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Apple Butter is a sweet velvety concentrated apple spread that you’ll want to put on everything. It requires just a few ingredients and a little bit of patience to make this yummy jam like condiment.
Apple season will be here before we know it and the best way to enjoy this delicious fall fruit is in Apple Butter! You won’t be able to go a day without spreading this heavenly apple concentrate on something. For more delicious apple recipes, try Apple Pie, Apple Danish, and Overnight Cinnamon Apple French Toast Casserole.
Delicious Apple Butter
If you love apples, wait until you try apple butter! This smooth concentrated apple sauce is amazingly delicious, requires few ingredients, and is easy to make. It tastes like apple pie filling but in sauce form. So yummy!
What Is Apple Butter?
Apple Butter contains no butter but is very similar to apple sauce in that apples are cooked down with sugar and spices. The additional steps of pureeing the apples until smooth and then cooking again to caramelize it is what makes the sauce thicker and stronger in flavor.
Ingredients For The Best Apple Butter:
- Apples: You do not need to peel the apples. The skin will get soft as the apples simmer. If using the skin, I do recommend using fresh picked apples since they won’t have any wax on them.
- Cider: You can find this next to the apple juice in the juice aisle. Plain apple juice or water can be substituted.
- Brown Sugar: This adds sweetness and a depth of flavor to the butter.
- Cinnamon: This warm spice gives the butter so much more flavor.
- Nutmeg: A little goes a long way. You can also add a pinch of cloves if you like them.
- Salt: This little amount of salt doesn’t make the butter salty, it helps accentuate the other flavors.
- Vanilla: Use pure vanilla extract. For a slight tangy flavor you can use lemon juice instead.
How To Make Homemade Apple Butter:
- Place apple in a large pot with cider, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.
- Cook covered over medium-low heat for 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes, until very soft.
- Puree apples with a hand blender or a high powered blender until smooth. Stir in vanilla.
- Cook UNcovered over low heat for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally (about every 5 minutes) until dark in color.
- Place in jar and store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
What Are The Best Apples?
Apples that break down easily are best. I like to use Golden Delicious but some other good options are McIntosh and Fuji.
How to Serve Apple Butter:
You can eat apple butter on anything you would put jam on- toast, rolls, English muffins, bagels… It could also be used as a sauce on meats.
This is a great homemade gift to give to others during the holidays.
More Apple Recipes You’ll Love:
- Cinnamon Apple Bread
- Apple Crumb Muffins
- Brown Sugar Cinnamon Baked Apples
- Dutch Apple Pie
- Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls
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Apple Butter
Ingredients
- 3 pounds golden delicious apples quartered and cored
- 3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place apple in a large pot with cider, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.
- Cook covered over medium-low heat for 1 hour, stirring every 10 minutes, until very soft.
- Puree apples with a hand blender or a high powered blender until smooth. Stir in vanilla.
- Cook UNcovered over low heat for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally (about every 5 minutes) until dark in color.
- Place in jar and store in fridge up to 3 weeks. (Makes about 3 1/2 8-ounce jars.)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
why don’t you peal the apples?
I like the extra bit of texture that the peel adds, but you can remove it too if that’s what you prefer!
This sounds so delicious and obviously easy enough to make at home. I do have a question about the number of servings. 3 1/2 – 8 ounce jars equals 28 ounces, the recipe states 28 tablespoons. Am I doing my math wrong?