This spiced apple butter is made in a slow cooker, which means that it is almost entirely hands off. I like to make this in the autumn and squirrel it away for holiday gift bags.
Since I was very young, I’ve been something of a collector. I figured that if having one of something was good, then having three or four was even better. As a kid, this meant that I had more pens and pencils in my school bag than necessary and felt most comfortable when I had a back-up security blanket.
In my adulthood, this propensity towards duplication has most actively manifested itself in the kitchen. I have at least two dozen wooden spoons and spatulas (when just a handful would really do), three vintage waffle irons (because you never know when one might break) and five slow cookers.
There’s no really good defense for the wooden implements or the waffle irons, but I do have a rationale for the slow cookers. My slow cooker needs often vary and so having different shapes, sizes and eras to choose from give me options.
Dips go in the mini-cooker. When I make overnight oatmeal, the 2 1/2 quart pot is best. If I’m doing a batch of blueberry butter and want really low, slow heat, nothing works better than my vintage, 4 quart, harvest gold cooker. I also have kept a basic 6 quart cooker in the rotation for a while for stocks and soups, though I must confess, it has never been my favorite.
Then there’s slow cooker number five. It joined the line-up recently and rocketed to the top of my slow cooker hit parade. It’s the Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget model, with a lid that can be locked into a place and a thermometer probe that you can use to test internal temperatures without lifting the lid and releasing the heat. It allows you to set the cook time and temperature (when the time is up, it shifts to a keep warm setting).
This time of year, my slow cookers are in regular rotation for the production of apple and pear butters. I typically go with my vintage cooker, because I know that I can trust it not to burn (older slow cookers have lower set temperatures than the newer models). However, because of its capacity, it ends up yielding just a couple of pints. As you know, most of the time I like a small batch just a little more than the next girl. During the holiday season that changes and I appreciate the option of larger yields for gift giving.
I realize now that I’ve avoided the newer cookers and their higher temperatures because I’ve never worked with one that had an auto shut-off before. I tend to let my fruit butters cook overnight. That was too much time for my brute force, either-on-or-off cooker. But having the option to set it to cook for 5 or 6 hours and then shift to warm has changed everything. I know this technology has been around for a while (my mom had a slow cooker when I was little that did something along these lines), but I’d never before experienced it. I am in love.
My fruit butter yields are higher because the new Hamilton Beach machine has a larger capacity and I’m not running the risk of burning the butter because it shuts off when I ask. I am a happy canner.
Before we get to the apple butter recipe I’ve made three times in the last month in machine, I have to tell you one more reason why I really like it. It’s that “Stay or Go” feature. This slow cooker has a lid fitted with a silicone seal that can be locked into place. That makes it an able traveler, which is terrific for a regular potluck-attender like me.
I used it to transport and serve mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving (sadly, they were the worst mashed potatoes I’ve ever made; both lumpy and gummy at the same time. But the quality of the potatoes wasn’t the cooker’s fault) and it will be pressed into travel service again soon.
The formal recipe I’ve been using for this slow cooker apple butter is down below, but here’s the narrative version. You begin by filling your slow cooker to the top with sliced apples (I got about eight pounds into my cooker, but there’s some natural variation here). You add a little water (maybe 1/2 a cup) to help things along and then you let the cooker for for four to six hours on low, until you can mash the apples into sauce.
Then you puree the heck out of the applesauce, until the skins disappear. It works best in my Vitamix, but I’ve also achieved this same effect with an immersion blender and persistence. Then you return the puree to the slow cooker (it will only fill it 2/3 of the way up at this point) and cook on low for another six or so hours with the lid slightly askew for venting purposes, until the sauce has reduced into butter. Stir in sugar, spices, and lemon zest/juice for balance. That’s it! Making spiced apple butter is so easy and makes such good holiday presents!
Spiced Apple Butter
Ingredients
- 7-8 pounds apples any varieties you like
- 1/2 to 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
Instructions
- Slice apples and heap them into a six quart slow cooker.
- Add 1/2 cup water and set to low.
- Cook until apples are tender and can be easily pressed into sauce. On low, this will take 4-6 hours. On high, it should only take 2-3 hours.
- Puree softened apples into a smooth puree (it shouldn’t be necessary to peel).
