just over an hour? Yes, please! Thanks to the Instant Pot, apple butter has never been easier! 
Last week my sister-in-law came with her two children and while our children were playing, we worked to turn two bushels of apples into homemade applesauce . It was a lot of work, but we’ve both done it quite often, so it actually went really well.
In fact, once we figured out our workflow, we worked together like a well-oiled machine and it ended up not taking as long as we thought.
But we don’t use all apples for applesauce! I decided to save some to turn them into another of our favorite apple stuff. Apple butter!
And all of you, I’m so excited to share this apple butter recipe with you! Because not only is it incredibly delicious (since you’ll want to eat it straight from the spoon) but it’s also ridiculously easy to make.
Plus, it’s also much cheaper than if you go and buy it in the store, too!
In the past, I made this recipe in the slow cooker. But this year I decided to try my Instant Pot because I knew it would be faster and I liked to do it quickly.
It worked like a charm! Just as good, but less time overall.
However, in case you prefer to use the slow cooker, I also include instructions for that method. Because I know we all have different preferences and I want to make homemade apple butter as easy as possible for you!
What is apple butter?
I guess some of you are wondering, “What the hell is apple butter anyway?” And I get it. It’s not something I was really very familiar with until I got married.
My husband spent part of his growing up years living in the garden where his father worked. As a result, he knows everything about everything about apples, including apple butter!
Basically, apple butter is a spread that is used as a jelly or jam. It is delicious in toast or cookies, in peanut butter and jam sandwiches, in pancakes and waffles, scrambled into oatmeal or yogurt and can also be used in all kinds of recipes, such as these apple butter doodles. It’s also a great gift!
It’s kind of like applesauce, except you simmer them until they’re more cooked, making them thicker and allowing the sugars in the apples to caramelize.
This caramelization gives apple butter a deliciously intense flavor and is also what gives it the rich dark brown color.
How is apple butter made?
This is the part I love. It’s so crazy simple!
All you need to do is peel, crumble and cut your apples, then add them along with some spices, brown sugar, vanilla and water to your Instant Pot (or slow cooker) and let it Cook until apples are soft. Finally, you puree it with an immersion blender (this is the one I have) or a regular blender until it’s nice and smooth.
And so you end up and you have a lot of homemade apple butter ready to be devoured!
Which apples make the best homemade apple butter?
Really, you can use almost any apple, but in my opinion, you’ll get the best flavor using a slightly sour variety.
My favorite apple for homemade apple butter and applesauce is Cortland. But I’ve also used Fuji, McIntosh, and even Gala, although I don’t think apple butter made with Gala was as tasty as the other varieties. However, it was still good!
Other varieties that people like to use are Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Braeburn and Jonagold. You can totally experiment by combining different apples to suit your taste!
Can you freeze apple butter?
Yes, I actually freeze apple butter every year when I make it. While I love canning things (as all my canning tutorials demonstrate), sometimes it’s easier to freeze them. And since I have a lot of space in the freezer, that’s what I do.
I often freeze apple butter in jelly jars, but these plastic containers work well too!
Super Easy Instant Pot
Apple butter
You may also be interested in:
- Easy Apple Dough Ball Dessert
- How to Canned Applesauce (a step-by-step tutorial)
- The best crunchy pumpkin pie Easy
- pumpkin cheesecake without baking
