Crockpot Apple Butter for Home Canning
A tested hot-pack apple butter recipe for boiling-water canning, with 1/4-inch headspace and altitude-adjusted processing for half-pint, pint, and quart jars.
By: Cottage Kitchen Finder October 16, 2026
- Category: Budget-Friendly, Canning Recipes, Fall Harvest, Pantry Staples
- Season: Fall
- Preservation method: water_bath
- Prep: Not specified by source
- Cook: Cook to the tested doneness signs
- Total: Varies
- Servings: About 9 to 10 pints
Ingredients
8 lb apples
2 cups apple cider
2 cups vinegar (the NCHFP Apple Butter page does not specify vinegar type or acidity)
2 1/4 cups white sugar
2 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp ground cloves
2 cups apple cider
2 cups vinegar (the NCHFP Apple Butter page does not specify vinegar type or acidity)
2 1/4 cups white sugar
2 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp ground cloves
Directions
Choose Jonathan, Winesap, Stayman, Golden Delicious, McIntosh, or another flavorful apple variety. Wash the apples, remove stems, then quarter and core the fruit.
Cook the apples slowly in the measured apple cider and vinegar until soft. This draft follows the tested stovetop-style direction and does not claim that a slow-cooker modification is laboratory tested.
Press the cooked fruit through a colander, food mill, or strainer.
Cook the fruit pulp with both sugars, cinnamon, and cloves, stirring frequently.
Test for doneness by removing a spoonful and holding it away from the steam for 2 minutes. The apple butter is ready if it remains mounded on the spoon. As an alternate test, spoon a small amount onto a plate; it is ready when no rim of liquid separates around the edge.
Hot pack: fill the hot apple butter into sterile half-pint or pint jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. NCHFP states that quart jars need not be presterilized. Adjust lids.
Process in a boiling-water canner. Half-pints or pints: 5 minutes at 0-1,000 ft; 10 minutes at 1,001-6,000 ft; 15 minutes above 6,000 ft. Quarts: 10 minutes at 0-1,000 ft; 15 minutes at 1,001-6,000 ft; 20 minutes above 6,000 ft.
Follow NCHFP boiling-water-canner procedures. Keep the tested ingredient quantities, jar sizes, 1/4-inch headspace, hot-pack method, and altitude-adjusted processing times unchanged.
Cook the apples slowly in the measured apple cider and vinegar until soft. This draft follows the tested stovetop-style direction and does not claim that a slow-cooker modification is laboratory tested.
Press the cooked fruit through a colander, food mill, or strainer.
Cook the fruit pulp with both sugars, cinnamon, and cloves, stirring frequently.
Test for doneness by removing a spoonful and holding it away from the steam for 2 minutes. The apple butter is ready if it remains mounded on the spoon. As an alternate test, spoon a small amount onto a plate; it is ready when no rim of liquid separates around the edge.
Hot pack: fill the hot apple butter into sterile half-pint or pint jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. NCHFP states that quart jars need not be presterilized. Adjust lids.
Process in a boiling-water canner. Half-pints or pints: 5 minutes at 0-1,000 ft; 10 minutes at 1,001-6,000 ft; 15 minutes above 6,000 ft. Quarts: 10 minutes at 0-1,000 ft; 15 minutes at 1,001-6,000 ft; 20 minutes above 6,000 ft.
Follow NCHFP boiling-water-canner procedures. Keep the tested ingredient quantities, jar sizes, 1/4-inch headspace, hot-pack method, and altitude-adjusted processing times unchanged.
Nutrition
Not provided by the NCHFP source.
Safety notes
Tested source: National Center for Home Food Preservation, Apple Butter, adapted from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning (Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539, revised 2015).
Yield: about 9 to 10 pints.
Use only half-pint, pint, or quart canning jars and leave 1/4-inch headspace. Pack the product hot and process it in a boiling-water canner using the altitude table in the directions.
Sterilization: the NCHFP recipe specifically directs sterile half-pint or pint jars and states that quart jars need not be presterilized.
Vinegar acidity: the cited NCHFP Apple Butter page lists 2 cups vinegar but does not specify vinegar type or an acidity percentage. This CKF draft intentionally does not add an unsupported 5% claim or permit a substitution.
This is the tested NCHFP preparation and canning method. A Crock-Pot or slow-cooker cooking variation is not presented as laboratory tested.
Read NCHFP Using Boiling Water Canners before beginning; first-time canners should also read Principles of Home Canning.
Yield: about 9 to 10 pints.
Use only half-pint, pint, or quart canning jars and leave 1/4-inch headspace. Pack the product hot and process it in a boiling-water canner using the altitude table in the directions.
Sterilization: the NCHFP recipe specifically directs sterile half-pint or pint jars and states that quart jars need not be presterilized.
Vinegar acidity: the cited NCHFP Apple Butter page lists 2 cups vinegar but does not specify vinegar type or an acidity percentage. This CKF draft intentionally does not add an unsupported 5% claim or permit a substitution.
This is the tested NCHFP preparation and canning method. A Crock-Pot or slow-cooker cooking variation is not presented as laboratory tested.
Read NCHFP Using Boiling Water Canners before beginning; first-time canners should also read Principles of Home Canning.
Source: National Center for Home Food Preservation tested Apple Butter formulation; adapted from USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, revised 2015