- Return to puree to slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours with the lid set slightly ajar so that it can vent.
- Add 1/2 cup sugar, spices and lemon zest/juice. Taste and add more spices and sugar, if necessary.
- Funnel hot apple butter into prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes.
- When the time is up, turn off the heat and remove the lid. Let the jars rest in the cooling water for 5 minutes. When that time has elapsed, remove the jars and set them on a folded kitchen towel to cool. When the jars have cooled enough that you can comfortably handle them, check the seals. Sealed jars can be stored at room temperature for up to a year. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used promptly.
I have only barely started experimenting with a slow-cooker, but the more I read the more I think there is some real potential here — I like the automatic shut-off feature of this one, makes me more comfortable leaving something cooking all day while I’m at work. Having hot food ready when I come home? Sounds like heaven to me!
Pot roast comes out so tender and juicy when made in the crock pot. It’s so easy and makes the house smell wonderful on a cold winter’s day.
I love making chili in my slow cooker, but I have been wrestling with frustration that it sometimes is just too small and feeling bad about wanting another one… So this post made me feel way better about the idea of having more than one. This sounds like a great recipe, thanks for the chance to enter!!
I mainly use my slow cooker for less than tender meats but I have also used it to make bread pudding.
My favorite crock pot recipe is French Onion Soup with Beef and Barley. Sooo good. I love making Apple Butter as well – but I like to add a little Apple Brandy for an extra kick 🙂
I’ve made a LOT of fruit sauce and butter in my slow cookers this year (peach, pear, apple …), but a perennial fave slow-cooker meal is my Spiked BBQ Chicken. Place boneless, skinless chicken breasts into the crock. If you like things oniony, add a very thinly sliced yellow onion, somewhat separated into rings. Pour a full bottle of your fave BBQ sauce and most of a bottle of hard cider (or beer). Cook on low for 6-8 hours, then shred the chicken into the sauce and let that meld a bit before serving over hamburger buns.
I routinely participate in a potluck where I help feed up to 25 people, so having another of these beauties would be spectacular!
This year is the first year I’ve used it for fruit butters and I LOVE it 🙂
I like to make apple butter and pear butter in my crockpot, I also like to soak my beans in it over night on low when I make chili, but I loaned my crockpot to someone and now it doesn’t work on low.Been hopeing to get one on sale with all the Christmas sales going on.You don’t know how much you use someting til its gone.
I love the ease of making apple butter in the crockpot. Also use for Taco Soup instead of stovetop, so it can cook on low all day and let the flavors blend.
I’ve never had a slow cooker, but I would love to try them for canning (apple butters, etc.), but also for cooking things like bean soups.
Yum!
my favorite slow cooker use is one i haven’t mastered yet – my mother makes this amazing potato soup recipe that I still haven’t been able to figure out, even though she gave me the general guidelines she uses (there’s no “recipe”).
I have been using mine lately for making food for my dogs.
I know what is going into it that way.
I use mine to make queso, fruit butters, creamed corn & simmering cheap cuts of meat to use later over pasta, in tacos, sandwiches, etc.. Mine’s super basic, so a slow cooker with more features would be very appreciated around here.
Thank you for holding the contest, love your blog!
I love slow cookers for soups – no tending on the stove, no worrying they will burn. I’ve been very intrigued by this cooker with it’s sealable lid so I’m excited to have the chance to win one.
Slow Cooker Barbecue Goose Sandwich – I have made it twice and it’s so delicious. We add cheese and gardinere to our sammies. MmMmmmm http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-barbecue-goose-sandwich/
What is a slow cooker *not* good for! I use it mostly for dinners, so convenient!
vegetable vindaloo! but this time of year .. mulled spiced cider. My slowcooker is OOOLD (I bought it second hand over 10 years ago, it’s a HB) I could really use a new one!
I use it for soups and stews the most, but have also been known to cook a roast in there or even macaroni and cheese. I use my slow cooker about twice a week, so it gets a lot of love, it could sure use a break if I had another one in rotation (I have been drooling over the programmable ones so that I can cook for shorter times while at work, I would make lasagna in it first)
I love to cook chicken in BBQ sauce overnight. Makes the best sandwiches!
