Apple Butter from Applesauce Crock Pot Recipe - Cleverly Simple (2024)

FAQs

Why is my apple butter so watery? ›

Apple butter will thicken as it cools, so don't worry if it still looks a little runny in the slow cooker! If you still need to thicken your apple butter, you can continue to cook it uncovered in your crock pot or simmer it on the stove.

Puree them with an immersion blender or put everything into a blender and then put the puree back into the crock pot. Taste and adjust the spices/sugar. Cook on low with the lid slightly ajar for a few more hours or until the apple butter is as thick as you'd like it to be (I did another 5-6 hours).

Epicurious has three great options for upgrading store-bought sauce—including the old standby of adding your own cinnamon—but the easiest way to get some extra seasonal flavor in there is to drizzle in real maple syrup. If you want a sauce that's sweet and a bit sour, add a splash of apple cider vinegar in there too.

Mix up a few different varieties for the best flavor; Fuji and Golden Delicious are popular softer varietals for apple butter that taste great together. Braeburn, Corland and Idared are great choices too.

During the slow cooking, the sugars that are naturally present in the apples caramelize into a deep, molasses-like flavor, and a dark color. This gives the apple butter its rich, sweet flavor and dark brown hue.

In the original farm operation, apple butter was boiled down in open iron kettles and stirred with wooden paddles. This type of cook tended to darken the product by oxidation and to caramelize some of the sugar solids both of which imparted a traditional color and flavor to the apple butter.

Apples, however, won't soften as much as you need them to by the time the jam is done, so you must cook the apples until very soft first, then purée them. This purée, cooked with sugar, is what makes a fruit butter — and apples are often or always preserved this way.

As we mentioned, flour and cornstarch are the most popular ingredients used to thicken butter sauce for pasta. After you've heated your butter and water combo in your skillet, turn your heat down so nothing scorches as you work in the dry ingredients. Then slowly whisk in your flour or cornstarch.

It also may be that the kettle was not well seasoned allowing the apple butter to make more contact with the metal of the pot. There is no way to remove the metallic taste or the metallic elements from the finished product.

Try sprinkling it with warming spices like cinnamon, ginger, allspice, or pumpkin pie spice. Or mix in a dash of vanilla extract. If you're making it from scratch, try simmering the sauce with berries or peaches.

What thickens applesauce? ›

The apples begin to break down and more importantly, they release pectin. The pectin will help thicken the applesauce once it cools. Once ready, stir well with a wooden spoon and the apples will just fall apart and the texture will get smooth. Once cooled, store in fridge for 5 days or freeze for 3 months.

Adding sugar to applesauce is optional…. However, lemon juice is not an optional addition. Lemon juice is added to help preserve the apples' natural colour and to assure the acidity of the finished product, since different varieties and harvesting conditions can produce apples of lower acidity.”

Firm-textured and sweet-tart, the Empire is a fine all-purpose apple good for juice, sauce, pies, baking, salads, eating fresh, and drying.

For a basic applesauce, use McIntosh and Golden Delicious apples. Golden Delicious is a soft apple variety with a mellow flavor, so it cooks down easily and provides a great foundation for your applesauce. McIntosh apples are slightly tart and crisp, but soften easily, making them a stellar choice for pies and sauces.

The best way to thicken runny apple pie filling before baking it is to add some cornstarch, tapioca starch, or flour to your mix. To fix a runny pie that's already been baked, simply let it cool to see if it will congeal naturally. If not, you can stick it back in the oven for a bit longer.

Skip the Thickener

Adding a few tablespoons of thickener is absolutely necessary to keep your apple pie filling from turning into apple soup. Flour is most commonly used, although it does leave a slight cloud over the filling. Alternatives include cornstarch, quick-cooking tapioca, and apple jelly.

The apples could be larger than usual, or you might not have had the heat on the stovetop high enough or left the sauce to stew for long enough. The same holds true for many other sauces (apples aside), but don't despair because there are many ways to thicken the sauce.

Strain your puree, if necessary, to remove seeds, bits of peel, or any lumps. Put the smooth puree back into a clean pan, add lemon juice, and continue to cook, stirring often, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Cool and then refrigerate. It will thicken further as it chills.