What do you do when you’ve got a lot of apples on your hands and they’re looking like they might not have that much longer to live? Make Slow Cooker Hot Buttered Apples! 👏👏👏
I bought a big bag of apples the other day for what I thought was a great deal, until I realized later that they were really really ripe. Like they already smell like apple cider instead of fresh apples, ripe. Oops. But I wasn’t about to let that bag of 12 apples go to waste, so I peeled and sliced them, tossed them into the slow cooker with a healthy dose of warm spices, a little sugar, cornstarch for thickening, and a few big pieces of butter. Already sounds good, doesn’t it?
After a few hours in the slow cooker the apples were tender, sweet but not too-sweet, and had my house smelling like an autumn dream! The mixture ends up very much like the filling for an apple pie and is very versatile in its uses.
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How to Serve Slow Cooker Hot Buttered Apples
You can treat it like a crustless pie and serve it à la mode like I did below (with a little granola sprinkled on top), spoon it over your pancakes, waffles, or oats, use it as a filling for a dessert “quesadilla”, or even serve it along side something like pork chops.
Make a Half Batch, If Needed
This is obviously a huge batch because I wanted to use that entire bag of apples, but you can easily halve this recipe if needed. While the Slow Cooker Hot Butter Apples do stay good in the fridge for 4-5 days I’m not sure that they will freeze well due to the cornstarch (although I haven’t had the opportunity to test this yet). To adjust the recipe down, simply change the number of servings in the recipe box below and it will auto-adjust the ingredient amounts for you.
Adjust the Sweetness
One more note about the type of apples used vs. the amount of sugar in the recipe. I used very ripe Fuji apples, which were fairly sweet with just a hint of tartness. If you use a very tart apple like Granny Smith, you’ll likely want to increase the sugar in the mix, but that’s going to depend on your personal preference.
Slow Cooker Hot Buttered Apples
Servings 6 1 cup eachIngredients
- 12 small apples* (about 2″ diameter) ($3.99)
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice ($0.05)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar ($0.04)
- 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon ($0.15)
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves ($0.05)
- 1 tsp vanilla ($0.28)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch ($0.18)
- 4 Tbsp butter ($0.52)
- 1/2 cup water ($0.00)
Instructions
- Peel and slice the apples, then place them in a slow cooker (4 quart or larger). Add the lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, salt, and cornstarch to the slow cooker, then stir to coat the apples in the spices.
- Divide the butter into pieces, then place the butter on top of the seasoned apples. Pour 1/2 cup water into the cooker down the side so that reaches the bottom without rinsing the spices from the apples.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker, set it to high heat, and cook for two hours. After two hours, stir the apples well, replace the lid, and cook for an additional one hour, then serve hot.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Slow Cooker Apples – Step by Step Photos
Peel and slice about 12 small apples (about 2-inch diameter) and place them in a slow cooker. For this amount of apples, you’ll probably want to use at least a 4 quart slow cooker.
Add 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp salt, and 3 Tbsp cornstarch to the slow cooker, then stir to coat the apples in the spices. Cut the butter into a few large chunks and place them on top of the apples. Carefully pour 1/2 cup water down the side wall of the cooker so the water reaches the bottom without washing the spices off the apples.
Place the lid on the slow cooker, set it to “high” and cook for two hours. After two hours, stir the apples, replace the lid, and cook for one more hour.
Then EAT! The reason I like these apples is because they are sweet but not so incredibly sweet that they can’t be use to top something healthy like a bowl of oatmeal. They’re about as sweet as applesauce, but with a deep richness from the butter and vanilla. SO GOOD.
This was a fail on many levels. The cloves overpowered it. The butter just made it greasy without adding flavour. The saltiness was off-putting.
After all that work and ingredients, I ate 1/2 bowl and chucked it.
I don’t often have an abject failure, but this was definitely one.
