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Save money by making your own homemade apple butter by peeling and grating as many apples as you have, then cooking them down with just the right spices and a touch of maple syrup. Puree, and enjoy!
Table of Contents
Have you ever purchased apple butter? It's nothing more than cooked apples that have been sweetened, spiced and reduced, but a small 1-pound jar can easily run you $8 to $10.
When I'm making applesauce, I peel, core and slice apples thinly. They cook down really quickly that way, and the sauce is still pretty chunky if you handle it gently. But when I'm making apple butter, a quick and easy medium-grate is the way to go. There's no need to core the apples when you grate them, either, which saves some active cooking time.
Just grate down to the core and move on to the next apple. Once the mixture is cooked and reduced, process it in a blender or food processor for a silky smooth butter (or leave it as is—it will still taste nearly the same and perform just as well in recipes).
Why make apple butter at all?
Apple butter is so much better for baking than simple applesauce, which is a lovely ingredient for making simple gluten free applesauce muffins, but doesn't take much like apples and adds a lot of moisture.
Try to balance the moisture by tweaking the other ingredients in the recipe and you just end up changing the taste and texture for the worse. But apple butter is thick enough to add taste, texture and flavor—without making cake where you meant to make cookies.
Use apple butter to make our gluten free apple bread, gluten free apple snickerdoodle bars, or just spread some on a slice of toasted gluten free bread.
Homemade Apple Butter
Ingredients
- 8 apples, washed and peeled (I used a mix of Granny Smith and Fuji)
- 4 tablespoons (84 g) pure maple syrup, plus more to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons apple pie spice (See Recipe Notes)
Instructions
- Grate the flesh of each of the peeled apples on a medium grate into a large, Dutch oven or heavy-bottom saucepan.
- Add the maple syrup, salt and apple pie spice, and mix to combine.
- Place the pan over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes.
- The mixture will begin to liquefy, and then will begin to cook down and darken in color.
- Continue to cook for up to another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is evenly golden brown and the liquid has reduced, leaving behind a thick paste.
- For perfectly smooth apple butter, transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
- Add more maple syrup by the teaspoonful to taste, up to another 2 tablespoons.
- If you add too much syrup, you will thin the apple butter. Transfer to a heat-safe container and allow to cool completely before storing in the refrigerator or using in a recipe (or on toast!).
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Apple butter added to BBQ sauce is wonderful
Ooooh I’ve never tried that, Teri, but it sounds great!
I love making apple butter! One of my favorite ways to use it is in baked acorn squash. Cut them in half and scoop out the seeds. Place them cut side down in a baking pan and cover bottom of pan with water. Bake until almost tender. Flip them over so cavity is face up. Put a dab of butter and large spoonful of apple butter to fill in each. Put back in oven and heat through. It is fantastic! A wonderful side for a fancy dinner or an any night meatloaf or chicken.
Sounds good, Daphne!
Now THAT sounds like something I would totally eat – yum!! Made the pumpkin butter a few times last year and now the apple butter is next on my list….along with some acorn squash!
Would it work as a sub for nut butters in recipes?
Love, love, love this (the apple butter and the DIY Fridays). So perfect. I spend my weekends baking and prepping for the next week so this speaks to me. Plus, apple butter? Yum.
How long will this keep in the frig? Can’t wait to get it made! Just got your book as well……..going to be busy in the kitchen!!!!
I have so far kept this in the refrigerator for 1 1/2 weeks with no problem, Jan. So I would guess you should be fine for up to 2 weeks. It has enough sugar that it will last that long without a problem.
I have made apple butter in the crock pot and it turned out really well. I just sliced the apples, added brown sugar, a splash of bourbon (trust me, this part is awesome), some salt, and a splash of water in the bottom of the pot. I let it go overnight and it worked really well!
Mmmm, try this – cut open a hot baked sweet potato and add a big, generous spoonful of apple butter, it’s delicious!
You know someone’s gonna ask – could brown sugar substitute for all or part of the maple syrup?
Hi, Stitcher, since this is not a baking recipe where the types of sugars matter quite a lot (in baking, maple syrup is definitely not interchangeable with brown sugar), using brown sugar should be fine. You’ll just have to play with cooking times and taste!
I really just need to win the lottery so I can retire and spend my time in the kitchen making your recipes. I get home at night anymore and I barely can eat dinner and clean up from it. I have a funeral tomorrow, so my Sunday is going to be packed with baking because I am totally out of bread and I have apples to use — pie, cookies, apple butter, applesauce, apple crack cake.
Hope your Sunday was a productive baking one, Mare!
No it wasn’t. I had a funeral on Saturday and the party after. By the time I got home, all I could do was clean the house. After that, I was drained. Sunday was spent grocery shopping and cooking. I did make homemade applesauce for the apple crack cake. That cake will be made tonight when I get home, along with English Muffin bread. I prepared two dinners yesterday so that I can just bake tonight. Tomorrow night is your homemade yellow cake because Amber’s birthday is Wednesday and she wants the yellow cake with chocolate buttercream icing. How do I store the cake (without icing)?
Each year I make jams, jellies and pumpkin puree. It’s the only way to go, it tastes much better and here we have fruit growing wildly on the road side, mostly apricots (from upturned crazy truck drivers losing their bins).
making plum jam after the weekend, we are about to leave for the last camping trip of the year.
Wild fruit on the roadside, Lucy?! I have never seen that, and I’m suddenly quite jealous. :)
I made the pumpkin chocolate chip squares (with TJ’s pumpkin butter – it’s reasonably priced!) twice this past week, and both batches were gone very, very quickly. I bet they would be awesome with apple butter!
You know, someone is going to ask about the slow cooker…
I know I know, Donia (about the slow cooker)! I thought of it, but I don’t really think this is right for the slow cooker unless you allow steam to escape (since slow cookers create very moist environments and more than half the cooking time in this recipe is mostly reduction, not really cooking), in which case it would cook even slower … and require some attention. I just think that defeats the purpose!