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Slow Cooker Apple Butter (No Peeling Required!)

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Thick, creamy, and sweet Slow Cooker Apple Butter with no peeling required! All those freshly picked apples cooked down in the crock-pot for a perfect sweet and aromatic spread recipe that’s gluten-free, vegan, paleo, and allergy-free!

Slow Cooker Apple Butter (No Peeling!) | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Thick, creamy, and sweet Slow Cooker Apple Butter with no peeling required! All those freshly picked apples cooked down in the crock-pot for a perfect sweet and aromatic spread recipe that's gluten-free, vegan, paleo, and allergy-free! #applebutter #slowcooker #crockpot #glutenfree #vegan #paleo #apples

I did it guys! The long awaited APPLE BUTTER! I am so excited to share the whole story with you…finally! Now you can make this bundt cake with some proper “butter” and I get to tell you about my apple picking experience (if you can even call it that!) This apple butter is not as quick as the slow cooker pumpkin butter I’ll be sharing next week, but it IS just as delicious (so it’s worth it!)

Slow Cooker Apple Butter (No Peeling!) | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Thick, creamy, and sweet Slow Cooker Apple Butter with no peeling required! All those freshly picked apples cooked down in the crock-pot for a perfect sweet and aromatic spread recipe that's gluten-free, vegan, paleo, and allergy-free! #applebutter #slowcooker #crockpot #glutenfree #vegan #paleo #apples

But before the recipe, let’s talk about apple picking! (Photos for proof!) My mom picked my up early in the morning a few Saturdays ago, early so we could beat the seasonal crowds and get a head start before the “kiddos” and their families take over the orchard. No matter, there were still people there, but we did beat most of the crowds. I’d been apple picking once or twice before when I was younger and I remember hating the apples when we brought them home because they didn’t have the “waxy” shine on them like they do at the stores! Haha, if only I knew better back then!

Slow Cooker Apple Butter (No Peeling!) | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Thick, creamy, and sweet Slow Cooker Apple Butter with no peeling required! All those freshly picked apples cooked down in the crock-pot for a perfect sweet and aromatic spread recipe that's gluten-free, vegan, paleo, and allergy-free! #applebutter #slowcooker #crockpot #glutenfree #vegan #paleo #apples

A lot of the rows were picked clean! Literally no Fuji in sight, but the Cortland and Red Delicious were plentiful! I’m pretty sure my 6lbs of apples were a combo of Cortland, Red Delicious, Macoun, Jonagold, and Empire (I think). Note that you can have any combo of 6lbs of apples for this recipe. Anything sweet (i.e. not Granny Smith!) We were done gathering the apples in like 20 minutes and then we headed back to pay and of course pick up some cute baby pumpkins from the market store! After all these years of wanting to go apple picking, it was a bit lackluster, but hey, I got what I came for (and felt very fall-esque!)

Slow Cooker Apple Butter (No Peeling!) | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Thick, creamy, and sweet Slow Cooker Apple Butter with no peeling required! All those freshly picked apples cooked down in the crock-pot for a perfect sweet and aromatic spread recipe that's gluten-free, vegan, paleo, and allergy-free! #applebutter #slowcooker #crockpot #glutenfree #vegan #paleo #apples

All those apples I brought home, reduced down to just about 4-5 cups of apple butter! To make apple butter you’re basically making my slow cooker applesauce, blending it up smooth, and then cooking it down again. This entire process takes about 8-10 hours depending. The apple butter thickens up even more overnight once you put it away in the fridge, so I stopped mine at 9 hours because…I had to go to sleep!

Slow Cooker Apple Butter (No Peeling!) | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Thick, creamy, and sweet Slow Cooker Apple Butter with no peeling required! All those freshly picked apples cooked down in the crock-pot for a perfect sweet and aromatic spread recipe that's gluten-free, vegan, paleo, and allergy-free! #applebutter #slowcooker #crockpot #glutenfree #vegan #paleo #apples

Did I mention there is NO peeling required for this apple butter? That would be a sad nutrient and food waste! You just need to cut the apples up into chunks (cut out the stem and seeds), throw them in a wide and large slow cooker with some sugar and spices, and let it do its thing! You don’t have to babysit this all day, but you do need to watch it and mix every so often. I cook this on high so we don’t want anything to burn! Read the recipe fully and you’ll understand! I’m giving you the low (almost no) sugar version in the notes as well; your call!

Other Fruit Butter Recipes:

Slow Cooker Apple Butter

Slow Cooker Apple Butter (No Peeling!) | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Thick, creamy, and sweet Slow Cooker Apple Butter with no peeling required! All those freshly picked apples cooked down in the crock-pot for a perfect sweet and aromatic spread recipe that's gluten-free, vegan, paleo, and allergy-free! #applebutter #slowcooker #crockpot #glutenfree #vegan #paleo #apples

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Slow Cooker Apple Butter (No Peeling!)

Slow Cooker Apple Butter (No Peeling!) | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Thick, creamy, and sweet Slow Cooker Apple Butter with no peeling required! All those freshly picked apples cooked down in the crock-pot for a perfect sweet and aromatic spread recipe that's gluten-free, vegan, paleo, and allergy-free! #applebutter #slowcooker #crockpot #glutenfree #vegan #paleo #apples

Thick, creamy, and sweet Slow Cooker Apple Butter with no peeling required! All those freshly picked apples cooked down in the crock-pot for a perfect sweet and aromatic spread recipe that’s gluten-free, vegan, paleo, and allergy-free!