My favorite use is definitely Moroccan Lentil Soup – makes the house smell amazing as it cooks all day.
Oh gosh! What don’t I use my Crock Pot for?? lol! I have made apple butter in my Crock Pot more than once. I love making Coq Au Vin in it. I also just made a huge batch of homemade hot chocolate in my Crock Pot for a party I hosted over the weekend. 🙂
I love my slow cooker in the winter – throw in a pound of stew meat and some type of sauce, seasonings, or spices – and dinner is done for you at the end of a long, cold day!
My favorite use for crockpots is actually summer cooking so I can avoid heating the house! Making fruit butters would come in close second…
I wish I could tell you some amazing recipe that I conscientiously plan and execute, but my ‘go to’ recipe is to throw a hunk of meat in the pot, douse it with some spices, glub in some liquid and let it do it’s thang. My slow cooker is old and basic, so I’m sure if I had this fancy schmancy cooker, I’d be amazing!
At least one meal a week is made in the slow cooker during the school year.
love to make a whole chicken in mine then
bothz
Grouse Chalupa!
I make porchetta in my slow cooker, and also apple butter, pot roast, garlic chicken……but mostly porchetta. Thanks for the contest!
Due to my Midwestern roots I use the slow cooker for just about everything, but my favorite would be roast. I cook a lot at once and use the meat for sandwiches, tacos, and pasties.
I’ve got a three-mini-pot slow cooker dealie that is perfect for Mexican night….the first crock simmers black beans in a mixture of a tomato sauce, diced onions and chilies, the second pot is for spiced pulled pork, and the third is for a chicken and chorizo mixture. Yum.
I love making chili in my crockpot!
I haven’t had a crockpot in quite some time, but I used to make a lot of stew in mine. I think I need a new one.
i use three differn’t slow cookers..two are small. and the oval is a large one…i make various dinners in these including desserts…my family’s favorite is apple crisp!
I make the best crock pot mac and cheese! Hmmm, I think I will make some today 🙂
I use my at least once a week in the winter for soups and stews. My DD will eat anything as long as it’s in soup form so my small crockpot is very well used. Never tried fruit butters due to scorching issues, love the idea of a cooker that turns itself off.
I am a recent convert to slow cookers, use mine mostly for soups and stews, but am now going to try apple butter for sure. And that snazzy cooker would make it so easy!
I’ve only ever used a crock pot for soups and stews but would love to try this recipe!
I have been wanting a slow cooker to make pulled pork but the idea of using them for fruit butter makes me want one even more!
You? A collector? I don’t see it 😉
First off, I love that shot of you in the reflection. Made me smile. 🙂
As for my favorite use of a slow cooker… well, despite not eating meat, I do enjoy preparing this pulled brisket recipe that we have for Eric. It always makes our place smell so good.
Hard to pick just one use ! I think I use it the most for keeping stuff warm, but my cheesy chicken and stuffing is awfully good !
Swedish meatballs! YUM!
I love to cook down my tomatoes for sauce in the crockpot-great roated flavor!
I made a yummy pear butter this fall…made the house smell great, too!
My uses go way back….to our wedding in 1974. My uses, right now butters and sauses. I make applesauce, either plain or with cranberries, cinnamon, pears, or other fruits (no burning) . Also, stews and chilis. mmmmmmmm!!! My lid went longgg ago…..Have a smaller lid which works ok.
Taco Soup and dry beans are my favorite crock pot uses. Also some indian food. The slow cooking makes it super tasty!
I love to use mine for stews of all kinds. I have a family of 6 and work as a firefighter/EMT and being able to cook a fast, healthy, and yummy meal is very important to me. I have recently been gathering items to start getting back into canning. Something I haven’t done for a number of years, but love doing. So this would be an awesome addition to my kitchen and family 🙂
I don’t have a slow cooker yet, so I don’t have a favorite slow cooker recipe. But I am excited about the possibilities it offers for roasting meats (char sui pork!) without heating up my huge oven/tiny kitchen.
I love to make chicken enchilada soup and pulled pork! My husband and I were just wishing for a 2nd (or even a 3rd) crock pot so we could do most of the crockpot cooking for the week all at once on Sunday evenings.
A simple version of poulet grande mere. Delish!
