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Paleo Apple Butter

Making homemade paleo apple butter is going to become one of your favorite fall traditions! This healthy apple butter is naturally sweetened and is so simple; with only 4 main ingredients and about 1 hour of cooking time!

Homemade apple butter is perfect on toast, yogurt, oatmeal, or straight out of the jar, once you try it you will be hooked!

Spoon in a jar of paleo apple butter.
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Why you will love this recipe

  • Apple butter is one of the best fall recipes! As it cooks on the stove, your entire house will smell like fall! Once you make it at home, the process will quickly become one of your favorite fall traditions!
  • This healthy apple butter recipe is made without any added sugar – instead it’s sweetened with medjool dates and is incredibly flavorful!
  • Use this healthy apple butter like you would any typical fruit jam or jelly – great on toast, yogurt, pancakes or you can use it in baking to impart a ton of apple flavor into baked goods!
  • You can even make apple butter from applesauce if you are short on time! Check on the tips below on how to do that!
  • This recipe is naturally gluten free, dairy free, vegan and paleo friendly! It’s technically Whole30 friendly as well but it is likely considered a SWYPO.
Apple butter ingredients.

Ingredients

  • Apples – I love to use sweet apples (fuji, Pink Lady, etc.), but sometimes mixing things up and adding some less sweet Granny Smith apples is fun too!
  • Water – so things don’t burn
  • Medjool dates – these add a caramel flavor to the background. I highly recommend you don’t skip adding these! You could also add date syrup instead if you don’t have dates on hand.
  • Ground cinnamon – this adds that warm, over the top flavor that you are looking for.
  • Ground cloves – intensifies the sweetness from the cinnamon and the dates. Highly recommend you cloves if you have it in your pantry.

How to make healthy apple butter on the stove

Check out the step by step story on how to make homemade apple butter.

Step 1: Peel the apples and chop them into small cubes or thin slices. The smaller the apples, the faster they will break down when cooking.

Step 2 & 3: Add apples, water, pitted dates, cinnamon and cloves to a high sided pan (this will allow the apple butter to simmer later without splattering your stove). Cover and cook over medium heat 15 minutes.

Step 4 & 5: After 15 minutes, remove the lid and stir the apple mixture. Put lid on and continue to cook 15-20 minutes.

Step 6: After 15-20 minutes, remove the lid and blend up the apple mixture with an immersion blender in the pot or with a high speed blender (be careful, this mixture is extremely hot). Blend until smooth.

Step 7: Once smooth, the mixture will cook over low heat, uncovered until all the excess water is evaporated. You will want to stay close by during this process as the apple butter can burn easily if not stirred occasionally.

Note: during this time, the apple butter should be lightly simmering (bubbles forming/popping) but not boiling. This allows the excess water to evaporate off, creating that thick consistency.

Steps to making homemade apple butter.

Step 8: Once you can run a spoon along the bottom of the pot and the apple butter stays separated at least 2 seconds in the bottom of the pot, it is done cooking (Step #8 below in photo).

Last steps to making apple butter with no sugar.

Step 9: Turn off the heat and allow the apple butter to fully cool (more water will evaporate during this process).

Carefully transfer to an air tight container and store in the fridge up to 1 week.

How to make healthy apple butter in the slow cooker

Step 1: Chop the apples into small cubes or thin slices (no need to peel as the skins will break down in the slow cooker). The smaller the apples, the faster they will break down when cooking.

Step 2: Add apples, water, pitted dates, cinnamon and cloves to the slow cooker and cook on high for 2 hours with the lid on.

Step 3: Remove the lid, blend with an immersion blender or a high speed blender.

Step 4: Turn the slow cooker to low and cook the apple mixture without the lid.

Step 5: After 1 hour, turn off the slow cooker and allow it to cool down completely.

Step 6: Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 1 week.

How to make apple butter from applesauce

Using store bought applesauce to make apple butter takes away the first 30-40 minutes of breaking down the apples from the original recipe.

This is great if you are short on time or don’t want to go through the process or peeling and chopping your apples. This can also save you money if apples are out of season.

