Crock Pot or Instant Pot Apple Butter

Have you ever been to Lambert’s? The home of the throwed roll? If you haven’t, next time you’re crossing through Missouri or are in Orange Beach Alabama, make it a mission to stop there.  The meals are all you can eat and from all across the huge room guys throw as many hot, buttered rolls as you can eat at you.

I love it so much, I had to figure out how to make it and make it well.

My recipe is made in the crock-pot, and takes lots of apples and at least 14 hours to get thick and dark enough. OR in 90 minutes in the Instant Pot — see instructions at the bottom of this post!. The measurements of the ingredients are a bit flexible. I didn’t even count how many apples I used, but I’m guessing 15-20. I peeled and cut apples into chunks. Enough to fill my 6 qt. crock pot full to the top.

I added 2 cups of brown or white sugar,

4 tsp. of cinnamon,

as well as 1/4 tsp. ground cloves,

1/4 tsp. salt and stir.

That’s it. I put the temperature on low and leave it overnight. The next morning, I stirred the apples and put the lid back on. Several more stirs and hours later (about sixteen total hours of cook time), I used my stick blender to get rid of all the little remaining chunks of apples and then cool before I refrigerated the butter in jars.

This makes about 8 cups. Plenty to share (makes great Christmas gifts!)–unless you just plan on making lots and lots of biscuits!

See my tips on apple storage.

Now, if you’re like me, you want to can this stuff so it lasts in storage for a good long while.  To do so,  add hot
Apple Butter to the jars and then follow water bath instructions and process for 10 minutes per half  and 15 minutes per pint.

BUT WAIT!  There’s MORE!! :o)

Instant Pot fans, I’ve been working on how to make perfect Apple Butter in the ol’ IP to save so much time and effort and I have it for you now!  This is revolutionary and could quite possibly change the lives of Apple Butter fans everywhere — it certainly did mine as we harvest bucket upon bucket of apples from our trees and need quick and easy ways to preserve them! You’ll need an Instant Pot and a food mill to make this work.  This is the one I have.

You’re not gonna believe this…

Fill your Instant Pot a little below the full line with whole apples.  Or, if you just made Amazing Apple Crisp or Caramel Apple Crisp Pie and you have all of the apple scraps and peels, throw those in the pot and fill any remaining space (no fuller than just below the fill line) with whole apples.

Add 1/2 cup of water as well as all of the above-mentioned ingredients for my Apple Butter:

• 1-2 cups of brown or white sugar (this will depend on the tartness of your apples — we are using fewer apples than the crock pot recipe so you may not need all of the sugar)
• 4 tsp. of cinnamon,
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves,
• 1/4 tsp. salt.

Cook at high pressure for 90 minutes, and then let it naturally release for at least 10 minutes before you release the steam.  Give it a stir and then pour it into the food mill to eliminate all of the seeds and stems and such. Grind it through and then use a blender (I prefer my stick blender so I don’t worry about blenders and heat and messes) to whip it into a smooth consistency.  Add it hot to jars to water bath process if desired — 10 minutes for half pints and 15 for pints.

Can you believe you can have homemade goodness like this and never have to peel or cut an apple?  Just trust me and try it.  You will thank me. :o)