Make use of the abundance of apples in this fall weather to make and store some Apple Butter made easily in the Instant Pot. This Instant Pot Apple Butter gets done with minimal supervision and stores well in the refrigerator and freezer.
A few weeks ago, when apples were just ripe for picking, we went Apple Picking and came back home with over 20 lbs of delicious honey crisp apples. Washington state is after all the largest producer of apple and its a shame that it took us 10 years of living here to finally go get some apples to ourselves.
We picked a small farm near us in Snohomish, The Farm at Swans Trail and I was following them closely to see when they would announce the dates for apple picking. They had Honey Crisp and Gala to pick along with some Jonagolds that they just decided that morning to allow for picking. I personally love HoneyCrisps for their sweet and tart flavor and we didnt want to end up with apples that we were unsure if they were ripe or not, as was the case with the Jonagolds.
Not only was it a lot of fun for us as a family, we also got to enjoy some of the best Apple Cider Donuts. They were crispy and soft and oh so delicious, all at the same time, that I am now on a quest to replicate those at home.
So, in order to make sure that all those 20+ lbs of apples did not get wasted, I mean there is only so much we could eat just like that, I decided to put the Instant Pot to good use and make us some Instant Pot Apple Butter.
What kind of apples are good for making apple butter?
Pretty much any kind of apples. I personally might steer clear of Granny Smiths just because they might be too tart and will need a lot of extra sugar. But if that is your thing, then that is fine too.
Can I make Apple Butter without any added sugar?
Yes, absolutely!! If you use the sweet varieties of apples like Gala, Fuji or Red Delicious, you may not need to add any sugar at all.
What is the difference between Apple Sauce and Apple Butter?
Apple sauce is cooked apple puree with spices, where as apple butter is sort of caramelized apple sauce. It is cooked down even further to get rid of more moisture to form a smooth, buttery spread.
What can I use apple butter for?
You can use it as a spread on toast or waffles or pancakes. You can put it on a fall cheese platter to spread on crackers and eat with cheese. You can even just eat it like that, because it is that delicious.
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Apple Butter
Ingredients
- 3-4 lbs apples I used 4 extra large honeycrisp apples
- ½ cup apple cider
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ cup sugar
Instructions
- Core the apples and slice. You can keep the peel on.
- Add the apple slices, apple cider, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and cardamom to the inner pot liner of the Instant Pot.
- Close the Instant Pot. Put the sealing pin in sealing position. Press Manual and adjust time to 15 mins on high pressure.
- Once done, let the pressure release naturally. Watch for the pin near the sealing pin to fall down. Move the seal to release and open the Instant Pot.
- Using an immersion blender, blend the cooked apples and spices to form apple sauce. You can also pour this out to a blender, blend and pour it back in to the Instant Pot liner.
- Add the sugar, mix well and press saute on the Instant Pot. Set the saute to low. Let it cook down, stirring every 5-10 mins or so, for about an hour. The color will change slightly to a darker shade and the sauce will thicken to become apple butter. There is no set consistency to it, you can make it as thick or not thick and closer to apple sauce consistency, as per your personal preference.
- You can store in glass bottles in the refrigerator for about 10 days to two weeks or freeze in small quantities to use later.
Nutrition
If you love this, here are some other Instant Pot Recipes that you might like:
Instant Pot Vegetable Masala Rice
And you can find some of our favorite fall and apple recipes here - Fall Recipes
Love this recipe? Pin it to your favorite Fall Recipes board. You can follow this Fall Recipes board for more such deliciousness.
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