Apple Butter

157 Ratings
  • 5 36
  • 4 49
  • 3 43
  • 2 24
  • 1 4

Chevy Chase helps Martha make a healthy school lunch for kids using seasonal fruit: apple butter.

The Martha Stewart Show, September Fall 2007, The Martha Stewart Show, September September Fall Fall 2007 2007

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Read the full recipe after the video.

Recipe Summary

Yield:
Makes about 1 1/2 cups
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Ingredients

Directions

  • In a Dutch oven over medium heat, melt butter and add apples. Cook apples until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Add cider, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer. Let simmer, partially covered and stirring occasionally, until soft, about 30 minutes.

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  • Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Mash softened apples with a potato masher. Remove from heat and add lemon juice, lemon zest, and cinnamon. Using an immersion blender, puree mixture until smooth.

  • Pour apple mixture evenly into a baking dish. Transfer to oven and bake, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced, about 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Let cool before serving. Apple butter may be kept, refrigerated in an airtight container, up to 5 days.

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Reviews (6)

157 Ratings
  • 5 36
  • 4 49
  • 3 43
  • 2 24
  • 1 4
Martha Stewart Member
10/28/2017
I really wanted this to work out. This recipe absolutely does not work as written. After 3.5 hours in the oven, it comes out as applesauce. I had to dump the ingredients in the slow cooker and after 13 hours on low then another 2 on high, it's still not there yet but I thoroughly give up. It smells good, it tastes pretty good and as much as I'd love to make my own, man, I am not spending that much time, gas, and electricity to end up with less than 16 oz. of apple butter. That's not even done yet. It'd be cheaper just buy it instead.
Martha Stewart Member
12/09/2013
This apple butter is delicious in the end, but it was a two day process. I doubled the recipe and cooked it in the oven in two baking pans, stirring as the directions suggest. After 5 hours, the apple butter had thickened, but not enough. I covered it and put it in the fridge. The next day, it took another 5 hours to thicken to the right spreadable consistency. Six and a half pounds of apples resulted in 16 oz of apple butter. It's yummy, but I wish I produced at least twice as much!
Martha Stewart Member
08/28/2012
The directions need an edit. After baking 3 hours, mine still resembled applesauce. If you watch the video, Martha clearly states to leave it in the oven overnight to finish reducing. Mine was much thicker in the morning, but my oven had turned off and there was a skin over the top of the butter due to not being stirred all night.
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Martha Stewart Member
04/27/2011
Could this be made in a crockpot.? Also could this be processed in jars to keep?
Martha Stewart Member
02/23/2011
Dear Hk5 - I think that sometimes it's enough to make something from scratch in this day
Martha Stewart Member
10/24/2008
No--none of these are old-fashioned apple butter. Nor is almost anything else online. This is our year for making apple butter again and after looking to see what tips are out there, it's clear that no one is making it the way it SHOULD be made. We use a 15 and 20-gallon copper kettle, prep the apples the day before, then cook the apples over an open fire all day, stirring to get just the right texture, adding a family recipe of sugar and spices. This makes a beautiful dark, thick apple butter--perfect for homemade bread
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