  • Author: Rebecca Pytell
  • Cook Time: 8 hours
  • Total Time: 8 hours
  • Yield: 4-5 Cups 1x
  • Category: Condiment, Snack
  • Cuisine: American
Scale

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Place the cubed apple in a large slow cooker and put the rest of the ingredients right on top of the apples.
  2. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, no mixing required at this time.
  3. After 4 hours, remove the lid and mash the apples a bit before carefully transferring into a large blender. Blend the mixture until completely smooth.
  4. Add the mixture back into the slow cooker with the cover slightly ajar and cook on high for another 4-5 hours until thick, mixing every 30 minutes or so.
  5. Allow it to cool a bit before storing in glass jars and refrigerating for 3-4 weeks.

Slow Cooker Apple Butter (No Peeling!) | Strength and Sunshine @RebeccaGF666 Thick, creamy, and sweet Slow Cooker Apple Butter with no peeling required! All those freshly picked apples cooked down in the crock-pot for a perfect sweet and aromatic spread recipe that's gluten-free, vegan, paleo, and allergy-free! #applebutter #slowcooker #crockpot #glutenfree #vegan #paleo #apples

Spread this on toast, bagels, use it for sandwiches, swirl it in oatmeal, and of course that bundt! Don’t forget to gift some for a special loved one in your life too 😉 Now, with apple butter and the pumpkin butter I’ll be sharing next week, the last thing I need to do this season is…PEAR BUTTER! Be on the lookout my fruit butter friends 😉

So tell me:

+ Have you done apple picking yet this year? Do you make it a tradition?

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Comments

  1. Ruby Kidd says

    I had to go to my oldest son’s football game right after the blending stage, so I put it on low so it won’t burn while I’m gone, and I’m going to be putting it through a water bath canning process when done. I’ll let you know how that works out for us.

    Reply

      • Ruby says

        I’m eating my delicious apple butter on toast right now, and I just remembered that I didn’t update on how it worked out for me. Putting it on low during the football game worked out great, I stirred it when I got back and it was the perfect consistency. I was actually able to get nearly 8 1/2 pint jars this way and they worked great in the water bath so I can ship them to out of town family and store for up to a year, like they’re going to last that long (😉)!

        Reply

  2. Jenni says

    Apple picking is one of my favorite fall activities! And I LOVE apple butter! Love this easy recipe – especially because you don’t need to peel the apples! Perfect!

    Reply

  8. Marie Moody says

    I’ve seen a lot of recipes that bloggers post, but this one I’m finally going to try. It looks yummy & I’m sure my grandchildren will love this. Thanks for sharing! hugs

    Reply

  11. Choclette says

    Making apple butter in a slow cooker makes so much sense. I made it once by hand and after several hours of constant stirring, I swore I’d never make it again!

    Reply

  12. Nadia says

    Apple picking sounds so much fun! The apple butter looks amazing and so does the apple bundt cake 😀 love that you didn’t peel the apples. Those skins really are the best part 🙂

    Reply

  13. frank says

    Wait apple butter? i haven’t heard about that xp but it looks delicious and worth the time of cooking. It take so much time to do it but will try it because it worth it :))

    Reply

  16. Nicole says

    Again, you come up with great tips to make these traditional fall foods easier and tastier. I’ve make apple and pumpkin butters for awhile in my crock w/instructions from a local farm…but I never thought to take the apples out at chunky stage and blend them to smooth goodness. Thanks!

    Reply

  31. Valerie says

    I actually just went apple picking this past Sunday! I ended up picking more apples than I needed and was looking for a good recipe to use them for. This is perfect!
    -Valere

    Reply

  36. Jen E. says

    Even though the cook time (cooking without watching is the best! love crockpots) is long, this is such a simple method and so much cheaper that what you would get at the store. Plus it’s satisfying because you know it came right from your kitchen. Great tip about using the skins for added nutrients. great recipe!

    Reply

  40. Carolina says

    This looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it myself! I love eating toast in the morning and I feel like this is a great excuse to eat more bread while still having fruit haha. Thank you for sharing this recipe 😀

    Reply

  42. Holly says

    My husband and I discovered apple butter on a fall getaway a few years ago and fell in love. It never occurred to me to make it- this looks great!

    Reply

  45. Shannon says

    Ugh, I am dying to go apple picking! This recipe looks and sounds absolutely amazing. I’ve never had apple butter, but I feel like I definitely need to give it a try!

    Reply

    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      You must go before the season ends! Even though it was super quick and fast (if you aren’t with a bunch of friends I’m assuming) it was still worth it!

      Reply

  47. Jen says

    I’m so excited to see your post! I have a bucket of apples! I recently had a sad and unimpressive apple butter so I am dying for some homemade goodness! My girls will love this!

    Reply

    • Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says

      Make it homemade for sure!! You can put everything you want in it, make it as thick or thin as you want…and you get the benefit of all the aromas!

      Reply

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Hey there, welcome to Strength and Sunshine! I’m Rebecca and I’m so glad you’re here! This is your go-to destination for delicious, fun, and (mostly) healthy gluten-free and allergy-free recipes, tips & tricks, advice, as well as celiac and food allergy coaching services!

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