Crabapple Recipe: Slow Cooker Apple Butter - Champagne Tastes®

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Jump to Recipe Save Recipe Saved! This crabapple recipe uses the small, tart apples and turns them into a delicious batch of slow cooker apple butter.

This crabapple recipe uses the small, tart apples and turns them into a delicious batch of slow cooker apple butter.

This crabapple recipe uses small, tart crabapples and turns them into a delicious batch of slow cooker apple butter.

crabapple recipe: apple butter spread onto biscuits

This spring, the crabapple tree near our apartment was loaded with blossoms-- and I got excited.

Last year's harvest was disappointing-- nonexistent-- but I knew that the blossoms were a very good sign.

And sure enough, as spring turned into summer, those blossoms dropped away...

Revealing ever-so-tiny apples beginning to grow.

Finally, as the summer heat beat down on the pretty little tree, the apples were ready.

We grabbed our stepladders and buckets, and started picking!

This crabapple recipe is for slow cooker apple butter, and is a perfect way to turn tart crabapples into a delicious breakfast spread.

Want more PLANT HARVESTING + GARDEN TO TABLE recipe ideas? TryHoneysuckle Vodka, Honeysuckle Simple Syrup, Pine Needle Tea, Catnip Tea, and Citronella Plant Simple Syrup

What is a Crabapple?

The term crabapple refers to a wide variety of small, wild apples that are generally 2 inches in diameter or smaller.

Some crabapple trees are simply ornamental, without fruit or with very tiny fruit, but others grow small, tart apples.

It should be easy to identify a crabapple tree, because you'll see tiny apples hanging from the branches when the fruit is in season.

If you find a tree that you're unsure about, however, try using a tree field guide. I recommend the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees.

Are Crabapples Edible?

Yes.

But some will taste better than others!

Some crabapple trees produce sweet apples that can be eaten raw straight from the tree.

Others will be bitter, tart, or have dry or unpleasant textures-- eating these raw could lead to a stomach ache.

This recipe is perfect for both delicious and very tart crabapples, and since you're cooking the apples until they break down, the original texture doesn't matter.

Crabapple Tip!

Keep in mind that, just as with regular apples, you shouldn't eat the stems, leaves, or mildly poisonous apple seeds.

How to Harvest Crabapples

First, make sure the tree is on your property, or that you have permission to pick the apples.

Avoid trees that are near major roadways or other sources of pollutants.

Skip apples with major blemishes, which may have started to rot or been eaten by worms.

Minor spots on the outside of the apple are fine, as long as the apple looks undamaged when you cut it open.

Harvesting Safety Tips

If you use stepladders to reach the apples-- practice good ladder safety. Make sure the ladder's feet are on level ground, the locking spreaders are all the way extended, and that you avoid stepping on the top two rungs of the ladder.

I also recommend wearing gloves (I always seem to find a few tiny spiders in my apple bucket after harvesting), and checking for ticks afterwards (especially if the tree branches are overhead).

How Do I Weigh My Harvest for This Crabapple Recipe?

Unless you have a large kitchen scale, you might be inclined to guess at the weight of the apples.

Don't guess.

I recommend being a little more precise, because the ratio of apples to water is important.

If there's not enough water, the high levels of pectin in the crabapples will over-thicken your apple butter, and it will have a gluey consistency.

If there's too much water, your apple butter could be runny.

How can you weigh your apples without a large kitchen scale?

Option 1: Weigh the apples in batches using a standard kitchen scale

I use an old-fashioned kitchen scale like this one (because it's pretty), but if you want to be as precise as possible, go with a digital kitchen scale.

Option 2: Use a body weight (bathroom) scale

Simply add the apples to something that doesn't weigh much (like a plastic bag), and then weigh yourself AND the apples.

Then, weigh yourself without the apples. Subtract, and now you know how much your apples weigh!

Weighing Crabapples Without a Scale

No scale of any kind? You could also estimate by volume-- 5 pounds of apples fills approximately ⅔ of my 6 quart slow cooker.

crabapple recipe: crabapples in a slow cooker — Crabapples in the Slow Cooker

How to Core Crabapples for a Crabapple Recipe

If you want to skip coring the apples, I have alternate directions in the recipe card.

Tedious as it might seem, I prefer to core the apples before cooking them, because it gives me a chance to make sure that I'm only using healthy, unblemished apples.

I use a kitchen utility knife to quarter the apples, and then a paring knife to slice out the core.

This is a great opportunity to convince your significant other to help you in the kitchen-- a second pair of hands is really helpful.

If you want, you can use the cores (and peels, if you decide to peel your crabapples) to make fruit vinegar.

How to Make Slow Cooker Apple Butter

Once the tedious process of coring the apples is over, the rest is EASY.

Simply add the ingredients to the slow cooker, stir occasionally, and let the machine do its thing.

This is the slow cooker I use.

You don't need to peel the apples, because you'll be blending everything together partway through the cooking process.

Hours later, you'll end up with a large batch of tasty apple butter that's perfect for spreading on biscuits and toast!

Can I Can or Freeze this Crabapple Recipe?

This is a freezer-friendly apple butter.

I have not tested this recipe for canning.

If you want to can your crabapple butter, I recommend using one of the TWO crabapple butter recipes in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

crabapple recipe: apple butter in a slow cooker — Crabapple Butter

Want some recipes that USE APPLE BUTTER? Try thisGluten Free Apple Cider Pancakes (with Apple Butter) from the Fit Cookie and this Baked Brie with Apple Butter, Butternut, and Thyme from Smells Like Home

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