Homemade spiced apple butter is simmered stovetop and then slow baked in the oven until it's dark, rich, thick and perfect for spreading on toast or muffins!
The start of fall to me means ALL the apple things! We take the kids apple picking every year and then it's a race to see how many apple goods I can make and bake before we run out.
Apple butter is always top of the list! It's one of my favorites and my dad kind of insists I send some his way year after year. ☺️
And to be honest, I love the ease of my slow cooker apple butter. A set it and forget it style, plus no sugar needed in that recipe.
But sometimes, I really crave the classic. The kind you might buy at an orchard or farmer's market.
With sugar, yes, and the perfect amount of spices. And that thick richness and deep color.
Which is what brings us to today's recipe. This is the first apple butter I ever made and the one I go back to for the classic look, taste and flavor that's just next level.
It's rich, thick and perfectly spreadable. And smells absolutely amazing!
This is going to feel like the coziest fall treat.
OK, let's get cooking!
Recipe Notes:
Apples: Use any combination of sweet or cooking apples you have on hand. (I usually use a mix of whatever we picked at the orchard.) Gala and Red Delicious, Golden Delicious or Opal, Braeburn, Jonagolds, Melrose, Rome and even Honey Crisp are all good options.
Sugar: The recipe uses both white and brown sugar for flavor and color.
Spices: You can omit the cloves and allspice if you want a plain, un-spiced version of homemade apple butter. (You'll still have the cinnamon for plenty of flavor.)
Cooking: This first cooks on the stove to simmer and break down the apples. Then the apple butter gets moved to the oven to bake slowly. This is a not a quick recipe, but it's oh so worth it.
Stirring: It really is important to stir this every hour as it bakes. It helps to scrape the sides and remix everything so it gets evenly cooked and thickened.
Bonus: You don't have to peel the apples for this recipe! I've made it several times skipping that step and it works beautifully. You just have to use an immersion blender after the apples simmer, before it goes in the oven. This helps break down the peels so they get incorporated. So either way works!
OK, let's get ready to serve this up!
Ways to Use Apple Butter:
Spread on toast, bakery bread, English muffins, bagels, biscuits, pancakes and more.
Use in baking! Recipes like apple butter pie or apple butter cake.
Go savory. Pair apple butter with meats, like in these pork chops with apple butter.
Homemade apple butter also makes a great gift for friends, family, neighbors, teachers and more.
And it saves beautifully in the refrigerator or freezer, so it's a good recipe to double up if you have a ton of apples to use. Details on how to store it are in the recipe card below.
I hope you give this a try for a taste of fall you won't forget!
Enjoy!
XO,
Kathryn
Oven Apple Butter
Ingredients
- 8-10 medium apples, cored and chopped (see notes below about peeling)
- 1 cup apple juice
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
Instructions
- Place the diced apples and apple juice in a large Dutch oven pot on the stove over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, or until apples are very tender.
- Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.
- If you peeled your apples, just stir the mixture well until the apples are mostly mashed up and broken down. If you did not peel your apples, use an immersion blender to blend the mixture and break it down, leaving some chunks and texture to your desired degree.
- Add the brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, cloves and allspice to the apple mixture. Stir very well to incorporate.
- Transfer the mixture to a lightly greased 9x13 (or OK to use an 11x7) baking dish. Bake at 275 for 4 ½ hours, stirring every hour, until it has thickened and reaches desired spreading consistency.
- Cool completely then refrigerate or freeze. See notes below for storage details.
Save This Recipe
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Notes
Nutrition
Have you caught the fall baking bug? Me too. Here are some more recipes you might love.
Apples: Healthy apple cobbler and apple crisp are my go-to apple desserts to make when we have a haul of apples from apple picking.
Pumpkin: This whole wheat pumpkin applesauce bread with a streusel topping are what breakfast dreams are made of. Or maybe pumpkin chocolate chip baked oatmeal is the winner. Hard to choose. I'll have both.
Chocolate: When I need a chocolate fix, I go with this rich and decadent but healthy chocolate pumpkin cake or this chocolate chip apple cake that yields such tall, thick slices!
So many treats, so little time! I better get back to the kitchen... 😉
Leave a Reply