Follow the steps below:

Step 1: Pour apple sauce in a very large, high rimmed pot and add pitted dates, cinnamon and ground cloves. Turn on medium low heat and allow to come up to a simmer.

Step 2: Simmer for 10 minutes over medium low heat (stirring occasionally)

Step 3: After 10 minutes, turn heat down to low and let the apple mixture cook 5 minutes without stirring.

Step 4: Blend up apple and date mixture until smooth with an immersion blender (in the pot) or carefully using a high speed blender (return to pot after blending).

Step 5: Let cook last 5 minutes over low heat allowing last bit of water to simmer out of the apple butter.

Step 6: You will know when it’s done when you can run a spoon through the apple butter and it separates at the bottom of the pan and stays separated (see #8 in process photos above).

Spoonful of homemade apple butter over a pan.

FAQs

What is apple butter?

Apple butter is just like jelly or jam but made with apples! There is no butter in it.  It’s a much thicker version of applesauce, and is packed with flavor and will make your house smell amazing while it’s cooking.

Since the apple butter cooks longer than applesauce, it starts to caramelize as the liquid cooks off. You will notice that it has a much darker hue than applesauce and it’s much thicker and has an even more intense apple flavor.

What are the best apples to use for apple butter?

You want an apple that will not get mealy when cooked down, as you want the end product to be thick, smooth and silky. The best apples I have found are:

– Gala (typically inexpensive and easy to find)
– Fuji
– Honeycrisp
– Red delicious
– Macintosh
– Granny Smith (will produce a slightly tart apple butter, I would recommend using another apple from above to offset that slightly tart flavor).  

Will apple butter thicken as it cools?

Yes! You will notice that as it cools (especially if you leave it in the pot it cooked in to cool down), the apple butter will continue to thicken as the rest of the moisture is able to evaporate off. Once cooled to room temperature, you can store it in the fridge where it still may thicken some.

How to make apple butter with no sugar

Most apple butter recipes you see include ½- 1 cup of sugar (or more), which I find to be overly sweet and unnecessary! Instead, I use 2 medjool dates to sweeten naturally.

The medjool dates add sweetness as well as an almost caramel flavor that actually elevates apple butter to a new level of deliciousness.

Uses for apple butter

Apple butter can be used like any jelly or jam that you love. It can also be used to impart a very rich flavor into your baking (as a replacement for apple sauce).

Some of my favorite ways include:

Large jar of apple butter with apples behind the jar.

Other fun adaptations for butter apple

  • Use pears: Use ½ apples and ½ pears for a flavorful apple pear butter. You will want to peel the pears and cut them similar size to the apples. Cook according to directions above.
  • Add different spices: Deepen the spice profile with the use of cardamom (about ½ teaspoon) or ground or fresh ginger (1/4 tsp ground ginger or 1 tsp fresh grated ginger).
  • Make it gingerbread: Add 1-2 tablespoons of molasses and 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of dried ground ginger.

How to store healthy apple butter

Refrigerator: Store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Freezer: You can also freeze the leftovers into cubes and then store those cubes in a freezer safe bag or container. Freeze for up to 5 months. I love souper cubes as a way to freeze this into 1/2 cup portions.

Defrost in the fridge overnight or defrost in the microwave 30 seconds at a time.

Can you can apple butter for long term storage

There are recipes made specifically for canning, this is not one of them.  I would recommend you find one that was written specifically for preserving with canning, as I believe you have to add some acid to the apples to allow them to be canned properly.

Jar of homemade apple butter with a spoon on a plate.

Substitutions

Apples: You can also use all pears for this recipe with similar results.

Medjool dates: If you cannot find medjool dates, you can also use date syrup or maple syrup (2-4 tablespoons). If you have very sweet apples you may also be able to omit the dates completely.

Cloves: if you don’t have cloves you can omit them, however they really add a lot of depth of flavor to this recipe.

Tip: did you know that most natural grocery stores have a bulk spices section where you can buy as much or as little of a spice as you want? If you don’t want a huge jar of cloves, this could be the perfect solution!