My new favorite thing to do with my slow cooker is caramelized onions for potato knish, because I hate hate HATE standing at the stove for the usual hour it takes to really, truly caramelize a pot full of onions. I have a few things I want to try after the new year – I have a recipe for licorice that takes an age to cook down I want to experiment with.
Oh please do share your recipe with us 🙂
I have a large (6 kids) family. I try to make sure that, even in our business, we all eat together at night. That means that 2-3 nights a week I use my slow cooker to make sure we have healthy meals that are home cooked.
I love crock pots. I bounce between my two favorites: Pot roast and spiced apple cider.
I love to cook soups and stews in my slow cooker, but my favorite thing to use it for is meat for tamale filling. It’s great because I can set it and forget it. It definitely makes things easier!
Because of my very long commute to and from work, I use my slow cooker practically every day. I have been thinking the last few weeks, I really need to get a second one for a side dish or dessert. Slow cookers have saved my life and my new husband of two months gets a hot home cooked meal every night. I leave at 4:45 am and I walk in the door between 6:30 to 7:00 pm. I can’t wait to make the spiced apple butter.
Soups & chilis & sauces. Love coming home to them already done and the house smelling fab!
My favorite is pulled pork…. so easy and delicious 🙂 Also great for keeping spiced cider warm on cold days 🙂
What a CRAZY coincidence; I just used my LAST jar of apple butter as a holiday gift and was thinking that I need to make more. LOL. Apple butter is my first favorite use. My second is currently sugared almonds. Great for gifts, holiday snacks and chopped to top a yummy wheel of brie with apple preserves. I would LOVE this slow cooker. I need another 🙂
I have needed a new crockpot, but wasn’t able to find one that had both the timer and the locking lid. Being gone 14 hours a day at work makes crockpot cooking a must do for me!
There is nothing better than slow cooking apple or pumpkins better. It makes the whole house smell amazing!! 🙂
pork and sauerkraut is the most common made dinner in our crock pot
Arroz con pollo! It gets deliciously cooked!
I love using my crock pot! My favorite thing to do with it is to make chicken stock overnight for morning canning. 😉
Oh, I would love to win this as mine died. I loved cooking beans in my crock pot!
Soup, glorious soup. I love having supper ready and waiting for whenever people are actually ready for it.
I’ve saved several recipes for jams, jellies, and butters made in a slow cooker, but haven’t attempted them yet because my current cooker is too small! I was hoping to find a good deal on a bit bigger model this holiday season. Aside from really yummy soups, stews, and all kinds of meats, I think my favorite slow cooker recipe is chocolate lava cake!
I like to use my slow cooler for roasts. I have been trying to expand my slow cooler usage into soups, dips, and even cocoa.
I love to bake potatoes in my crock pot. They come out great and don’t heat the house up. Just wrap in foil and bake on high for 2 1/2 hours.
Pulled pork is my family’s favorite crock pot meal with chicken curry a close second.
My current slow cooker obsession is pulled pork. A 2-3lb pork shoulder, can of Dr. Pepper or root beer, and let it go all day. Shred, drain most of the liquid off, then add bbq sauce!
(Also, my husband just broke the lid to my 6qt slow cooker, so this would be AWESOME!)
I’d have to say that I haven’t used a slow cooker in a long time as the one I use is even too small for my wife and I (about 1 quart, and a gift). If we got one of these slow cookers I would definitely make bbq chicken or beef, apple butter, and other stews.
I have been making Pumpkin and Apple butter in my slow cooker. It makes it so easy and it always turns out great!
I like to make roast with veggies and barbeque chicken in my slow cooker. It’s one of my favorite kitchen gadgets – set it and forget it!
I love to use my slow cooker to make my baked potato soup. So delicious.
I will have to try apple butter, yum! Thanks!
I use my slow cooker weekly. I do make apple butter in it as well, but my go to would be stews and roasts. Thanks for hosting this giveaway!
I use my crockpot for alot of things. Since we homeschool and can be out of the house at odd times, I just put dinner in the crockpot and I know it will be done whenever we are home to eat it.
I love making mulled cider in my slow cooker – I just keep refilling it and making more!
