Super Easy and Delicious Instant Pot Apple Butter
I am really into all of the apple desserts this year. I don’t know what it is but in the last couple months we have made apple pie, apple fritters, tons of applesauce and apparently that’s not enough. This week I took the applesauce one step further and made a beautiful caramely batch of apple butter in the Instant Pot and I am hooked!
So what is apple butter? Is it really butter at all? The answer to that is no--there is actually no butter in it at all. The name actually came about because of its soft and spreadable consistency. It is basically a really concentrated apple sauce that is caramelized, browned, has a medium thick consistency, is both sweet and tart, and as mentioned--it is very spreadable.
Making apple butter is the perfect way to use up the end of an apple harvest, or use up any apples that are starting to get a little softer and less desirable to munch on. It is super easy to make and has so many different uses.
Uses for Apple Butter:
I will say that this is not the fastest Instant Pot recipe by any means. It only cooks on the high pressure for 5 minutes and does a slow release pressure for 20 minutes at the end, but then this recipe has a particular step, which I believe is what makes it taste so great. After you puree it, you then sauté it for anywhere from 30-90 minutes, depending on how thick and caramelized you want your apple butter to end up.
That is a picture of my final product of 4 small Mason jars of apple butter. You can see the deep caramel color. I sautéed it after the pressure cooking, stirring occasionally for the full 90 minutes to give it a perfect thickness and deep caramel color. I froze 3 jars and can’t wait to pull them out during the rest of the year when I’m craving apple cinnamony things.
Have you ever made apple butter? What is one of your favorite ways to use up apples this time of year? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Instant Pot Apple Butter
5 pounds (2335g) your favorite apples (we used Organic Gala apples) quartered and cored (peeled or unpeeled) 2 (9g) cinnamon sticks ¼ cup (63 ml water) ½ teaspoon allspice, freshly ground ½ teaspoon (1 g) nutmeg ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional) ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt Optional: sweetener to taste (brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, or molasses) Directions:
1. Pressure Cook Apples: Place ½ tsp fine sea salt, ½ tsp allspice, ½ tsp nutmeg, 2 cinnamon sticks, ¼ cup water and 5 lbs quartered apples in the pressure cooker. Close the lid and pressure cook at High Pressure for 5 minutes, then 20 minutes Natural Release. Open the lid carefully.
2. Blend and Sweeten. Remove the two cinnamon sticks and blend the applesauce mixture into desired consistency with an immersion blender. Taste the applesauce mixture and add in fancy molasses or other sweetener for more sweetness (for reference, we added ¼ cup fancy molasses). Please adjust accordingly.
Make Apple Butter (Choose One Method):
1. Method One - Saute Less: Use Saute Less function (Instant Pot: Press Cancel and click Saute button once and click on adjust button twice to get to the Saute Less Function) to thicken the applesauce mixture until desired consistency and color. Roughly 30 minutes - 1 ½ hour. Stir occasionally. The applesauce mixture will splatter, so use a splatter guard, be very careful and wear a silicone mitt.
2. Method two - Slow Cook More: Use the Slow Cook More function with the lid off (Instant Pot: Press Cancel and Click Slow Cook button once and click on adjust button to get to the Slow Cook More Function) to thicken the applesauce mixture until desired consistency and color. Roughly 4 - 8 hours.
Recipe Notes: HOW TO THICKEN APPLE BUTTER: please take note that the apple butter will thicken up even more once chilled in the refrigerator.
5 pounds (2335g) your favorite apples (we used organic gala apples) quartered and cored (peeled or unpeeled)
2 (9g) cinnamon sticks
1/4 cup (63 ml water)
1/2 teaspoon allspice, freshly ground
1/2 teaspoon (1 g) nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
optional: sweetener to taste (brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, or molasses)
Directions:
Add Recipe to Cook'n
So what is apple butter? Is it really butter at all? The answer to that is no--there is actually no butter in it at all. The name actually came about because of its soft and spreadable consistency. It is basically a really concentrated apple sauce that is caramelized, browned, has a medium thick consistency, is both sweet and tart, and as mentioned--it is very spreadable.
Making apple butter is the perfect way to use up the end of an apple harvest, or use up any apples that are starting to get a little softer and less desirable to munch on. It is super easy to make and has so many different uses.
Uses for Apple Butter:
- SPREAD ON: toast, pancakes, waffles, biscuits...
- FLAVORING IN: yogurt, ice cream, marinade…
- SIDE DISH as a condiment for: pork loin or pork chops, cheeses, dips…
- FILLING: in baked goods like pie fillings, turnovers, muffins, etc...
- Peels On or Off? The choice is entirely up to you if you want to leave the skins on or peel them beforehand. After you puree everything, there really isn’t much of a difference in taste at all, so you can leave them on for more fiber and micronutrients. (Not to mention that is the easier way to go ;) )
- Half Batch Applesauce--Half Batch Apple Butter. I love how fast applesauce cooks up in a pressure cooker with such tiny effort and one of my favorite parts is getting to fill the home with all the great apple cinnamon smells we love so much. This recipe gives you quite a big batch of apple butter so something you could consider is splitting it into half a batch of applesauce and use the rest to thicken up and make apple butter. I will note, though, that the applesauce turns out better and more desirable for kids when the skins are off. After your apple butter is done doing the pressure cook time, use a potato masher to mash the apples to your desired applesauce consistency and store half in jars in the fridge.
I will say that this is not the fastest Instant Pot recipe by any means. It only cooks on the high pressure for 5 minutes and does a slow release pressure for 20 minutes at the end, but then this recipe has a particular step, which I believe is what makes it taste so great. After you puree it, you then sauté it for anywhere from 30-90 minutes, depending on how thick and caramelized you want your apple butter to end up.