If you love this recipe, you should try

★ Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
Spoonful of apple butter from a jar.

4 Ingredient Paleo Apple Butter

4 Ingredient healthy apple butter recipe, is made on the stove with no added sugar. This simple recipe can also be made in the crock pot or even using apple sauce!
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Save Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: no sugar apple butter, stovetop apple butter
Prep Time: 6 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 6 minutes
Servings: 10 servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Peel the apples and dice into small, cubes
  • Add the apples, dates, cinnamon, cloves and water to a medium pot over medium heat. Cover
  • Cook covered for 20 minutes.
  • Stir and continue to cook covered for additional 20 minutes turning the heat to medium low.
  • Blend with immersion blender (off the heat) or in a high speed blender (carefully, remember this is hot).
  • Return to the stove and allow to cook, uncovered over medium low heat, 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Let cool completely on stove if possible. Store covered in glass mason jar in fridge for up to 2 weeks. 

Notes

Best apples to use:
  • Gala (typically inexpensive and easy to find)
  • Fuji
  • Honeycrisp
  • Red delicious
  • Macintosh
  • Granny Smith (will produce a slightly tart apple butter, I would recommend using another apple from above to offset that slightly tart flavor).
Instructions Using a Slow Cooker (Crockpot):
  • Chop the apples into small cubes or thin slices (no need to peel as the skins will break down in the slow cooker). The smaller the apples, the faster they will break down when cooking.
  • Add apples, water, pitted dates, cinnamon and cloves to the slow cooker and cook on high for 2 hours with the lid on.
  • Remove the lid, blend with an immersion blender or a high speed blender.
  • Turn the slow cooker to low and cook the apple mixture without the lid.
  • After 1 hour, turn off the slow cooker and allow it to cool down completely.
  • Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Instructions for using Applesauce:
  • Pour applesauce in a very large, high rimmed pot and add pitted dates, cinnamon and ground cloves. Turn on medium low heat and allow to come up to a simmer.
  • Simmer for 10 minutes over medium low heat (stirring occasionally)
  • After 10 minutes, turn heat down to low and let the apple mixture cook 5 minutes without stirring.
  • Blend up apple and date mixture until smooth with an immersion blender or carefully using a high speed blender.
  • Let cook last 5 minutes over low heat allowing last bit of water to simmer out of the apple butter.
  • You will know when it’s done when you can run a spoon through the apple butter and it separates at the bottom of the pan and stays separated.

Nutrition Information

Nutrition Facts
Amount per Serving
Calories
62
Carbohydrates
 
16
g
Fiber
 
2
g
Sugar
 
12
g
Where does nutrition info come from? Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy, sourced from the USDA Food Database.
DID YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE?Let others know by rating and leaving a comment below!

Recipe Rating




Peggy

Saturday 16th of October 2021

I’m soooo excited to try this. I use date paste for everything these days and so I literally googled: Date paste and unsweetened applesauce Apple Butter, 😂, bc i could figure out why it wouldn’t work. Thanks for sharing this!

Samantha Rowland

Wednesday 20th of October 2021

Hope this turns out amazing!

Sandhya Nadkarni

Tuesday 31st of October 2017

Thanks for bringing your Paleo apple butter to FF!Love that deep color the dates gave the apple butter. And I also love the flavor of dates and apples together! Yummy!

Samantha

Tuesday 28th of November 2017

Thanks Sandhya! Love everything you do. This apple butter is perfect on warm sweet potato toast!

Miz Helen

Monday 30th of October 2017

Your Apple Butter is perfect to put us in a fall mood. I am sure that the season change where you live now is just beautiful, just like your Apple Butter! Thanks so much for sharing your post with us at Full Plate Thursday! Have a great week and come back to see us real soon! Miz Helen

Savvy Southern Chic

Sunday 29th of October 2017

This looks and sounds yummy! I've got to try this.

Samantha

Tuesday 28th of November 2017

It's so good! I can’t wait for you to try them! Tag me on instagram when you do! @bites_of_wellness

Michelle L

Saturday 28th of October 2017

Ooh, that looks so good - I bet it tastes so rich, but is still good for you!