the food mill, letting them simmer away in the slow cooker for the rest of the day. Warning: this will make your whole house smell like apple pie. 

Storing Apple Butter

Apple Butter will keep in the refrigerator for about one month, in the freezer for up to 6 months, and if you can it in jars, it will keep almost indefinitely. This recipe will give you enough for six or severn 8-oz jars.

Spread apple butter on anything you’d also spread jam on – toast, English muffins, bagels, croissants, and my favorite, Simple Cream Biscuits. When apples are in season, I usually make several batches and can it. Apple Butter makes a great gift, and is a delicious treat to have on hand in the dead of winter, when good fresh fruit is hard to come by.

Used in this Apple Butter recipe:

• Food Mill
• Crockpot Slow Cooker

You Might Also Like:

• Simple Cream Biscuits
• No-Pectin Peach Preserves
• Vanilla Glazed Chocolate Almond Scones
• Perfect Dinner Rolls

No Peel Slow Cooker Apple Butter

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★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Rebecca Blackwell
• Yield: Approximately 56 ounces

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Ingredients

• 6 lbs of apples, cut into quarters without coring or peeling[/I]
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinigar
• 2 cups apple cider
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

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Instructions

1. Add the quartered apples, apple cider vinegar, apple cider, and lemon juice to a large saucepan and set it over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Cover the pan, turn the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from the heat, keep covered, and let sit at room temperature for 6-8 hours.
2. Set a food mill that’s fitted with the largest straining plate over the bowl of your slow cooker. Push the apples and all the liquid in the saucepan through the food mill into the slow cooker bowl, which will separate the apples from the core and peel. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the vanilla, to the apple pulp and stir to mix.
3. Cook the mixture on high for 8 hours, stirring every once in a while. Remove the lid and cook for an additional 3-4 hours on high, until the apple butter is thick and deep brown. To test that it’s done, place a small dish in the freezer for a few minutes. Spoon a bit of the apple butter onto the frozen dish and let sit for about 5 minutes. This will cool the apple butter quickly, allowing you to test it’s thickness.
4. Stir in the vanilla.
5. Store apple butter in the refrigerator for up to 1 month, in the freezer for up to 6 months.

To can apple butter, spoon into sterilized jars and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. For complete instructions on canning apple butter, follow the method used in this Peach Preserves recipe.

NOTE: I like to get the apples simmering in the apple cider and cider vinegar in the evening, then cover the pan and let them soak in the liquid overnight. In the morning, push the apples through the food mill, and let them simmer away in the slow cooker for the rest of the day. You can also soak the apples in apple cider and vinegar early in the day, let them sit in the liquid through the middle of the day, and then let them simmer in the slow cooker overnight.

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