Christmas Apple Butter

So I know this is a bit late, but did you have any idea that you can make apple butter in the crock pot? 

I had no clue until I was looking into making apple butter for home made Christmas gifts! 

Turns out it is super easy, it just takes forever. I'm sure you can use whatever recipe you want, and I found out my mom had nana's "secret" recipe which does have a surprising secret ingredient... shhh I can't tell!

Anyway, I did just a half batch at first to see if it would work and if it would actually taste like Nana's. I was a little surprised, but it actually tasted right!

So how do you do it?

1. Prep everything and throw it in the crockpot in the morning.
2. Set it on low for 8 hours and leave it alone. Dear husband (DH) said it made the house "smell like Christmas." Gotta love that!
3. Mash with a potato masher or immersion blender. You still want a few small chunks in there, don't make it too soupy with the hand blender like I did the first time.
4. Leave the lid off, and let it continue to cook on slow for 5-6 hours to thicken it up. You can help speed this up by thickening on the stove, but just make sure not to burn it. 

5. Package and enjoy! You can freeze, refrigerate, or can it in jars. I canned it so I could gift it for Christmas.


We gifted a jar to each of our family members, our close friends, and as host/hostess gifts for the holiday parties we were invited to.

It was great to just have a bunch of these on hand for the holidays, ready to gift if a situation came up!