Oven-Baked Apple Butter
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Baked Apple Butter is sweet thick ultra smooth preserve which you can use just as you would a jam or even serve in place of apple sauce with roast pork or sausages. The apples are stewed in cider, brandy, honey and spices then blended and baked slowly in a low oven to reduce and reduce for the most intensely thick and rich apple sauce that is the ultimate Autumn preserve.
Baked Apple Butter is the perfect choice for a glut of apples. It is best working with a large amount of the fruit as thanks to the slow baking the sauce is reduced quite a bit so you want to make sure all your efforts yield a good amount.
I’ve got all the information you need to make this apple butter easily, from the type of English apple to choose, to exact weights of prepared apple, how to sterilise and fill your jars and then how to process your filled jars for long-term storage.
You can use apple butter in so many ways, which I’ve given you many examples of below and you’ll love this recipe if you are a home preserver, a baker who enjoys using homemade and unusual ingredients or a seasonal cook who loves levelling up dinner with just the right condiment.
What is Apple Butter?
I used to sell this Apple Butter at my market stall and it’s not a very ubiquitous preserve in the UK so I was always asked lots of questions about it. It’s intensely concentrated smooth apple sauce which has been reduced and thickened by long slow cooking in the oven (in this case but you can use the slow cooker) with sugar, spices and apple cider (again, in this case, some recipes are alcohol free).
It is a cross between apple sauce and an apple jam. It doesn’t have as much sugar as jam and so you either need to refrigerate or process in a water-bath the same as you would apple sauce.
Oh, and there’s no dairy in it. It’s called ‘butter’ due to the thick texture which you can easily spread.
Why You’ll Love This Apple Butter
- This apple butter is baked in the oven which intensifies the flavour and almost caramelizes.
- Sweetly luxurious tangy flavour, very rich with warm spices, cider and brandy.
- Gorgeously thick texture which you can use to spread on your favourite breakfast bread, use as a jam to fill cakes or make buttercreams or even bake into desserts.
Ingredients Needed
Apples. I usually make this recipe with windfall apples so the flavour and variety can vary depending on who is gifting them to me. However, I do recommend a mix of cooking and eating apples for a balanced result which isn’t too sweet and has a good tang. Therefore Bramleys and Cox’s Pippin are my choice if I’m deliberately choosing a variety. You want apples which break down well (so not Granny Smiths) to give a good texture.
Apple cider. Choose a good dry brand. Apple cider is naturally gluten-free but still, always check the labels as you never know when cross contamination will occur in certain products. Look for brands displaying the Coeliac UK Crossed Grain symbol.
Brandy. It gives a luxurious flavour to the apple butter.
Dark brown soft sugar. It gives a lovely gentle molasses flavour to the finished preserve.
Honey. You don’t need to use a treasured local blend but do choose honey from a good provenance so it has the best flavour.
Spices. This recipe uses rich blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves which are essential for beautiful Autumnal flavours.
Salt. I like to use kosher salt in my baking as it has a round gentle flavour. Using salt in your baked goods lifts and sharpens all the other flavours.
Black pepper. This just adds a gentle kick to your Apple Butter. It’s barely noticeable.
How To Make Oven-Baked Apple Butter
For full recipe instructions go to the recipe card at the end of this post.
Peel and core the apples then place in a saucepan with the rest of the ingredients.
Bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the apples have softened. Use an immersion blender to make it really smooth.
Bake the apple puree in a low oven for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes.
Blend the sauce again. An immersion blender is fine but you could also pour into a stand blender for ultra smooth apple butter. Decant into sterilised jars.
Sterilising jars & lids
Always used sterilised jars and lids so you can ensure safe storage. You don’t want to mess with bacteria production. Your jars can be ones that have been used before, provided they have been spotlessly cleaned. However, I recommend always using new lids which you can buy in packs online. Lids have a tendency to spoil even after one usage so new fresh lids will ensure safe storage.
The foolproof way to sterilise your jars is to place them in an oven pre-heated to 160°C / 140°C fan assisted / gas mark 3 / 320°F for 20 minutes.
Sterilise your lids a different way. Place them in a saucepan of boiling water with a splash of vinegar (which ensures the lids don’t discolour) for 10 minutes. Don’t sterilise in the oven as they can warp.
Hot-fill
The jars should be fresh out of the oven and still hot when you decant the hot apple buttr into them. This helps to prevent cracking and ensures a tight safe seal on the lids.
Fill the jars to about 1 cm (½ inch) from the top. Wipe the rims with a damp clean cloth then seal with the sterilised lids.
Storing
Once you’ve ladled the apple butter into the sterilised jars you should at once label and date.
For short-term storage you can keep the apple butter chilled in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks.
For longer-term storage you need to either freeze (in which case you need to make sure there is 2cm headroom in your jars) or process the jars in a boiling-water bath. This way your apple butter is shelf-stable for 6-12 months.
Water-bath process
Equipment needed: Large preserving pan, wire trivet (or clean tea towel), jar lifter.
Place a tea towel or wire trivet in the bottom of your pan so your filled jars do not touch the bottom of the pan. Fill the preserving pan with water and 2 teaspoons of vinegar. Bring to the boil, it should be at a rolling boil for a good 15 minutes before you add your jars.
Submerge your jars into the water bath so that they are covered by, at least, an inch of water and sitting upright on the tea towel or trivet. Place the lid on the preserving pan and keep the water at a rolling boil for 15 minutes.
Remove the jars with a jar lifter and leave them undisturbed in a safe place until they have cooled down completely. Test the lids to make sure they have been sealed and don’t pop up when pressed.
READ MORE >>> Water Bath Processing
Tips and Troubleshooting
Cut out any bruised part of the apple, the apple butter needs fresh undamaged fruit.
