Amish-Style Crockpot Apple Butter Recipe

There’s something deeply comforting about Amish-style recipes — simple ingredients, slow cooking, and flavors that taste like they’ve been perfected over generations. Amish-style crockpot apple butter is one of those treasures. Thick, spiced, dark, and velvety — the kind you want to spread on warm bread while the sun rises over a quiet farm.

Traditionally, apple butter was made in a copper kettle over an outdoor fire, stirred for hours with a wooden paddle while neighbors gathered around. These days, most of us don’t have a giant kettle or a spare horse-and-buggy to haul apples — but we do have crockpots. And I promise, this slow cooker Amish-style version tastes just as authentic.

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Amish-Style Crockpot Apple Butter

Equipment needed:

• 6-qt or larger crockpot with lid
• Apple peeler-corer-slicer

Ingredients:

• 6–7 lbs apples (a mix of sweet + tart, like Jonathan, McIntosh, or Honeycrisp)
• 1/4 cup fresh apple cider
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar (or light if that’s what you have)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

• Wash, core, peel and chop apples.
• Add apples to the crockpot and sprinkle in all the spices, sugars, and cider. Do not add the vanilla until cooked.
• Cover and cook on LOW for 8–10 hours, overnight if possible. Your house will smell like an old-time country fair.
• When apples are completely soft, add the vanilla and blend with an immersion blender until silky smooth.
• For classic thick Amish-style apple butter, leave the lid off and cook another 1–2 hours, stirring occasionally until dark and glossy.
• Spoon into jars. Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks – or freeze in freezer-safe containers — or preserve it and enjoy all winter long

How to Preserve Apple Butter

• Fill a water bath canner and bring to a simmer
• Fill clean pint or half-pint mason jars with apple butter leaving a 1/2-inch headspace
• Wipe rim clean and apply a new lid. Screw on band to fingertip tightness
• Place jars in water bath canner and process for 10 minutes
• Turn off heat, remove jars and allow to cool, undisturbed for 24 hours

How to Use Apple Butter (Besides Eating Straight from the Jar)

• Spread on warm biscuits, toast, or Amish-style fry bread
• Swirled into cottage cheese or oatmeal
• Glazed over pork chops or ham during the last few minutes of baking
• Mixed with BBQ sauce for the best pulled pork of your life
• Gifted in a mason jar with a gingham lid — instant friend-maker

There’s a reason Amish kitchens are known for their comfort foods — they let time do the work. This Amish-style crockpot apple butter is proof that humble ingredients and patience beat fancy tricks any day. Let it slow cook while you go about your day, and by evening you’ll have a jar of pure old-fashioned goodness.

Now go on — make it, share it, and feel just a little bit like you belong in a bonnet and apron.