That is a picture of my final product of 4 small Mason jars of apple butter. You can see the deep caramel color. I sautéed it after the pressure cooking, stirring occasionally for the full 90 minutes to give it a perfect thickness and deep caramel color. I froze 3 jars and can’t wait to pull them out during the rest of the year when I’m craving apple cinnamony things.
Have you ever made apple butter? What is one of your favorite ways to use up apples this time of year? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Instant Pot Apple Butter
5 pounds (2335g) your favorite apples (we used Organic Gala apples) quartered and cored (peeled or unpeeled) 2 (9g) cinnamon sticks ¼ cup (63 ml water) ½ teaspoon allspice, freshly ground ½ teaspoon (1 g) nutmeg ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional) ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt Optional: sweetener to taste (brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, or molasses) Directions:
1. Pressure Cook Apples: Place ½ tsp fine sea salt, ½ tsp allspice, ½ tsp nutmeg, 2 cinnamon sticks, ¼ cup water and 5 lbs quartered apples in the pressure cooker. Close the lid and pressure cook at High Pressure for 5 minutes, then 20 minutes Natural Release. Open the lid carefully.
2. Blend and Sweeten. Remove the two cinnamon sticks and blend the applesauce mixture into desired consistency with an immersion blender. Taste the applesauce mixture and add in fancy molasses or other sweetener for more sweetness (for reference, we added ¼ cup fancy molasses). Please adjust accordingly.
Make Apple Butter (Choose One Method):
1. Method One - Saute Less: Use Saute Less function (Instant Pot: Press Cancel and click Saute button once and click on adjust button twice to get to the Saute Less Function) to thicken the applesauce mixture until desired consistency and color. Roughly 30 minutes - 1 ½ hour. Stir occasionally. The applesauce mixture will splatter, so use a splatter guard, be very careful and wear a silicone mitt.
2. Method two - Slow Cook More: Use the Slow Cook More function with the lid off (Instant Pot: Press Cancel and Click Slow Cook button once and click on adjust button to get to the Slow Cook More Function) to thicken the applesauce mixture until desired consistency and color. Roughly 4 - 8 hours.
Recipe Notes: HOW TO THICKEN APPLE BUTTER: please take note that the apple butter will thicken up even more once chilled in the refrigerator.
Instant Pot Apple Butter
Serving size: 20
Calories per serving: 18
Ingredients:
Calories per serving: 18
5 pounds (2335g) your favorite apples (we used organic gala apples) quartered and cored (peeled or unpeeled)
2 (9g) cinnamon sticks
1/4 cup (63 ml water)
1/2 teaspoon allspice, freshly ground
1/2 teaspoon (1 g) nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
optional: sweetener to taste (brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, or molasses)
Directions:
1. Pressure Cook Apples: Place ½ tsp fine sea salt, ½ tsp allspice, ½ tsp nutmeg, 2 cinnamon sticks, ¼ cup water and 5 lbs quartered apples in the pressure cooker. Close the lid and pressure cook at High Pressure for 5 minutes, then 20 minutes Natural Release. Open the lid carefully.
2. Blend and Sweeten. Remove the two cinnamon sticks and blend the applesauce mixture into desired consistency with an immersion blender. Taste the applesauce mixture and add in fancy molasses or other sweetener for more sweetness (for reference, we added ¼ cup fancy molasses). Please adjust accordingly.
Make Apple Butter (Choose One Method):
1. Method One - Saute Less: Use Saute Less function (Instant Pot: Press Cancel and click Saute button once and click on adjust button twice to get to the Saute Less Function) to thicken the applesauce mixture until desired consistency and color. Roughly 30 minutes - 1 ½ hour. Stir occasionally. The applesauce mixture will splatter, so use a splatter guard, be very careful and wear a silicone mitt.
2. Method two - Slow Cook More: Use the Slow Cook More function with the lid off (Instant Pot: Press Cancel and Click Slow Cook button once and click on adjust button to get to the Slow Cook More Function) to thicken the applesauce mixture until desired consistency and color. Roughly 4 - 8 hours.
Recipe Notes: HOW TO THICKEN APPLE BUTTER: please take note that the apple butter will thicken up even more once chilled in the refrigerator.
2. Blend and Sweeten. Remove the two cinnamon sticks and blend the applesauce mixture into desired consistency with an immersion blender. Taste the applesauce mixture and add in fancy molasses or other sweetener for more sweetness (for reference, we added ¼ cup fancy molasses). Please adjust accordingly.
Make Apple Butter (Choose One Method):
1. Method One - Saute Less: Use Saute Less function (Instant Pot: Press Cancel and click Saute button once and click on adjust button twice to get to the Saute Less Function) to thicken the applesauce mixture until desired consistency and color. Roughly 30 minutes - 1 ½ hour. Stir occasionally. The applesauce mixture will splatter, so use a splatter guard, be very careful and wear a silicone mitt.
2. Method two - Slow Cook More: Use the Slow Cook More function with the lid off (Instant Pot: Press Cancel and Click Slow Cook button once and click on adjust button to get to the Slow Cook More Function) to thicken the applesauce mixture until desired consistency and color. Roughly 4 - 8 hours.
Recipe Notes: HOW TO THICKEN APPLE BUTTER: please take note that the apple butter will thicken up even more once chilled in the refrigerator.
Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.
Sources:
- www.pressurecookrecipes.com
Mary Richardson
Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2014
Email the author! mary@dvo.com