If you have a food mill then you don't need to peel or core the apples before you soften them as you can pass them through the food mill and remove all the rubbish. A real time saver. You do this before adding to the other ingredients. Do note though that this means you won't have a chance to pick through your cut apples in case of bugs or bruises. It all goes in the mix.
Blender. You don’t have to use an immersion blender (often called a stick blender) but it’s much easier and cleaner than using a stand blender. Either works though.
The apple butter is ready when it’s thick, jammy and caramelised.
You add vinegar to the water when you are sterilising the lids and for the water bath to ensure they stay clear and clean, otherwise the boiling water can give them an unattractive film.
Make sure the filled jars of apple butter are hot when they go into the water bath. The water bath takes 15 minutes to ensure the right temperature so start preparing the water bath as you are waiting for the apple butter to finish cooking in the oven.
Suggested Equipment: Large cast iron pot (dutch oven), immersion blender, 190ml glass jars, jam/chutney funnel, wire rack, jar lifter
FAQs
You can make apple butter without any alcohol. Omit the apple cider and the brandy and instead add 300ml water to help cook down the apples. It won’t be as saucy so may not need as much time in the oven. You can keep checking every 30 minutes whether it has reached the desired consistency.
The apple butter is ready when it scoops heavily out of the pan. It should have a caramelised top to it, which you will blend into the apple butter. It takes a couple of hours in the oven with frequent stirring and will be thick enough to spread.
Yes, the quantity of sugar and alcohol is not enough to preserve this apple butter for long term storage. You need to process the filled and sealed jars for 15 minutes in a water bath for safety. Or store in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks.
Once the jar has been opened then you need to keep in the refrigerator and use within 2 weeks.
If the lid from the jar has popped after months in your larder that means that there is no longer a vacuum and air can get into the jar. This can happen during long term storage and it’s best to discard these jars at this point.
If mould has appeared in the apple butter then you must discard the whole jar. Scraping the mould off the top won’t cut it as mould has long invisible tendrils which will have travelled down the jar, the whole jar has been spoiled at this point.
Favourite Uses for Apple Butter
- On hot buttered toast, crumpets, English muffins.
- Swirled into yoghurt, porridge, rice pudding.
- Served with this Glazed Christmas Ham or roast pork and crackling for your Sunday lunch.
- Use it as a glaze for pork chops, gammon or sausages.
- Spread generously within a cheese toastie.
- Eaten direct from the jar with a teaspoon (dessert spoon!).
- Use it to accompany your cheeseboard – it’s delicious with a mature cheddar and oatcakes.
- But Baked Apple Butter is also a wonderful baking ingredient. You can use it to make Apple Butter Cake, Apple Butter Muffins or as the filling in a Victoria Sandwich.
More Autumnal Preserves You’ll Love
Pumpkin Jam makes the most out of squash season, lusciously smooth, sweet and rich with savoury pumpkin notes and scented lightly with vanilla and nutmeg for a comforting Autumn preserve.
Pear Jam is one of my favourites to make during Autumn when your pear tree is bursting at the seams and jamable fruits are few and far between. Sweet and fragrant with soft vanilla this jam makes the most of the delicate flavour of pear.
This Easy Homemade Apple Ginger Chutney is a quick and easy sweetly spiced chutney. It’s perfect with cheese, on crackers, with pork pies or served up with cold meats to accompany a buffet table.
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Oven-Baked Apple Butter
Ingredients
- 2.5 kg apples
- 500 ml apple cider
- 175 g dark brown soft sugar
- 125 g honey
- 75 ml brandy
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Peel, core and dice the apples then weigh again. You need between 1700-1750g diced apple. Add more apple if you don’t have enough.
- Place the diced apples in a saucepan with the rest of the ingredients and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the apples have softened (about 20 minutes).
- Meanwhile pre-heat the oven to 170°C / 150°C fan assisted / gas mark 3.5 / 335°F.
- Remove the apples from the heat and use an immersion blender to blend the cooked apples with the cooking liquid.
- Pour the blended apple puree into a large roasting tray, so the puree is about 2 inches thick and bake fo rtwo hours until extremely thick. Remove the roasting pan out of the oven every 30 minutes to stir.
- When the apple butter is ready use the immersion blender again to blend the thickened apple butter to smooth out the final result then spoon into sterilized jars.
- You can either store the apple butter in the fridge for between 3-4 weeks or you can process the filled jars so they are shelf stable by sealing them in a water-bath. Then the jars can be kept for 6-12 months in a cool dark place.
Water-Bath Processing
- Place a tea towel or wire trivet in the bottom of your pan so your filled jars do not touch the bottom of the pan.
- Fill the preserving pan with water and 2 teaspoons vinegar. Bring to the boil, it should be at a rolling boil for a good 15 minutes before you add your jars.
- Submerge your jars into the water bath so that they are covered by, at least, an inch of water and sitting upright on the tea towel or trivet.
- Place the lid on the preserving pan and keep the water at a rolling boil for 15 minutes.
- Remove the jars with jar tongs and leave them undisturbed in a safe place until they have cooled down completely. Test the lids to make sure they have been sealed and don’t pop up when pressed.
Just finished making the apple butter for the first time. I'm now a complete fan, the flavours are amazing. Looking forward to eating this. I used the water bath to help keep this fresh but I don't think it'll last long in my house.
That's great - I'm so happy you enjoyed the apple butter!
Delicious. It was surprisingly easy to make and made wonderful scents in my kitchen when it was roasting!
I know - the smell as it's cooking is incredible!
Apple butter is such an underrated fall treat, and I love that you're a fellow fan! This looks so darn amazing... can't wait to spread this on a warm biscuit or pancake!
I know Karly, it's really signals the beginning of the run up to the holiday season for me and every year I'm so excited to make it.