I’ve really only JUST started using slow cookers, but I made a beef stew in mine yesterday! I was proud of the chance to set it in the morning, go to work, and come home to its luscious smells! It’s an old (1970s) one that I got at a yard sale, and I have no idea what temperature it is at, ever (hot or warm are the two options!) but I’m enjoying playing with it!
I cook chickpeas in my slow cooker. They turn out tender, creamy, almost sweet (4 hours on high). I’ll never go back to canned.
I don’t actually have a slow-cooker other than my dutch oven, which I use mostly for braises and roasts. If I had a slow-cooker though, I would definitely use it for apple butter and probably cooking dried beans.
Apple & Pear butters. I decided to try apple butter on the stove and lasted 5 minutes before pouring it into my slow cooker. I use my pressure cooker to cook the apples. I can use very little water and it’s fast. Since I put the apples through a chinois, I don’t have to peel or core and the resulting pulp is very dense, much more so than starting with regular apple sauce.
I make a crockpot stroganoff that is awesome – by far my favorite crockpot recipe! I used my crockpot (it has a timer) to make overnight Rum Apple Butter over Thanksgiving and it turned out really well. I was just lamenting that I didn’t have one with a locking lid for traveling purposes so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I win!
Several-Grain Oatmeal! Mostly steel cut oats, but also barley, brown rice, bulgar, flax meal, wheat germ, or cornmeal thrown in too. Delicious served with a spoonful of peanut butter in the morning.
I love making pulled pork in mine!
Nothing beats coming home to … really anything in the slow cooker … but I’m partial to pot roast. It’s a really great way to use up any root vegetables that I have lying around also
I use my slow cooker for everything. Its kind of ridiculous how many things I cook in it. I know my husbands favorite thing I make in it is chili. I really like making chicken breasts in it though. They always come out moist and shred apart easily, which is great for tacos. Yum!
my slow cooker is from a yard sale! – I use it to do a whole turkey breast that comes out perfect every time.
Soups are my favorite thing to do in a slow cooker.
My crockpot gets the most use in the fall and winter…beans, pork and sauerkraut, chicken and rice, wassail…at least once a week. The model I have tends to cook on high heat even when it’s set on low and the lid sometimes dances on the crock.
I sure would be thrilled to ‘win’! Thanks for the chance!
My favorite use of the slow cooker is to make carmelized onions. Five pounds of sliced Vidalia onions and 12-14 hours = one delicious batch of Nature’s finest condiment!
I have several slow cookers also, some for food, some for fiber. My favorite use is for dying fiber and yarn. Maybe not what you had in mind, but there it is. Merry Christmas!
I love to use my slow cooker to make stock overnight or when I’m at work!
I’ve always associated slow cookers with one of my least favorite meals — roast with carrots and potatoes. Because of that, I’ve never given them much credence in my kitchen life, but this recipe looks like it could turn me around. I love apple butter.
I like making beans, stews and pulled pork in my slow cooker. I have one from the 1980’s that still works. However the 4 qt Rival crockpot I bought less than a year ago cracked the crock during cooking and Rival doesn’t sell replacement crocks for that specific model. They will however sell me a brand neew model. I would prefer to replace it with a model that has replaceable parts. I’ll have to look into the Hamilton Beach ones.
I usually use mine for cooking meats, but have used it for cooking peach butter as well. My small one is good for dips and even carmel for carmeled apples!
I use mine for making soups and roasts. I never considered it for apple butters. What a great idea. I’ve never seen a crock pot that locks and turns off… I definitely endless possibilities for trying new recipes with it’s flexible options.
I had a friend scavenge my slow cooker for me during her thrift store forays. I wanted to find an easier way to make fruit butter and a way to free up burner space so I can make more than two preserved items at once. So, it has been mostly impressed into use making fruit butters though I have made a few attempts to make other things.
Beef stew! I add the veggies about half way through so they don’t turn to mush, but the stew is wonderful.
I don’t think anything beats a nice roast chicken. I recently discovered that if you buy the right chicken and treat it as minimally as possible, it’ll actually “roast” (brown) in a slow cooker. What better to come home to after a full day of work?
Ok…now I’m hungry.
I always brown a roast and add onions, carrots and potatoes. Then a little water and a packet of Lipton’s French Onion Soup mix, cook on low all day and it makes the best pot roast!
venison stew.