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Slow Cooker Crabapple Butter

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A rich, smooth fruit butter that transforms tart crabapples into a concentrated sweet-tart spread with warm spices. The slow cooker handles most of the work while developing deep apple flavor.

Ingredients

  • Fresh crabapples
  • Water or apple cider
  • Granulated sugar or brown sugar
  • Ground cinnamon
  • Ground nutmeg
  • Ground cloves
  • Ground allspice, optional
  • Fresh lemon juice
  • Vanilla extract, optional
  • Pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. Wash the crabapples thoroughly and remove the stems and damaged areas. Cut larger fruit into halves or quarters. Either remove the cores and seeds before cooking or plan to remove them with a food mill after cooking.
  2. Place the prepared crabapples in the slow cooker and add a small amount of water or apple cider. Cover and cook on high for 2 to 3 hours, or until the fruit is extremely soft.
  3. If the crabapples were cooked with their cores, process the softened fruit through a food mill to separate the edible pulp from the seeds, cores, and tough pieces of skin. If the fruit was cored before cooking, puree it with an immersion blender until smooth.
  4. Return the crabapple puree to the slow cooker. Stir in the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, optional allspice, lemon juice, and salt. Taste and adjust the sweetness according to the tartness of the fruit.
  5. Cook on low for another 6 to 8 hours, stirring occasionally. During the final portion of cooking, position the lid slightly ajar to allow moisture to escape if permitted by the slow cooker manufacturer. Continue cooking until dark, concentrated, and thick enough to hold its shape on a spoon.
  6. For an especially silky consistency, carefully blend the finished crabapple butter again. Stir in vanilla extract if desired.
  7. Allow the crabapple butter to cool slightly before transferring it to clean airtight containers. Refrigerate or freeze for storage.

Notes

  • Do not intentionally crush, puree, or consume crabapple seeds. Core the fruit before cooking or use a food mill after cooking to separate the seeds and cores from the edible pulp.
  • The amount of sugar can be adjusted because crabapple varieties vary considerably in tartness.
  • Cooking time and final yield will vary according to the moisture content of the fruit and the slow cooker used.
  • For maple crabapple butter, replace some of the sugar with pure maple syrup. Regular sweet apples can also be combined with particularly tart crabapples.
  • Refrigerate cooled crabapple butter in clean airtight containers and use within about 1 to 2 weeks.
  • For longer storage, freeze in freezer-safe containers with room for expansion and thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
  • This recipe should not be treated as instructions for shelf-stable canning. For pantry storage, use a current tested apple-butter canning recipe and processing method from a trusted food-preservation authority.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://thefamilycooking.com/slow-cooker-crabapple-butter/