So I used Granny Smith and they turned to mush ☹️. I ended up with apple sauce. Do you think it was the type of apple or what? I feel like maybe it was too hot, although I followed the instructions. 2 hrs on high, stir, 1 hr.
Interesting! I’ve never had that happen, so I’m not sure. I wonder if freshness could also be an issue.
Hey, how much would you estimate those twelve apples weighed?
Best, Marie
Probably around four pounds?
Thanks for a great way to use the apples that are falling in abundance from my tree. Delicious recipe! So versatile too. I love it!
Could you leave all or some of the apples peeled?
The apples are peeled, so I’m unsure what you are asking. XOXO -Monti
I was wondering if you could leave them unpeeled (sorry, that typo made a huge difference).
Ahhh! That makes more sense! Hahahaha. Ok, leaving the peel on is entirely up to you and should not affect cooking time. Though it will affect the texture, as the peel does not break down. XOXO -Monti
Hey Monti, she probably meant unpeeled, and my answer to that is that the peels would really change the final texture – apple peels don’t soften when cooked as the flesh does. Wouldn’t be a total no-no and probably wouldn’t feel so great in your mouth, in my opinion!
Lol!! I just answered the same way!! Great minds. Thanks for being here. XOXO -Monti
Good recipe! Only gave 4 stars because mine was like applesauce before the three hours was up. Also possibly my fault. I only had about 8 apples instead of 12. Wished I had realized sooner that they might not need the whole 3. Maybe I should have stopped at 2 hours. They did seem soft then. Or perhaps I just cut them too thinly? Or my crockpot just runs hotter? Either way the flavor on my ‘applesauce’ was good. I had a little with ice cream. Need to try stirring it into oatmeal tomorrow. I’ll probably be back to try this one again sometime.
I just made a half-batch, and I regret nothing about my life at the moment. Mix of red apples from my farm share, I used wine instead of water (I have a half-open bottle that should go to good use), and a spice blend called Omar’s Indulgence from a spice seller named Auntie Awen (based in Connecticut) and they are amazing. The spice blend includes cardamom, Ceylon cinnamon, orange peel, ginger, and cloves for people who want to try some other options, and I threw in a bit of nutmeg, too.
(Ok, I do regret that I don’t have vanilla ice cream or yogurt or whipped cream to have with it, but that is fixable next time I do this. I think it’d be amazing on morning yogurt.)
Can these apples be canned. ?
If so water bath or pressure cooker
Unfortunately, I am not experienced with canning so I can’t advise.
You probably would be best to find a tested recipe for canning, and the cornstarch is considered a pre-canning no-no.
I have fixed this recipe multiple times for my family and now it’s probably the most requested item I cook.
My husband doesn’t love cloves. How potent is that flavor overall?
That’s hard to say objectively, but if he doesn’t like cloves I’d probably at least reduce the amount by half or even leave them out.
If anyone has ever had the fried apples at Cracker Barrel…I wondered how close this recipe would be. It’s quite close and I enjoyed these just as much as I enjoyed the fried apples!
I’m wanting to turn this into a pie, should I just reduce the Time in the crockpot so they aren’t overly done once in the oven?
I’ve made this before on its own And it’s amazing!
Sure, that would be a good solution. :) But I think they’d still hold up fine to baking in the pie, as-is. Kind of like how with canned apple pie filling the apples are already soft.
Do you use salted or unsalted butter for this recipe?
I use salted for all my recipes. :)
I am looking for the Slow Cooker Stuffed Apples recipe. Used to be found at https://www.budgetbytes.com/slow-cooker-stuffed-apples/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+BudgetBytes+(Budget+Bytes) Has it been removed?
Thank you!
Hi Hannah! I just emailed you a copy of that recipe to the email address you used to register this comment. If that’s not the right email, just reach out to us at support@budgetbytes.com and we can send it to you. :)
Oh my! I have made this twice now and it is super easy and tasty. So delicious.