Easiest Apple Butter Recipe (Homemade From Scratch)

This recipe is so simple – it’s the easiest apple butter recipe from scratch. I use all fresh ingredients, and I promise you it tastes just as good as the apple butter you grew up with.

I grew up on pretty much 100% home-canned applesauce, which is amazing as my mom actually hates cooked apples. She did it for us and I’ve loved it ever since. But apple butter, now that’s the next level!! I use it on toast, cooked with pork or chicken, in quick breads and cakes, etc!

All you need is 6 simple ingredients, and this apple butter sauce is yours! Fill your home and belly with the smells and flavors of fall!

Recommended Equipment

• Blendtec Immersion Blender (use coupon code OHSWEETBASIL20 for a 20% off discount!)
• Apple Peeler or Swivel Peeler

Before You Begin

Prepare all the apples by removing the cores, peeling them, and slicing them into bitesize pieces.

What is Apple Butter?

Though it contains no butter, apple butter is a similar consistency of butter. Apple butter is super concentrated sweetened apples that have been pureed to a smooth spreadable sauce. You can think of it as an apple jam. It has intense delicious apple flavor.

Apple Butter Ingredients

Here are the 6 (possibly 7) ingredients you need to make apple butter from scratch:

• Apples: You’ll need about 16 apples depending on the size of the apples to get 6 lbs of apples. Weigh the apples first and then core, peel and cut them.
  • TIP: You’ll need at least a 6 quart slow cooker to hold all these apples.
• Dark Brown Sugar: You can use light brown sugar too, I just love the richness the dark brown sugar adds.
• Sugar: just regular granulated sugar, helps apples caramelize
• Cinnamon: an absolute must for apple recipes and all things fall
• Ground Cloves: adds an extra bit of warmth and flavor
• Salt: cuts through all the sweetness and enhances all the flavors
• Vanilla: this is optional but does add delicious flavor

This is just an overview of the ingredients used in this recipe. The measurements for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card down at the end of the post.

How to Make Apple Butter in a Slow Cooker

It doesn’t get easier than making this apple butter recipe in the slow cooker! Here is an overview of the steps:

1. Combine the white sugar and spices/seasonings in a small bowl and stir to combine.
2. Add the prepared apples to the sl

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! My friend Lynne was here this week working in the kitchen and photographing recipes with me and as a result, today I’m dreaming of Thanksgiving dinner and all of the side dishes we’ll be making. 

Do you have a non-traditional favorite holiday dish? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment on this blog post telling me about it.

ON THE BLOGS this week: This Homemade Shrimp Ramen is a quick and satisfying twist on the classic Japanese dish. With simple ingredients and minimal prep, this easy recipe offers a flavorful shortcut to a delicious bowl of noodles, succulent shrimp, and aromatic broth.

Chunks of savory, smoky ham are added to perfectly seasoned, gooey, melted cheese. Mac and Cheese with Ham is a dinner you’ll make more than once.

Juicy, raw corn kernels are tossed with crisp bell peppers and tangy tomatoes in a light dressing to create this zesty Fresh Corn Salad.

Tender potatoes mingle with crisp fresh vegetables in a creamy, herb dressing to take this Loaded Vegetable Potato Salad over the top.

Ripe, juicy tomatoes dance with garlic and fresh herbs, all tossed together a zesty lemon dressing in this irresistible Fresh Tomato Pasta.

Puff Pastry Baklava Bites are delightful, bite-sized treats that offer a modern twist on the traditional Greek dessert, baklava. These miniature pastries are made by filling buttery, flaky puff pastry cups with a sweet honey and nut filling.

Filled with slightly chewy pieces of black walnuts, this sweet and fragrant Black Walnut Ice Cream is a decadent treat.

The sweet, juicy burst of blueberries complements the subtle tang of buttermilk in this delightfully moist and tender Blueberry Buttermilk Cake.

My FAVORITE THINGS this week are these tweezers. Once again, these tweezers came to the rescue this week. Splinter removal has never been easier.

What I’m WATCHING: Book Club: The Next Chapter. This movie caught my eye a while back and I finally watched it this week. Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen were perfect in their roles. Wh

Filled with slightly chewy pieces of black walnuts, this sweet and fragrant Black Walnut Ice Cream is a decadent treat.

Black Walnut Ice Cream

To me, black walnuts and black walnut extract smell just a tiny bit like anise, the flavor of black licorice. I was a little leery of them both initially, as I’m not a fan of black licorice at all.

However, the flavor and fragrance in the finished ice cream is not at all reminiscent of anise. Phew. This is a sweet, nutty ice cream that has been a win with all of the walnut lovers in our family. (I didn’t waste a scoop sharing it with the non-walnut-enjoying child. That’s his loss.)

Homemade Black Walnut Ice Cream

Whether your black walnut extract is specifically labeled as “imitation” or not, it likely is a combination of natural and artificial flavors created to mimic the flavor of black walnuts. This is the extract I used for this ice cream.

I looked around a bit and did not find a single black walnut extract that was actually made from black walnuts, with that information anywhere on the label. So, go ahead and pick up an imitation black walnut extract and make this ice cream without further ado.

Nuts in Ice Cream

With over 70 ice cream recipes here to choose from, there’s sure to be an ice cream for everyone! If you’re new to making ice cream, the Read more

Weekly Menu Plan – Oct. 9 to 15

Here is your menu plan for the week!

Monday: Taco Stew

Tuesday: Chicken Gyros

Wednesday: French Toast

Thursday: Sheet Pan Chicken Stir Fry

Friday: Date Night!

Saturday: Garlic Tomato Basil Orzo

Sunday: Stuffed Pork Chops

READ: Weekly Menu Plan – Oct. 9 to 15

This homemade shrimp ramen is a quick and satisfying twist on the classic Japanese dish. With simple ingredients and minimal prep, this easy recipe offers a flavorful shortcut to a delicious bowl of noodles, succulent shrimp, and aromatic broth. Perfect for busy days when you crave a comforting meal without the fuss.

Shrimp Ramen

It’s been a great week for cookbook reviews over here. My friend Gina’s newest cookbook, Skinnytaste Simple: Easy Healthy Recipes with 7 Ingredients or Fewer, arrived this past weekend and almost immediately I sat down to flip through it. I have at least a dozen recipes bookmarked already and I can hardly wait to try them all.

This Shortcut Shrimp Ramen was a must-make as soon as I spied it in the book. I had shrimp in the freezer, mushrooms in the fridge, and ramen noodles in the pantry.

Easy Homemade Ramen

The simple flavors in this recipe work well together. The result is a mild-flavored broth, not at all salty (like those ramen packets tend to be) and it can easily be kicked up with soy sauce or your favorite hot sauce.

We added generous amounts of gochujang sauce and all voted this meal a complete win. Much like the first time we made Egg Drop Soup a dozen years or more ago, homemade ramen was an instant hit. This is going to be a staple around here now.

Shrimp Ramen Noodles

You’ll need just a few ingredients to make this recipe:

• shrimp
• olive oil
• fresh ginger and garlic
• chicken stock
• mushrooms