Honey Apple Butter in the Crockpot

The aroma is as enticing as the flavor when you are making honey apple butter. How much natural goodness can you fit on a spoon? This recipe for making homemade apple butter with honey is easy because it uses a crockpot. No need to stand over the stove for hours. Full of fiber, vitamins and minerals this is one of the tastiest spreads around!

Personally, I love fruit and apples are near the top of the list. I also collect honey recipes – because as a beekeeper – I usually have some honey on hand. When I can get more use out of the honey my bees produce – that is a win!

Honey Apple Butter – History in a Slow Cooker

As a child, I always loved the time of year when my Granny made apple butter. Living near the South Carolina mountains, several trips to the apple orchards near Hendersonville, NC were annual events.

The scent of cinnamon, nutmeg and apples permeated the whole house. And, Granny would spend hours stirring that large pot of cooking apples.

She didn’t have a crockpot or slow cooker but thankfully today we have that option. I still think of her and her old wood stove anytime I make this apple spread.

Ingredients

In addition to some spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves), vanilla flavoring, brown sugar and water – you will need:

• apples any type but mix of sweet and tart is good
• honey

Choosing Apples

I am guilty of making honey apple butter with any extra apples that I have on hand. Honestly, it often happens when they are beginning to pucker and I rush to do something with them before they spoil.

However, for the best flavor a mix of sweet and tart apples is a good choice (Fuji, Jonagold, McIntosh, Liberty etc). I have used them all and never been disappointed with the taste.

Honey

You can use any variety or type of honey in this apple butter recipe. I also recommend raw honey – yes even in cooking-but use what you have. The common wildflower honey will work just fine.

How to Make It

1. Prepare the apples: Wash the apples and let them dry. Leave the peel on for extra fiber (but you can cut them off if you prefer). Cut them into chunks – discard the seeds.

Then, dump them in your slow cooker and add the spices, honey and water. Stir well to combine and coat the apple chunks.

2. Place the top on your cooker and let them cook on 8-9 hours (on med – high). Check them every few hours – you will have to be the judge of whether or not to add more water. The juicier the apples – the less water you may need.

3. When everything is soft and ready, your ingredients will look much different – don’t worry. We are not done yet.

4. The best way to get a good smooth honey apple butter spread is to use a food processor to puree the mixture. The goal is the mix all the ingredients into fine particles – you can use any type of mixer to accomplish this. (Also, depending on how long you cook them and whether or not you leave the peels in – you may not need to puree.)

Lastly, its time to jar it up and consider how you plan to store your crockpot honey apple butter.

Storing

Your fresh apple butter will keep in the refrigerator for several weeks in a tight sealing container – if you don’t eat it up sooner.

However, maybe you would like to have some on hand for another time – when you may not have time to cook.

One way to store your special apple spread is to freeze it in small containers. Then, you can remove small portions at a time.

The other option is to preserve the apple butter using the boiling water canning method. This is a great option if you would like to give small jars of homemade honey apple butter for gifts!

This is what I do when I make this recipe. Those canned jar come in really handy (especially around Christmas) and it is not hard to do.

Expert Tip

The moisture content of the apples used can vary. That’s why I suggest that you add only a small amount in the beginning. Your recipe will thicken after cooking when it cools.

However, even at 1/2 cup of water, I wanted my honey apple butter to be a bit thicker. I transferred it to a saucepan and heated it on the stove for just a bit to thicken it.

More Ideas

Using honey in cooking is really easy. It is a great base for this recipe for homemade teriyaki sauce (flavorful but not too sweet).

Or, if you love flavored coffee drinks, whip up this honey bee latte that is sweetened with honey..

Other great ideas include honey glazed nuts such as : roasted honey almonds or glazed honey cashews. And, if you have never tried cinnamon honey butter – well, you really should.

If baking is your thing, try this pumpkin pie sweetened with honey, it is so easy even I can do it. (And, I am a better beekeeper than cook. But hey – a woman needs to be versatile.

FAQs

Final Thoughts

The sweetness of your honey apple butter will depend somewhat on the apples you use. I find this recipe not too sweet (but it could be sweeter). However, my husband loves it just like this as he says the flavor of the apples is not overwhelmed.

Making honey apple butter is a great way to use up apples that you may have on hand-before they spoil. And, what a tasty way to be frugal. Know any honey lovers that need a gift? Yes, please.